Location: Santo Stefano Quisqina, Sicily

We made it! It took about 3-1/2 hours to drive from Taormina Naxos to SSQ. We had some rain during the trip for a short time in the beginning. Originally, we were going to rent a car and drive this ourselves. During our boat excursion yesterday, I changed my mind and realized there was no way I could drive in Sicily. Best decision ever! We were able to relax and enjoy the ride. 

We arrived and met Antonina and Rosina (Rosalia was dropped off a little later by her son. She is the thrd sister). Their mother and Nanno are brother and sister. So that makes them my first cousin once removed. They invited us to stay at their place for the night rather than travel an hour to a hotel I booked. Dean and Franco, Antonina's husband, went to pick up sweets for after dinner. Then some other family arrived. Lory came as well and she is the only one that speaks English. She was a huge help! She drove and brought four of us to see a church, to a park, and then to a place for ice cream. We enjoyed our little treat and then went back home. Shortly after that, it was time to eat. There were twelve of us there enjoying pizza, arancini, meats, bread, wine, cheese, and olives. It was funny, when anyone called Nina would basically say "the Americans are here!" Also, in the car when we can across someone they knew, "the Americans are here!"Eventually everyone left and we said our goodbyes to them. We got a good night's sleep.

On Sunday, Franco brought me and Dean to see where Nanno lived. Then we went up the mountain to see Chiesa San Calogero. I had enough signal to get checked in for our flight the next morning. Back down the mountain and home because Lory had arrived. We went to see the cave, church, and crypt where Santa Rosalia stayed and promised to protect the people of SSQ. Back to the apartment for lunch. Started with pasta and sugo, then chicken and potatoes, of course, wine too. We were stuffed and it was delicious. Sat and chatted a bit more until Lory had to leave. Later, Nina and Franco brought us to the bus stop. We said our goodbyes and got on the bus. It made a few more stops in the town and we headed to Palermo. We snagged a taxi near the bus drop off and got to our hotel about 15 minutes later. Got a free upgrade apparently. The biggest hotel on the entire trip and we were there about 12 hours total. We were also down the block and across the street. We were so full from lunch we didn't get any dinner. 

Monday morning we were at the hotel for breakfast at 6:30 am. A taxi brought us to the airport for our 10:15 am flight home. All went well, although it was a long flight. I got just a few hours of sleep on the flight and Dean didn't sleep at all. So hard to get comfortable on the plane. A very short layover in Newark, through customs, and a long trek to Terminal A. Good thing Dean had conditioning in Italy to hoof it to our terminal and gate. We managed to arrive at our gate with about 40 minutes to spare before boarding. Arrived in Nashville on time, got our luggage and got to our ride home.

What a good trip with really only one day of rainy weather. Seventeen days is a long time out of the country. We managed our luggage and souvenirs without anything breaking or being overweight (the luggage that is)?

Dean, me, Rosina, Antonina, Franco

Lory, me, Dean

Lory's mom, Aurora, Lory

Amelia, Angelo

Franco, Antonina, Rosina, Lory's dad

Rosalia

Santo Stefano Quisqina

Thank you for reading about our trip of a lifetime!

Ciao!

Location: Taormina Naxos, Sicily

A driver dropped us off at our hotel in Taormina Naxos and we got checked into our hotel. Again, this room had a private terrace overlooking the beautiful pool and mountainside. We decided to have dinner in the hotel since everything was quite narrow and vertical outside. Not really a walkable area, unfortunately.

The next morning after breakfast, we were picked up for our Mt. Etna Nature and Taste Tour. Our driver was Bruna and she drove us to get the remaining people from each hotel. There were eight of us and our guide. This was a seven hour excursion with hotel pick-up and drop-off. We drove a while and pulled into an area for exploring a little. We went down into a couple cave areas then back into the van to go further up. We got parked and got out. At this point we could do trekking with Bruna, a Cable Car tour, or a Quad tour. We decided to stay there and shop around and have lunch. It was another beautiful day with fantastic views! We got back to our hotel about 5:30.

The next day we had a boat excursion booked for 12. We ordered a car to take us to the meeting spot for that but the gal at the desk had us dropped at the wrong location. Luckily we got the car to come back for us and there was room on the 2:00 excursion instead. We got to the right location and there was a restaurant on the corner. We relaxed and ate lunch and enjoyed some Aperol Spritzes. The boat excursion was lovely. The water was beautiful clear and very blue. Great scenery along the coast. At the furthest north point we dropped anchor and many on the boat went for a swim. We enjoyed some prosecco and cookies while we floated. Another gorgeous day. Back to the hotel for the evening to work on packing up for travel the next morning.

Down for breakfast, then waited for the car. We headed to Santo Stefano Quisqina for the long awaited time to meet my dad's first cousins.

Ciao!

Location: Sorrento, Italy

We took a high speed train to Naples and then a car was there to take us to our hotel in Sorrento. We were at the train station in plenty of time to watch for our platform number and all went well. We just had to wrangle our luggage to the upper rack on the train. Snacks and wifi on the train as well. We stopped at tourist store for wines, liqueurs, candies, jewelry. Also, there were great views as well. We ordered some wines and liqueurs to be shipped home. (The wine actually delivered on Friday and we got home Monday!)

Our hotel room in Sorrento was big and bright. There was ceramic tile on the floor and a private terrace. Since we were just a block off of the town centre, we talked a few blocks to dinner. We asked at the desk for a recommendation. It was very good. There was a downpour while we were inside so that worked out well. The rain was finished by the time we left.

The next day was the Amalfi Coast Tour. A car picked us up after breakfast and we returned at 5:45. It was a long day for sure. We made stops in Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. It was a beautiful day with many breathtaking views of the coast, the mountainside, islands, beaches, etc. We meandered at each of the stops and had lunch on an enclosed patio at a restaurant in Ravello. Beautiful view! Back to our hotel. We relaxed briefly and then walked down the block to Aurora Pizza and ordered one for take away. We ate in our hotel room and packed to leave in the morning.

A car was there at 8 to take us to Naples Airport for our flight to Catania. Unfortunately, we were there plenty early and had to wait an hour to check our bags. Once they were checked, we were herded through security and made our way all the way to our gate,, which seemed to be the furthest point! Our plane was delayed, so we just had to stand in the turnstile line to board as there were no seats in that area. We were thankful that Mt. Etna's recent eruptions did not delay or even cancel our flight.

Onward to Sicily!

Ciao!

Location: Florence, Italy

We traveled to Florence on Tuesday via high speed train. We checked into our hotel that was near the Central Market and really not too far from the train and bus station. Our hotel has a pool on the roof and a beautiful view of the city. We had some Aperol Spritz's and a small bite to eat. Later we watched the sunset from there as well. We had a walk & talk tour the next day and walked a lot. We saw many sculptures and heard about the Medici family. We walked to the Arno River and were on the Pont De Vecchio bridge. While Dean relaxed after getting back to the hotel, I went back down to do some shopping. 

We took a day trip to Pisa on a bus with a tour group. Unfortunately, it was a scattered rainy day. We went into the church and heard all about it, the baptistry, cemetery, and bell tower. I didn't walk the almost 300 steps to the top of the leaning tower. I figured I was not interested in that many narrow and wet marble stairs with no handrail. No grazie! 

We loved the cooking class in Florence. It was just a couple of blocks from our hotel so that was perfect. Tomasso was our chef and there were 14 total in the class and Dean and I were right in front of the chef. We had the best seats! We started with a trip to the Central Market to get the meat for the lasagna. While there we stopped at a store and had a presentation and tastings of oils, vinegars, limoncello, meloncello, pestos, and more. So good! Back to the kitchen to get started. We made the sauce for the lasagna, then made the tiramusi so that could get in the fridge to chill. We made the béchamel sauce next. After that we made the pasta dough for the lasagna. We began constructing the lasagna layer by layer then they all went in the oven. Between each of these we had cheese and wine, then focaccia bread and wine. Then when everything was finished we enjoyed the fruits of our labor. It was a late lunch of our lasagna and delicious tiramisu. We passed the class and got our certificates.

We made it to the meeting spot for the tour to San Gimignano and Sienna. There were too many to all fit in the bus so there was a van for 8 people. Dean and I made it on that one. Loved having a smaller group for that. Lots of hills and walking in both places but also time for sitting and enjoying the sites. Had dinner at a small winery after leaving Sienna. We got back earlier than the bus but it was still late so we took a taxi back to hotel.

The next day was a free day so we got tickets to the Ufizzi Gallery. We leisurely walked across town to the Arno near the Gallery. We stopped along the way for lunch as well as an affogato, yum! The Ufizzi was beautiful!

Trying to find a better way to post pictures on Blogger. So those will be forthcoming. One for now

The next entry will be the Sorrento!

Ciao!

 

Location: Venice, Italy

I managed to sleep a few hours on the plane. Dean, on the other hand, was not so lucky. We didn’t spend the oodles of money for the lay down area on United, so we could only move so much. I didn’t get up at all during the flight from Newark to Venice. Dean got up once to let me turn to put on my compression socks. That was it. He tried to sleep but was very limited. 

We arrived in Venice and we shuffled through customs with passports in hand. We were herded to the turnstiles, read the instructions, and made it through to baggage. After hefting them off the conveyor, we made our way through the exit and looked for the man holding a sign with my name on it. It was pretty quick and we found him. We followed him to a van, loaded up, then started to head to our boat transfer location. There someone else brought us to the boat that was our transfer. When we got off that boat, we were at our hotel, Palazzo Giovanelli.

Since it was now the next morning and didn’t sleep much on the plane, we had to wait until noon for our room. That meant two hours of walking around. Dean was a zombie! His feet hurt, his back hurt, and he just wanted…needed… sleep! Back at 12:30 for our room. We slept about three and a half hours and felt much better. We had dinner at a bistro nearby.

We woke the next morning at noon! Dean crashed about 10 and I crashed about 11:30. What a good sleep!  On the third anniversary of our first date, we went on a gondola ride. It was peaceful and beautiful.

The other planned excursion and that was visiting Murano and Burbank. Murano Glass furnaces are all over the island. This is the authentic glass, you guys. I bought a necklace. Then Burano is the home of the lost art of lace making. The colorful Burano houses are another claim to fame as well as the leaning bell tower. Our tour guide, Eva, did a fabulous job and was a plethora of knowledge. 

We walked around, up and over the canal bridges, and across the Rialto many times. Piazza San Marco, was the other spot we went to several times to see the sites. Did a little shopping for gifts to bring home.

(The photos below are in reverse chronological order.)

Ciao!

HONEYMOONING IN ITALY!

Heading to Italy tomorrow. Traveling to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Sienna, San Gimignano, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Taormina, Santo Stefano Quisqina, and Palermo.

Perillo Custom Tour Venice to Sorrento, then I booked everything after that starting with flight from Naples to Catania and all excursions and hotels in Sicily.

Ciao!

What You Say Matters

I received an email last Friday from my travel insurance company. They have declined my request for reimbursement again. They found the phone records and listened to what they said to me. The bottom line is that my coverage does not include operational issues. What really sucks is that the people at the United Airlines counter told me it was weather related. I told the insurance person that as well and that the email said operational issues. 

Unfortunately, it looks like I will not be reimbursed for the $2500 Icelandic Air flight I booked. I certainly would have kept the replacement flight a day later that would have been free had I known I wasn't covered.

Words matter.

Ciao!