Postcards from Sicily

 

One of the cleverest birthday cards TJ received!
It says it all!

We spent 2 weeks driving around in Sicily with our friends, R and P, to celebrate TJ's 70 birthday.  Our friend, P, made this card for TJ, and I would say she nailed it!  All the way down to the chocolate cake with white icing, his favorite.  TJ did all the driving, aside from one segment, and I was the designated navigator, motivator and occasional scapegoat.  Driving in Sicily is not for sissies!  Neither is navigating!  It seemed like every town was at the end of a long and winding road, over a mountain, around about 20 switchbacks and then onto busy narrow city streets.  Parking was always interesting!  We managed to return our sweet ride unscathed by some miracle!

Scenes from the road. 
 Many towns built on high hill tops, just a horse drawn carriage, a lemon truck,
 and countless hairpin turns overlooking beautiful views for those willing and able to look!

Sicilians are citizens of Italy with their own regional government and their own identity. The people are proud to be Sicilian.  The conveniently located island has been invaded by countless groups, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans and various other European groups to name a few.   The architecture reflects many different styles, and the food is an evolution of different influences.  I found the architecture to be fascinating!  Especially the mosaics and the ceramics.  The churches are some of the most beautiful and ornately decorated I have ever seen, plus I love mosaic art! 

A few samples of the intricate artwork in some of the churches we visited.

The detail was amazing...mind blowing actually.  To think that these small ceramic pieces were put together or the marble was etched or carved to such beauty by humans is awe inspiring.  We did spend almost one entire day visiting churches and of course every town had its own amazing church. We visited so many that they started to blend together.  We did the ABC (another bloody church) tour of Sicily for a day or two.

The weather for the first few days was disappointing.  All of us were glad we packed our rain gear.  Another bike tour that started in the rain, yay!  At least the rain was spotty, but we still had to be prepared at all times.  Not the blue skies I had hoped for.  We looked at the forecast with little hope those first days.  We forged on and made the most of it, no rain in the churches. On day 4, we woke up to beautiful blue skies and aside from a random shower or two, the weather for the rest of the trip was spectacular!  It hit me at one point on the trip that when I planned this back in January during the depths of a dreary, cold month I was searching for warmth and blue skies!  Almost every hotel had an incredible view and many had water views.  We soaked up every minute of the sun the blue skies and the turquoise water views!

Our rooms with a view!
Just what the doctor ordered back in January!

 The Food!

Yes, the food was good!  We got to try a few new things which is always fun!  Of course, there is the classic cannoli, or cannolo for just one.  We went all in on the cannoli made by cloistered nuns who are expert bakers and wow...so sweet!  Another unique Sicilian treat was arancini, a meat or veggie filled rice ball that is deep fried.  It is typically eaten as a quick lunch item.  There is an abundance of seafood available on the island.  We enjoyed visiting the street markets and had lunch in a couple of them along our way.  The markets were buzzing and full of sights and smells!  TJ may have eaten pasta every day...not sure but almost every day.  One of our favorites was Pasta a la Norma, pasta with a roasted eggplant sauce and it is delicious!  We were both surprised we did not gain weight on the trip; breakfast was always full of delicious choices.  Lunches were sometimes our big meal of the day and sometimes simple.  Depending on lunch, dinner was again simple, over the top or just a meal.  The fish was always delicious as was any pasta dish.  Our favorites were in family run trattorias off the main roads.  We met some lovely people who can really cook!

One memorable night we were walking along a side street checking out restaurants when a woman poked her head out from a second story window and pointed down at the place we were in front of and said it was the best place, and we should eat there.  We did, it was and turns out she and her sons and daughter run the place.  She is not only a great cook but a pretty good saleswoman.  She came by our table and had a nice chat with us too!

Just a few of the many delicious bites in Sicily!
The bottom right pic with the cookies and oranges were the
treats our host left for us in our accommodation!!!
The oranges were amazing!

We made sure we saw as much of Sicily as we could fit into 2 weeks.  If it was a highlight...we tried to see it.  Ceramics are very popular, and we visited one town, Caltagirone, that is known for their ceramics.  We stumbled upon a nice shop and the owner invited us in, showed us the women who were painting the ceramics, his kiln and then his shop, of which he was very proud.  All of this in Italian and sign language (the international language) and we were charmed.  We both bought things from his shop.  The same town is also famous for its ceramic stairway.  142 steps each faced with different tiles.  We ended up going up and down more than once, no wonder we didn't gain weight!  Nothing in Sicily is flat!  There are many towns with ceramic stairways or creatively decorated stairs.  I loved it.

The artwork makes you forget about the climb!

Some of the many sights along the road.
R-L - Windmill at the salt pans near Marsala, Valley of the Temples near Agrigento,
the white steps along the shore, Valley of the Temples view, cathedral in Noto, 
sculpture in the ancient ruins near Siracusa, statue of Ikaria Grande and Mount Etna in the distance.

Sicily is not an easy place to get to or from!  It wasn't too hard to drive around, once you accept that 160 degree turns are "normal" and you just have to commit!  The people were very nice, friendly, hospitable and proud to share their culture with us.  Now that we have been home for a bit and the dust has settled, I look back and am amazed at how much we were able to pack into 12 days without feeling totally wiped at the end of each day.  The driver may feel differently.  There was one time I was called to duty.  We visited the small mountain top town of Erice.  We went from sea level to 2500 ft. in about 10 miles consisting of many climbs and switchbacks with a mountain on one side and a rock wall and not much else on the other side...except for a killer view...which TJ never saw.  With no "bail out" on the way up, he took a deep breath once the car was parked, looked at me and said, "You get to drive down.".  Aside from the fact that down was probably easier, I thought it was a lot of fun too!  And the view was amazing!  The group also had many laughs at just how many GPS devices it takes for 4 people to navigate their way around Sicily.  There was the car GPS that never figured out the mountain climbs, my phone GPS and occasionally R's phone as back up just to support the navigator.  Sometimes part of the fun is getting lost and seeing where you land.

We sure did have a great trip!

Arrivederci Sicily
Veni, Vidi, Vici

Would we go back?  Probably not.  We saw it all and did it all, plus there are so many other places to see!  Where to next?  We are currently taking submissions!

Happy Easter!

Springing into Action

 Spring is in the air!  Spring and all of her blessings and curses has arrived, and she could not arrive too soon for me.  After slogging through the dreary days of January into February I finally feel alive again.  Am I a plant?!  Sorry I missed you all in February.  I wish I could say it was because I was off in a remote part of the world with no internet connection or because I was just so busy living my life that there just wasn't a spare moment to write or because I was too busy writing my book, but alas, it was none of the above.  It was mostly because I didn't think I had much to say on the icky days of January and early February.  Hope your winter was better!  I did find myself wondering how I used to spend those dark damp January and February days when I noticed most of the "memories" photos to cross my screen were on ski slopes.  Ahhh, that explains it!  I think I need to find my new ski slopes during those weeks and I think they may be on a golf course somewhere in the southwest.  Hope I remember this next year!  Who is in?

If you can't find beautiful flowers outside, make one inside!

As I looked back through my photos of February...I did a lot of puzzles.  Then I got tired of doing puzzles and we decided to visit some of our grandchildren.  Nothing like young family dynamics to vault you out of the winter doldrums.  We hung out with Augie and Thomas in San Francisco for a long weekend.  They are growing and changing so fast I hate to miss out on all of those cute stages!  Then we went to Madison and hung out with Daniel, Christopher and John while their parents celebrated 20 years of marriage!  Well done!  They boys are now pretty easy to watch and a lot of fun/competition for Grampy on the cribbage board.  We got to see some basketball games and experience some real winter.  Love seeing all the kids grow up. 

Post church donut o'clock!
He earned the biggest and best donut!

So much happiness!!!

Those eyes!!!

Just me and the guys waiting for our pizza!
Celebrity guest, one of TJ's brothers!

In hindsight...which is perfect, I realize now how sluggish I was in those early months of the year.  Once the days got longer and warmer and everyone came out of the woodwork, this extrovert was a happy camper!  Plenty of sunshine, long walks and golf!  And as if two weekends away were not enough, we threw in a trip to the big apple to celebrate one of TJ's high school buddies 70th birthday.  Yikes...!  NYC was on our radar for a visit and with the birthday invitation we were all in.  We love the city and managed to see two plays, eat dinner and brunch with one of our nieces who lives there, walked many many miles, ate some excellent food, stumbled onto/into a great wine bar and had some delicious charcuterie and wine and totally enjoyed the city springing to life.  Perfect weather too!  The city felt very subdued this time, dare I say cleaner and safer?  Maybe it was just my rose colored glasses.  

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge has been checked off the list!

Highly recommend Cork Wine Bar in SoHo!

Last but not least... it's here!  Speaking of turning 70, one of us, is turning 70 next month and the other one thought it would be fun to take a celebratory trip to a place that has been on his radar.  Hopefully by tomorrow night, I will be sitting in a cafe with my head spinning, looking through bloodshot scratchy eyes in wonder while sipping a lovely glass of wine and savoring a delicious meal with my soon to be 70 year old husband and a couple of friends.  This is almost my favorite part of any trip...the part where my imagination runs wild with fantasies of the perfect travel experience.  So far, the trip has been perfect, hehe!

Stay tuned in April when you get to see and hear more than you want about the trip.  Arrivederci!

Groundhog Month

 January is a beast! Like so many Januarys before, this one seems like it has been at least 5 weeks long!  The first week of the month brought the inevitable post-holiday withdrawal from friends, family and wine. I put Christmas away and embraced at least two days of quiet before realizing I was going to be home for the entire month.  Then there was the adjustment to being home alone (TJ went skiing and I didn't, because I don't do that anymore, sigh) and had to entertain myself through a very cold and wet week with random cleaning, dragging all of my potted plants inside to protect them from the freezing temps, very little cooking, a jigsaw puzzle, a vast wasteland of streaming, and a book...or two.  Next came Snow-magedden 2025 week, which was actually a very nice change of pace here in Texas!  This brings me to yet another wet, dark week of what can only be classified as the fifth week of dry-January because I can swear each of the previous weeks was at least 10 days long!  

One of the bright spots in January.

Yes, I am here, whining without wine about January just like everyone else...again!  Note to self, I really need to plan something other than clean up after Christmas and hibernate in January next year.  I know this slower pace of life along with the dark days is supposed to be good for us somehow, but it is a hard pill for me to swallow this year!  The more I am forced inside the more I realize how much time I spend outdoors in my life!  I played golf yesterday in wet, muddy...but not freezing conditions just to get outside for an extended period of time.  Once again, my plan to stay home in January and work on my golf game has been hijacked by the beast.  When will I learn?

During the second week of waking up to gray skies, looking at the thermometer and seeing that my morning walk would again require bundling up and the rest of the day would drag on as if it were 30 hours long, I decided to plan for the future and dream about blue skies and crystal-clear waters.  Nothing like the hope of traveling to a perennially sunny location that has beautiful scenery, great food and wine and a lot of history to brighten even the dullest day in January.  I spent the better part of a week or more planning and dreaming.  Now we just need to survive until the end of March!

Another time killing activity I did this month was to add up all of our travel statistics from last year.  Well, probably not all of them, but the ones I could actually document.  I guess if I couldn't go away, I would just reminisce about going away.  I made a photo album, online, and sent it out to be printed.  An activity that I enjoy, and they give me great pleasure to browse through occasionally.  Then I made a couple of videos from the hundreds thousands of photos from last year.  It was very hard, since I am limited to only 50 photos per video this proved to be a real challenge!  I ended up going with one that was mostly people and places and another that was no people, only places and things.  Maybe I needed January to tie up last year and put things in perspective.  Those activities certainly opened my eyes. 

 Some notable statistics from last year...

Number of miles I walked - over 1300 miles 

Nights spent away from home -122 plus 95 in Nova Scotia for a total of 227 for Lisa 

                                                  140 plus 130 in Nova Scotia for a total of 270 for TJ

Number of different beds we slept in - 39...more for TJ!

Rounds of golf played - at least 58...fewer for TJ

Fights taken - 30, not including all connections

I guess I understand when people say we are never home!  I am pretty sure this January is the most consecutive nights I have spent at home in a long time.  Nova Scotia is a different situation all together because I consider it home and we did spend 3 months in the same house while we were there!  Adding up all these numbers might explain why I felt so restless in January.  I just don't know what to do when I am home, especially if the weather is cold and wet!

 The good news is that by the end of the week January will finally be over!  I feel the way my dog Sadie used to feel any time I put my running shoes on..."yipee, I just know we are going somewhere now!".  Hope springs eternal!  The sun will shine in February, the golf course will dry up and the wine will flow (just a bit slower) and all of the rain will provide us with many flowers.  Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel that is January.

A couple of videos of last year to enjoy.

                                                      The people who make life so good!

                                            Some of my favorite places and photos from 2024

Thanks for reading!  

A Blank Space

By now, you have probably seen and read many videos and memes bashing January.  If not, crawl out of that dark hole you are hibernating in and scroll mindlessly through the internet like the rest of us! This year, January nobody's favorite month got off to a slow start!  Blame it on those Wednesday holidays.  Thursday, January 2 was still a holiday if you are in school, or a half speed day for those who work, or just another holiday for us retired folks.  Then there was Friday the 3rd, and really...did anything get done that day? The engine of the new year had barely sputtered out of gate before the weekend happened and shut that engine down.  Back to holiday mode. Monday, January 6 marked the official beginning of the new year if you ask me, it was the day we could finally press the gas pedal and get moving into 2025.  The question is, where do we go?

This is a terrifying sight to me!
Life is better with a plan in sight!

Once the year finally got going, I found myself eerily "caught up".  After over two weeks of holiday festivities surrounded by family and friends and many planned activities, I am starting the year home alone, with a short "to do" list.  This is not a good thing for me!  I really need a full "to do" list!  Yes, I realize there are some of you reading this thinking, "what I wouldn't do to have nothing on my "to do" list", I have been there, just not this year.  Today is like a blank space on the calendar taunting me to mark it up with chores, activities, appointments, short- and long-term plans and at least one trip...somewhere.  The possibilities are endless except for the ones that involve skiing or running marathons, then I'm out. 

I still miss spending January here!

 While TJ is gliding down the snowy white trails I planned to stay home and work on my golf game, join the many who participate in dry January and combat my holiday cookie habit.  All these well intended activities have been more difficult than expected, except for the dry part (I feel so much better!).  I continue to forget that January is a winter month, even in Texas, and golf is a hit or miss (literally and figuratively) activity available to only the heartiest of souls.  I have already broken my 50-degree temperature limit rule once and probably will again...if the sun is shining.  

The arrival of the January polar vortex has forced me inside.  With dreary cold days and no trips on the books there was only one thing to do.  Plan a trip and get the heck out of here!  Alas, here I am.  But there may be some travel on the horizon.  All I needed was a little motivation to guide my internet scrolling and find the next great place to visit.  Not a reality yet, so stay tuned.  I just needed a place to escape to, even if it is virtually.

To close, I will try to list a few good things about January.  It is probably getting a real complex with all the bashing...and here I thought I was the only one all these years!  Just check EVERY early January post on the blog!  Yikes!  At least I am consistent.

Things to like about January-

Plenty of time to read all those books you got for Christmas.

Ample opportunities to snuggle up with a cozy blanket by the fire.

Soup!

We all need some time to recharge after the holidays and there are not many distractions in January.

College Football Playoffs...Go Irish!

I get to wear those cold weather clothes that feel so neglected in my closet.

Boot weather!

After-Christmas sales to spend all that money we are saving by not buying booze!

Dreaming about the endless possibilities that lie ahead.

Like Taylor Swift, "we've got a blank space"...we can write whatever we want!

Only 40 more days in January!

Hang in there!

Happy New Year!