CARNEVALE IN ACIREALE

Carnevale is an annual winter festival in Italy. It is celebrated  40 days before Easter. Celebrations includes parades, masquerade balls and parties for days with the finale on Martedi Grasso or Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lenten season. 

 During the celebrations, that lasts for almost 2 weeks or more ,it is very common to see children in their costumes while throwing confetti to just anybody.

heavily-strewn with confetti street

In Acireale, they celebrated with parades of allegorical and flower floats. I can say that it is the grandest carnevale celebration in the region of Sicily.

 

 Mostly, if not all  of the allegorical floats were about Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. It's a  no big secret that some Italians wants him out and the floats clearly showed it.

 

 Some floats were also made of flowers while others featured famous cartoon characters or legendary personalities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was like a one big celebration with all the perfect ingredients: music, foods, parades, masks, and street party! 

crespele...

teenagers dancing to Gangnam style

  Everybody indeed  had a good time regardless of age .. from infants to grown ups and  to young at hearts notwithstanding the cold weather.

 

 

 

 

TOUCHED BY MADONNA'S HEALING GRACE

Its a miracle how two complete  strangers meet and then  fall in love but it takes  another miracle to mend a broken heart especially when suddenly one of the lovers just walk away without even saying goodbye ,worse was he made you believed that he still loves you  but in reality he is already living in together with his new flame.

 

Cliche but really that famous adage  is definitely true..  For who would have thought that their- not- so- incriminating   group picture published in his social media account that  I  registered it myself would send my world crumbling down?   For who would have  thought that by seeing just the tip of his fingers over the  girls shoulder would  make me suspect that there's something going on between them? Yes, the  discovery was painful because   the truth was just in front of my eyes but it was more hurtful bec they made me  look like stupid and not to mention the betrayal.

Tindari

I guess its safe to say that  it is  normal for any person who have a  broken heart to cry, to feel depress and lonely , but    I couldn't ...  I couldn't cry out loud because I didn't like my family to  see me  in distraught. I've tried my one good old therapy which is shopping. It was with no good... Finally, I sought refuged in the Sanctuary of the Black  Madonna in Tindari.

the Black Madonna of Tindari

 The miraculous Black Madonna of Tindari without a doubt  healed me. She casted a miracle and helped me  put back to pieces  my heavily- torned heart. Indeed ,She touched me with Her healing grace.

 This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Blogger's Blog Carnival for February 2013 with the theme "WHERE DO (TRAVELLERS WITH) BROKEN HEARTS GO?" hosted by  the Rakistang Nars  , Rain Amantiad-Campanilla

THE BLACK MADONNA OF TINDARI

The  church that sit atop a mountainous hill contains the Black Madonna of Tindari. The statue bears the inscription "NIGRA SUM SED FORMOSA" meaning "I am black but beautiful".

 

The Black Madonna is said to be miraculous starting from its arrival on the Greek-originated city of Tindari in Sicily.

 

 The legend states that the ship carrying the Madonna's statue was forced to docked  in the area because of strong storm. They unloaded some of their stuffs at the abbey including the statue. Since then on  the Madonna stayed on the basilica and has helped and protected  the town from several wars. 

 

 Another famous legend is the story of the  lagoon. It was said to be  created  when a pilgrim  refused to pray to the Madonna because she was black. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean and she asked the Madonna to save her baby, The  Madonna then  made the land rise to save the infant.  The shape of the sands of the lagoon looks like the image of the Madonna carrying the baby.

Another interesting characteristic of the church are its mosaic-laden walls.

 

DISNEYLAND PARIS- THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH(EURO VERSION)

Warning: Photo Overload!

Disneyland Paris is home to two them parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios  plus seven hotels. It is the second Disney to open outside of USA following Disney Tokyo.

 

 

The park like all the other Disney's around the world, have all the amenities and rides to cater both young and adults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park is 30 minutes-train ride- away from the city proper of Paris. It has   its own railway station, Marnee-la-Vallee Cheesy station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is the very first Disneyland I have had visited so far and it seems that everyone  feels young again. It really brings out the child in you. It is indeed the happiest place on earth!