After a 12 hour plane ride, we arrived in Sicily, Italy. Lengthy travels by airplanes always make things a little weird (especially because of the change in time) once you arrive. There were 7 hours difference in our time zone vs Sicily... they were 7 hours ahead of our time. That always makes for a huge adjustment to time.
We were baffled by the beautiful mountains surrounding the serene Sicilian beaches! The mountains in Sicily are a result of many volcanic eruptions throughout history. Sicily houses the largest/most active volcano in the WORLD... Mt. Etna. Truly amazing! Throughout Sicily, we saw volcanic lava rocks... creating interesting land masses throughout the country. Oh, and all the lavishing, colorful flowers throughout Sicily were breathtaking... and beyond. Sicily is exactly as it is described in the text books and novels.... amazing, beautifully invaded with colorful flowers, quaint and surreal! Although, if I must mention one downfall (and really the only downfall to our visit), it would be the extreme heat of Sicily and Italy (in general) in the month of July. We were, told by Sicilians, the best time to visit Sicily (really enduring the beauty without sweating profusely) is in the Spring time (around the month of April).
The first thing we did when we arrived in Sicily was unload our luggage/bags at our hotel (which was our home for the next 8 days/7 nights). We stayed at the Hilton Giardini Naxos in Catania. It was absolutely a fantastic and darling property... quite impressive for Europe!
Here is some pictures of our home for the week (Hilton Giardini Naxos):
Sicilians love the color yellow. It is common to see this golden yellow all over the city. I love it... it's bright and chipper!
After dropping off our luggage/belongings in our hotel room (before catching any sleep), we ventured out to meet Kevin's aunt, cousins and mother in Taormina (the area of Sicily that we spent most of our time exploring). This would be our only day to spend time with them (without knowing at the time), because of a conflict in our schedule and much confusion on dates. Kevin's cousin, Sarah, lives in Sicily with her beau James. James is stationed in the U.S. Military there. They have lived in Sicily for 14 months. They were getting married the following Sunday in a well-known castle in Sicily (which we believed their wedding ceremony would be Saturday night, not Sunday night). At any rate, we were thrilled to be taxied to Taormina to see the lovebirds and the others. James met us at the exact moment the taxi driver dropped us off. He escorted us to the rest of the crew. It was great seeing them for the few hours we were all together.
Here are some pictures of all of us visiting the famous Taormina district and the Greek Theater ruins:
What a beautiful area. Day 1 proved to be a great way to start off our Sicilian/Italian adventure. I believe we made the right choice this year for vacationing... We chose Sicily and Rome over Hawaii. The first day was super exciting and adventuresome... but, the first night always makes me sad that I left my babies behind in the United States. I can't wait until they are old enough to join us on our World Travels.
(Be sure to read all about the rest of our adventures throughout Italy in the next many posts following!!)
As said best by Sicilians.... Ciao !!
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