"Ottobrata" : Italian for honey and street meat.

Today we took a bus from base to the Ottobrata festival in Zafferana. It was so cool! It's a mountain town about an hour from us, and was one of the largest street festivals I've ever seen. Full of Italian street meat, pastries, wine and honey- the local specialty. I enjoyed some kind of traditional pasta dish and Gabe tried the traditional street meat. Horse. Yes, really. Horse meat. At first I was horrified, but honestly, looked good and tasted like steak. Mangia! We're struggling with the language but getting by with a lot of pointing and various hand gestures which Italians seem to relate to very well. We sat at a cafe with another couple outside for a cappuccino when an older woman gestured that she would like to sit because she was tired. We offered her a chair and she sat down with us. Through a lot of repetitions, hand gestures and our "Speedy Italian Pocket Guide" we realized she was born in 1926, is 83 years old, and would like us to get her a coffee, because obviously we should respect our elders. She was awesome. Bought her a coffee, spoke some more Italnglish then bussed it back to base.