Merry Christmas #1!

Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! Щасливого Різдва! Счастливого Рождества!

* This post was supposed to go up yesterday, on a Christmas day, but I guess something went wrong and I didn't see it on time.

I absolutely love this time of year, doesn't matter which country I'm living in. And for the last three years, I really enjoy having two Christmases - Catholic and Orthodox. I always loved our Ukrainian Christmas - with all the beautiful traditions, foods and carol singers. Now I have a chance to enjoy also the Italian one - with Christmas parties, panettone, all the decorations (and all the shops closed for eternity).

My first year in Italy we celebrated Christmas in our volunteer company - we were supposed to leave right after the holidays (later I found out that I can stay for a bit) and we wanted to hang out together. It was a great evening, with homecooked Christmas dishes from out countries, Secret Santa, silly photos and the A/C working non-stop - our apartment was criminally cold.

Cardigan, sweater, skirt - H&M // Bag - Pieces // Boots - Trivict // Earrings - DIY

My second Christmas in Palermo was a quiet dinner for two in a friend's apartment, in the company of a very friendly cat.

My third Christmas here was very similar to the first one and, at the same time, very different. It was full of laughs, great foods, talks, music and unexpected gifts, because even when Secret Santa made a mistake and forgot about me (how could he? I'm unforgettable!), I still received two of the cutest and sweetest presents, and it meant the world to me.

So now I'm looking forward to many more lovely Christmases - in Palermo, in Italy, anywhere, basically. Just the two of us or in a company, that can become my family away from home. 

As long as I can wear a sweater on a sweater in December and not even be bothered by a jacket!

Merry Christmas, people! And see you soon! We still have New Years, Christmas #2 and Epifania to celebrate!

One-day trips around Sicily: Piano Battaglia

One little known fact about Sicily – it’s cold in winter. And people are constantly get surprised that I notice that.

Yes, technically +11 C is not cold, if you are in a place with normal level of humidity. But unfortunately Palermo is not one of this places, which makes surviving summer and winter here extremely challenging. 

I first came to Palermo on April 6 2014. In about two weeks I was coming back to the office from lunch and met one of my colleagues downstairs, but the entrance to the building. I was wearing my coat, the biggest scarf I owned and a pair of boots, and I was still freezing – the wind from the sea is usually so cold it really gets to your bones. My colleague, who was also wearing warm clothes asked me: “But do you feel this cold or for you it’s okay?” At that moment I couldn’t even feel my nose, so I just nodded as a puppet and mumbled something like: “Oh, I can for sure feel the cold”.

But I was ready for this – I did my research before the project and knew that the humidity is going to be crazy (even though it didn’t really prepared me for my first Sicilian winter! I will never ever forget December 31st 2014 – first snowstorm Palermo have seen in more than 30 years, 100000000000% humidity and putting blankets on windows to keep my room from turning into a freezer). And yes, I feel much better in Kyiv at +4 that in Palermo at +12. But nevertheless - Sicilian winter is beautiful. Blue sky, orange trees, flowers, beautiful sunsets and… no snow. Because I was never a fan of snow, especially in a city – it’s messy, makes everything more difficult and eventually gets gray and dirty.