Our first trip...Sicily!

Friday afternoon Andy and I left our flat to head to the tube, to the train, to the airport for our trip to Sicily! The whole adventure just to get to the airport took about 2 hours. Then a 3 hour plane trip to Palermo and we were in Italy (country #7 for me, nothing new for Andy, but we've decided along with some friends here that he will get a bonus point for Sicily on the country count list). This is the first time Andy and I have traveled together since he got his British passport, going into Sicily we were in the same line based on their immigration breakdown, but I got a stamp on my passport and he didn't - he was very sad about that (I ended up getting 3 stamps in all from this trip - one coming in and out of Sicily and one coming back to London. I'm working to fill up my passport!).

We decided to rent a car, which was a manual so I was, sadly (wink, wink), not able to drive. I had always heard about the crazy drivers in Italy, but wasn't quite prepared for the experience - especially not at 10pm when it was pitch black outside. I don't understand why there are lines on the road there, I guess as a loose guideline? Andy did very good at the driving and navigating around the craziness, especially since he hasn't driven in months. We did have a bit of trouble finding our hotel the night we arrived. On the main highway streets aren't labeled very well, which makes it difficult to find your turn off. We ended up asking some people on the street where we were on a map and found our way to the hotel, after driving this way and that way, into hills away from the city, etc for nearly 2 hours! But through it all we were in good spirits, and very excited to get checked in and something to eat and drink.

The rest of the trip was great. It's beautiful there. We spent Saturday walking around Palermo, eating good food, drinking coffee, lots of water (it was about 95 degrees), beer, eating gelato, etc. We found some great little markets, selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables, all grown on the island, I believe. We bought some of the yummiest green olives there. In the afternoon we returned to the hotel for a siesta, everyone else was doing it, we didn't want to feel left out. That evening we stumbled onto a great little restaurant for dinner. After waiting for about 20 minutes for a table, which didn't seem that bad since they gave us each a free glass of wine, we had a great dinner. Cheese plate for a starter, I had a tuna steak for dinner, Andy had risotto with a pesto mint sauce and clams, and filet for his main. Very good dinner, followed by espresso.

Sunday we drove east from Palermo with no particular destination in mind. We ended up stopping in Cefalu. A beach town an hour or so from Palermo. It was absolutely amazing. Because of my pale complexion and impending heat exhaustion we were not able to spend time actually sitting and relaxing on the beach, much to Andy's disappointment. We did put our feet in the water and it was very warm. Probably the warmest water I've been in, next to the bath. After a few hours walking around and having lunch we headed back to the hotel. Took another siesta and went out for a drink and dinner. It's funny being in a place like Italy with Andy. Because of his complexion and background most places we went people assumed he was Italian, or at the least, not American. It would take his puzzled look as the chatted away at him in Sicilian/Italian for them to realize who he really is. I was told that I am clearly American...all I could do was agree - I did get free pasta from the man though.

We got back to our flat a few hours ago. It was a great weekend, but after basically being away for two weeks (between Seattle and Sicily) it's very nice to be home.