It was hard leaving Palermo after two days. I wish I had more time to explore the city and visit more museums and parks. I did a lot in two days but there was more that I wanted to see. For the next time I visit Palermo.
On another rather gloomy, rainy morning I had to gather my things and head on a bus to the other side of the island. I would be heading to Giardini Naxos for three days of rest before my brother’s wedding.
I packed everything up and had a nice breakfast in the breakfast room at the B& B. Giovanni had a nice meal set up that morning and could not have been more gracious to me. I was the only one eating there that morning so I had my choice of what I wanted to eat.
The breakfast assortment at the La Tua Dimora B & B
It was really nice. There were fresh pastries and cakes, tiny egg salad sandwiches, fresh fruits plus tea and coffee. The hosts here put out a nice breakfast.
My early morning breakfast at the La Tua Dimora B & B
After a nice goodbye ( through Google Translate), he ordered me a cab and off I went to the train station, where J picked up the bus to take to the other side of the island. Talk about confusion. I got the tickets fine with ticket people who spoke English fine but none of the drivers spoke English so it made it an adventure.
We were throwing our luggage under the bottom of the bus and grabbing our seats. Than it was off to the other side of the island. Riding through the interior of the island was fun. It is interesting to see places away from the tourist districts. We drove through towns that had wineries on the hills and farms in the valleys. We even passed Enna, where my grandfather came from before he immigrated to the United States. Like I said about Palermo, it was like coming home and understanding people.
Walking into the heart Giardini Naxos on my first day.
After a two hour bus ride, we arrived that the Catania Airport, where I got off and took another bus up the coastline to Giardini Naxos, a small resort town south of Taormina, that reminded me of an Italian Miami Beach. It had a lot of older foreign tourists, lots of gift shops catering to them and restaurants that served mediocre food. I had one of the worst Italian meals that I have ever eaten across the street from the hotel I was staying out.
The lobby of the Delta Hotels by Marriott Giardini Naxos
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ctade-delta-hotels-giardini-naxos/overview/
My review on TripAdvisor:
The lobby of the hotel
I stayed at Delta Hotels by Marriott Giardini Naxos on the recommendation of a friend of mine and I have to say that if Giardini Naxos is our comparison to Miami Beach than this hotel is the equivalent to The Fontainebleau Hotel. I had just read that Marriott has just taken over the hotel a few months earlier and when I walked in I could tell that it was going to need a major overhaul. The hotel was clean and well maintained but decorated like something out of the Reagan Administration. The hotel looked like it was locked in 1980.
The lounge overlooking the pool at night.
What was nice about the hotel was that they upgraded me to a ocean front suite with a terrace and it was nice waking up to this for three mornings. After two and a half weeks of running around, these three days were my vacation time. I did not have to do anything or be anywhere or run around. If I wanted to sleep in, I could and if I wanted to run around and do something, I could without having to worry about anyone else. I had three wonderful night’s sleep at the hotel and finally had the first rest in a month (classes had ended a week before this trip and I was busy for those six days in-between both colleges and leaving for Paris).
The view from my room at the hotel
The rooms had heavy ornate furniture that looked a bit dated as well but the Marriott beds are the most comfortable in the industry and after I unpacked, I napped for two hours and just listened the waves crack on the shore outside. It was finally nice after almost three weeks of running around cities to just stop and relax.
That evening I decided I wanted to stay close to the hotel but the dinner menu at the hotel was not what I wanted so I ventured outside to look at the menus of the restaurants in the area. This is where you get ‘tourist trapped”. By being in close proximity of the hotel you would think they would be good but the menus were the same as you would see in the United States and the food is mediocre at best. I could not believe that I came all the way to Italy and ate awful Italian food. Funny enough I remember saying the same thing when I was in China.
I ate at a restaurant named Cotto & Magiato and it is best left forgotten. I should have known I was in trouble when the wine came to the table and it was watery. The bread that they brought to the table was strictly from some supermarket and the salad was shredded iceberg lettuce like you would get on a sandwich. The entrée was Fettuccini Alfredo and it was a soupy gloppy mess with no flavor (I don’t know if it even had bacon in it).
Cotto & Mangiato (who could imagine food could taste like this)
I should have known when they brought out tasteless wine and bread from a supermarket.
The Salad looked a bowl of topping for a deli sandwich. No salads look like this in the United States.
This gloppy mess is their version of Fettuccini Alfredo
I did not dare have dessert here. I paid the bill and left. I was really disappointed because it looked like such a nice place from the outside. I should have heeded the warning when I saw that the restaurant was empty. That is an omen in the restaurant industry.
I decided to take a long walk along the shoreline to work off the dinner and stretch my legs after that long trip. The bay of Giardini Naxos is just beautiful. It was still light out when I finished my dinner so I was able to enjoy the sunny late Spring evening.
The harbor at Giardini Naxos before it got dark.
After a long walk around the bay and I knew where to explore the next day, I headed back to the hotel and went to bed. The weather was supposed to be nicer the next day and I would have more time to walk around in the morning. I slept so soundly.
The next morning I got ready for breakfast. The breakfast buffet was included in the package and it was a nice assortment of hot goods, baked goods and fresh fruits. It was a very impressive set up but there was a problem with the hot foods. They were not geared towards Americans, Canadians or the British. The scrambled eggs were runny, the bacon and sausage uncooked and the potatoes looked like Dollar Tree French Fries. This is why the omelet station was so overwhelmed every morning that I was there.
The Breads and Pastries
The buffet set up in the main Dining Room
The tarts and cakes on the buffet line.
For the two mornings that I ate there, I stuck with the line for the fresh omelets and pastries with some fruit. The baked goods and pastries were delicious and it was all you can eat and trust me, people went back multiple times. The views of the ocean from the deck were amazing and the breezes were wonderful. It was such a nice way to spend the morning.
After I finished breakfast, it was off to Giardini Naxos to explore the coastline and the beautiful bay with its stores and restaurants. Then it would be off to visit the Greek Museum site. It would be a wonderful afternoon of walking around and working on my tan while enjoying the town.
The beautiful flowers along the walk to the bay.
It was a glorious, sunny, clear day that morning and it was perfect to explore the bay area. Everything in Giardini Naxos was within walking distance from the hotel and it gave me a chance to see the parks and restaurants that lined the bay.
Exploring the bay of Giardini Naxos the first full morning in the city.
Another view of the bay
The three views of the Giardini Naxos bay.
I walked the length of the bay to see what businesses were located there and also to look for the local laundry facility so that I could do my wash that I did not have time to do before I left Prague. It is amazing how things pile up when you travel.
The bay area of the coast was beautiful and the street that follows the bay was lined with statuary, plantings and fountains. It was such a beautiful walking tour of the area.
The Little Mermaid fountain on the shore line of Giardini Naxos.
The flower pots with cactus lined the sidewalks
Potted plants and cactus lined the walkway all along the pathway around the bay. Here and there statuary was placed and displayed and there were many outdoor cafes selling coffee, ice cream and desserts to stop by and sit and relax. I found all of this very civil and relaxing. It was nice to just stop and enjoy the view and the weather. I found in Europe that people like to enjoy life.
Another interesting statue along the walkway
Walking along the path around the bay at Giardini Naxos
Al the flowers were in bloom on this beautiful late Spring day.
This was the first day of the time I spent in Europe that I was not writing a paper, analyzing a restaurant, running through a subway or bus stop and just stopped and enjoyed Europe. I did not have to be anywhere or meet anyone and it felt terrific. I spent my morning just walking around the bay and then visited the Greek archaeological site of Naxos.
Museum and Archaeological area of Naxos
My review on TripAdvisor:
The grounds by the museum building.
The grounds around the museum.
The description of the ancient fort
This is a description of the site from the Museum of Archaeology of Naxos:
Built on Cape Schisò, the museum is closely linked to the site of ancient Naxos: a section of the ancient boundary wall crosses its garden, and from the museum begins the itinerary that winds its way through the ancient urban area, using a small farm road and then the route of the plateia B (Museum website).
The entrance to the Fortress section of the museum
The collections of the Museum are mostly made up of finds from excavations carried out on the site for over 50 years. To these are added a small nucleus of materials purchased in Taormina by P. Orsi or donated to him or coming from research he conducted, as in the case of the kits of three burials of Cocolonazzo di Mola (excavations 1919), which, dating back to the second half from the 8th century BC, they represent the most effective evidence of the encounter between Greek and Sicilian colonists (Museum website).
The inside of the museum artifacts from the dig.
Artifacts from the digs at the site.
Artifacts from the dig
A final exception is a much more recent acquisition. This is the Arula (530 B.C.) Heidelberg – Naxos with facing sphinxes, reassembled by P. Pelagatti, by reuniting a fragment conserved in the Museum of the University of Heidelberg and a fragment purchased by herself in 1973 in Giardini. The actual reassembly, which took place only in 1997, has enriched the Museum with a remarkable example of coroplasts produced in Naxos at the end of the 6th century BC (Museum website).
Vases, pots and household items.
The exhibition follows a topographical chronological criterion with particular attention to the grouping of some classes of materials , such as above all the architectural cladding slabs and the silene mask antefixes, which represent one of the most significant productions of the city. With different types, it has developed continuously since the last decades of the 6th century BC. (Silenus A) until the end of the 5th century BC (Sileni B and C), offering an effective testimony of the spread of the cult of Dionysus, whose image has characterized Naxos’ coinage since its first issues (Museum website) .
Household items for the home.
The entrance halls are dedicated to the prehistory of the site and the first phase of development of the Greek colony of Naxos. The splendid cup of Stentinello, found not far from the Museum, documents the beginning of life at the Neolithic site on the Capo Schisò (Museum website).
Facial pottery
Among the oldest materials of the colony, a prominent place is occupied by Corinthian imports, and in particular by numerous fragments of cups of the type of Thapsos (740-700 BC). In association with the Corinthian late-geometric pottery there is imported Euboic pottery, and to a greater extent imitation pottery produced in Naxos. A few specimens of sub-geometric hydrias from the northern necropolis are displayed alongside other grave goods from the first decades of the 6th century BC (Museum website).
The Second Floor of the museum.
The two rooms on the upper floor are dedicated, one (room A) to finds from the sacred areas, the other (room B) to those from the archaic and classical city and from the necropolises of the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. The rooms are preceded by the coin cabinet currently being set up, where a number of specimens of silver coins from the Classical period from mints in various cities of Sicily and Reggio, all discovered in the northern quarter (Scavi 1996), are collected (Museum website).
The Anchor and underwater artifacts on the second floor of the museum.
The underwater finds they are contained in the hall of the 16th century tower adjacent to the museum building. It displays the vast repertoire of stone anchors and lead anchors, specimens mostly taken in the 1960s from the bay of Naxos and Taormina (Museum website).
The Anchor display on the Second floor of the museum.
The museum is a fascinating place as it shows in detail the life and structure of the colony that was set up on the island by the Greeks. This was not just a fortress but the day to day lives of the people that lived there. This is not just art but who these people were and the civilization that they created in Sicily and how it shaped the island.
Private homes in the colony.
What I liked about the museum itself was that it had all the household items and business needs of the people of the colony organized to show the craftsmanship and business efforts that these colonists brought with them from Greece. The museum did a wonderful job chronology of the art so you can see how these people lived.
The fortress of the colony.
The outside of the museum I was able to to walk out into the field and see where the forts, homes and businesses were located. Each section of the outside of the museum was at various stages of work with the archaeologists. Some of the areas were corded off and some have been open and you can see where the layout of the buildings once were in the field. This was once a thriving shipping and fishing area and still is to this day.
More houses on the site.
What was fascinating about it was how well preserved it all was and we can see it as they had it back then. It was fun to walk through the field and see how the colony was set up and how people lived at that time. It looked like a pile of rocks until your realize that this was the homes of shippers, fisherman and tradesman.
More houses on the site.
Towards the back of the site, there were archaeologists working who shooed me away from the site so new things are being discovered on the site all the time. This museum is a work in progress and there will be more to see and exploring in the future on this site. You will need your walking shoes to explore this outside museum.
Work still being done on the site.
I thought this was a fascinating way to spend the morning and early afternoon and could not believe what I learned about early Greek colonization. This site was a real eye opener and the museum was interesting in what has been found and what is displayed. There was some real creativity in this site as well.
After my trip to the museum, I decided to continue my walk along the walkway along the bay. Right around the corner from the museum I discovered an interesting statue that was a contemporary copy of the “Winged Venus” or the “Winged Victory”. It faced the ocean as the original statue had.
The Nike by artist Carmelo Mendola
“The Winged Nike: by artist Carmelo Mendola
Carmelo Mendola was an Italian artist who was self taught in the field. He started out as an industrial trader. It was only in his later 40’s that he began to sculpt. Many of his pieces are on display in Italy (Wiki).
Artist Carmelo Mendola
https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Carmelo-Mendola/BA5753530ED94F04
As I walked back to the bay, I passed the boat basin. The area was filled with flowers along the trails and the area was used for pleasure boating.
Walking on the side walk past the boat basin.
The beautiful flowers along the bay.
The view of the bay from the boat basin.
Right near the boat basin this cat family was living under the flowers. The little kitchens were playing with each other as the mother hid.
I walked along the path in search of a place to eat lunch. There were many choices along the way. Having been burned the first night with that lousy Italian restaurant, I wanted to find something less touristy so I kept walking.
The sidewalk path along the bay.
Following people along the sidewalk path.
Along the sidewalk path along the bay there are so many choices for lunch, many of which have the same menus and can be very pricy. I remember passing some more local places further down the bay from the center of the tourist section of Giardini Naxos.
When you reach a certain point in the town it turns from tourist to local people with the homes of the people who live and work here. There are businesses further down that cater to them. That is when I came across Passion Fruit, a small local take out place.
Passion Fruit at Via Umberto 364 Di Nigri Rosario in Giardini Naxos
https://www.facebook.com/PassionFruitGiardiniNaxos/
My review on TripAdvisor:
The ladies working there were really nice to me and since none of us spoke each other’s languages very well, this is where the Google translate came in handy. I was able to order my meal with a combination of my iPhone and pointing. They had the most amazing selection of pizza, sandwiches and rice balls. I was not that hungry from eating a big breakfast but still I found room for a slice of pizza and a meat ragu rice ball. They were both excellent.
The front of Passion Fruit
The front of Passion Fruit
My lunch: the delicious pizza and a meat ragu filled rice ball.
I was really impressed by this small restaurant/take out place. The pizza was very simple and delicious. What they called ‘pizza’ is what we would call “Sicilian Pizza”, which is appropriate being in Sicily. The pizza sauce I could tell was made with fresh tomatoes and olive oil. The rice ball was a special treat. Not quite the ones I had in Palermo but still it had been warmed up for me and when I bit into it, I could taste the richness of the meat simmered in the sauce. They did a wonderful job with the food and seemed happy that I was so happy.
I sat outside on the chairs and sat facing the bay. It was the greatest lunch to just enjoy eating something so simple with a view of the Giardini Naxos Bay. At that moment of time, I did not want to be anywhere else but there. It was the perfect combination of delightful food and wonderful views.
For dessert, I walked further down the street on the way back from the hotel and found an ice cream and pastry shop that was just as good. I tasted the most amazing lemon gelato at La Dolceteria at Via Umberto 390 Lungomare IV Novembre 199. The gelato here was sweet creamy and dense and had the most amazing flavor. It was tart and refreshing on a hot day.
The front of La Dolceteria on the walkway around the bay.
The other desserts looked amazing, and it I had been hungrier, I would have taken up a few more of them. This pastry shop looks similar to those in the states but the quality here is excellent. The service is very nice for people who speak no English. They were very nice and understanding of me.
La Dolceteria at Via Umberto 390 Lungomare IV Novembre 199.
https://www.ladolceriagiardininaxos.it/
https://www.facebook.com/p/La-Dolceria-100057573755009/
My review on TripAdvisor:
La Dolceteria pastries and cookies for sale.
The luscious lemon gelato at La Dolceteria.
After my lunch and dessert, I continued to explore around the bay neighborhood, popping into shops and looking for the place that I would have to do my laundry the next day. I had been running out of clothes since I left Prague, and I would have to do the laundry before I left for the villa we would be staying at for the wedding. I knew what my last day in Giardini Naxos would be and I wanted to enjoy myself today.
I got back to the room that afternoon and just relaxed. I ended up falling asleep in the room and woke up later that evening. I just walked around the hotel and looked at the ocean. It was such an amazing evening.
On my last day at the resort, I wanted to do something exciting and did the laundry that took up most of the afternoon. I was talking with a local woman while I was doing the laundry through Google Translate. Then her machines would not open, and she had to bring her husband over and the three of us talked through Google Translate after he got the machine open. That was interesting.
The back of the Delta Hotel Marriott Giardini Naxos.
After the laundry was all done and packed for the next day, I walked around the resort to see what the grounds were like and then spent the rest of the afternoon on a lounge chair at the beach. That was the nicest part of the trip, relaxing and doing nothing.
The Delta Hotel’s view from the deck at the back of the hotel.
The view of the hotel pool and the grounds
The hotel’s pool area. The place filled up early on a hot, sunny day.
The pool and beach lounge area.
The Beach at the hotel. It was all small pebbles.
The gardens at the Delta Hotel.
Walking around the back of the hotel I began to appreciate the beauty of the hotel. The gardens are really wonderful. The only problem that I had with the ground is that the beach is tiny pebbles and not a sandy beach like an ocean beach. You have to wear sandals on these beaches. It didn’t bother me as I got to relax by the beach for the rest of the afternoon.
That evening the hotel was promoting a ‘Happy Hour’ to all the guests and Guest Services was really pushing it. When I went there were barely anyone was at the hotel lobby bar. There was about five people there. The drinks were not half price and the complimentary appetizers were very strange. Items that you might see on a menu in Hawaii or a hotel in the South Pacific. They had raw tuna in a plastic box.
These are the crazy appetizers they were serving.
The very strange complimentary appetizers at the “Happy Hour”
I could not eat these things so I ordered a rice ball appetizer. Now I just had a wonderful rice ball in town and excellent ones in Palermo so I expected to see something pretty spectacular at the hotel knowing Marriott dining. I don’t think the hotel has someone who knows how ot deep fry food because the rice balls that came out looked like frozen ones from Sysco and they were served with French fries, which I thought was strange. The French Fries were barely cooked and the rice balls had no flavor to them. When I showed them to the bartender, he was embarrassed by the whole thing and took them off my bill. I finished my drink and left the bar. It was not one of the better “Happy Hours” that I had experienced and was not too happy about it.
The uncooked Rice balls and French Fries. It was pretty bad.
On my last day at the resort, I did all my laundry and got packed to meet the rest of the wedding party at a villa that we were all staying at. I got everything in order at the hotel and met my brother in the lobby with my niece. I had not seen her in four years and barely recognized her. It was nice to see them both again.
My niece and I at the Marriott Delta Hotel
My brother took us out for a family dinner in Giardini Naxos and it was one for the books. No body was content with my suggestion of going back to the place with the amazing pizza and rice balls so we stopped at this seafood restaurant right by the harbor which ended up being one of the biggest tourist traps in Giardini Naxos. According to TripAdvisor and other online sites, the owner of this restaurant can see an American tourist a mile away. Thought the food was good, it was the biggest scam I had ever seen in my thirty years in the Hospitality industry ( I have to admit that the food was good but not worth the price paid for it).
Restaurant Sabbie d’Oro at Via Schiso 14 in Giardini Naxos.
My review on TripAdvisor:
Let me put it this way, this restaurant has been ripping tourists off with the ‘fresh catch of the day’ line and will show you a bunch of fish in the tank and then serve you one or two of them and the rest come from the refrigerator or freezer. It is the biggest joke online. Everyone who eats there who reviews it gives it the same write up.
Our ‘complimentary’ appetizer wit hthe wine we ordered.
The tiny pasta with lobster dish they served us next.
The waiter bringing us the grilled lobster.
The tray of fresh shellfish with lobster, octopus and a fresh caught fish that was fileted in front of us.
The meal also included grilled vegetables, bread and olive oil for dipping. For dessert, we had a cream cake and then they served us a glass of Limoncello. The owner was so excited about the money he would be getting from this order, he left the bottle on the table so that we could ‘enjoy it’. We were charged for that as well. I was not sure what my brother paid for the meal but with seven of us eating it must have been over a thousand American dollars. To those of you visiting Giardini Naxos on your next vacation, AVOID this place! The food might be good and the service nice, they see tourists coming and they should be serving Pidgeon instead (I swear for the most part I did not have much luck with the restaurants in Giardini Naxos).
I slept really soundly on my last night at the hotel and the next morning my brother picked me up at the villa that the wedding party would be staying at and I settled in for the afternoon. It was way up in the mountains and I was closing my eyes on the rides down the hill. I had not been on a trip like this since I visited Maui in the 1990’s and took the trip to Hana. I swore never again!
The villa the wedding party stayed at for three days. The views were amazing but the ride down the hill was not pleasant.
I slept like the dead that night as it was so quiet up in the hills. The next day the wedding party had things to do to prepare for the wedding so we got the day for ourselves. We swam, relaxed and I had to work on my group presentation from my Prague trip so there was plenty to do. I made my niece breakfast and then concentrated on my work. The views from the villa were really spectacular both in the day and at night.
The sunrise at the villa was worth getting up for every morning. This was from the deck of the villa.
The view of Giardini Naxos from my window during the day.
The view of Giardini Naxos Bay from my room at night.
The day before the wedding, my brother took us on a trip to the winery Patria for the afternoon for a tour of the property and for lunch. It was an interesting morning and afternoon. My niece directed us to a country road up in the mountains that lead us to a road that looked like it had never seen a car. I swear I thought we would go off the cliff. I swear when we got back to the main road and down the mountain that I would back to the Marriott for the rest of the trip. I told my brother to stop using the GPS as did the woman who ran the villa.
Once we were back on course, we headed to the winery which itself was hard to find. We got lost twice with the directions that the GPS gave us (I was ready to throw the thing out of the car) but we finally got there and we were the first visitors of the morning so we got a private tour of the winery.
The Patria Winery sign
Company
My review on TripAdvisor:
The wine tour started in the wine store room with a quick lecture on the retail wines and what the winery produces. They had a nice selection of wines for sale and things were packaged nicely. Then we started the tour of the outside winery.
The winery’s retail room.
The winery sits on a ancient Roman site and there was an old theater on the property that has since been rebuilt. The theater is used for performances when in season and it over looks the vineyard giving it a picturesque look.
Our first part of the tour was the outside theater
The theater was built on a former Roman theater and overlooks the vineyard.
The view of the estate outside the winery.
We then traveled down into the caves and started our tour underground. We visited the spirits rooms, where the fermentation and riddling takes place and where the wines are stored. Our tour guide explained how the grapes were picked and processed, then pressed for wine making and the the process of fermentation.
Touring the cellar
We moved from room to room underground, exploring all the different aspects of the process of their wine making down to the bottling procedures. There were even reproductions of ancient stonework that was found on the property.
Once we finished the tour, we went up to the tasting room for a wine sampling. The most part had a nice body to them and a good flavor but did not total ‘wow’ me. The were good ‘picnic’ wines meaning that that they were the perfect wines for a light lunch. This is what we did when we sat down to enjoy a five course lunch. They were good with our lunch.
The fermentation process of the wines.
The barreling and fermentation process.
The Steel Barrel processing
I really enjoyed the lunch as it was simple and rustic. I thought it was very “American” but the lines between Italian cuisine and Italian American cuisine are now getting blurred. It was nice to sit back and relax and enjoy the beautiful weather and a nice meal and get to know my new sister in law and her sister and son.
Walking past one of the old lava tubes.
The grounds outside the winery.
Our set up on the lawn of the winery. The weather was perfect and the views amazing!
It was a simple meal of salads, sausages and vegetables and cannoli for dessert accompanied b wines from the winery. I had a wonderful time. The meal was very simple and delicious and the portion sizes perfect for an afternoon lunch. The weather was warm and sunny and we had a wonderful afternoon just talking.
The wine pairings
The delicious appetizers and bread that was served with out meal.
The cheeses and meats started the meal with a white wine.
The Pasta dish-Fusilli with Zucchini
The fresh sausage and roast rosemary potatoes entree
The fresh cannoli for dessert
After lunch we toured around the estate after the wine tasting.
Touring around the winery estate.
We took a quick tour around the winery after lunch and visited the wine store again for a quick tasting. It was a nice way to end the day.
On the trip back I noticed this unusual house that was abandoned right by the winery. I think I was having an “Under the Tuscan Sun” moment and wondered what it would be like to own it. It looked like the type of home that needed a lot of attention but was still beautiful. I could see myself living in Sicily.
My future villa
The wildflowers by the villa
The wildflowers by the villa.
Maybe it is a sign that I will be back in the future. What a beautiful shell of a home that could use some TLC. Who knows?
When we arrived back to the villa, the wedding party met at a Michelin star Italian restaurant for dinner. It was some of the worst food I have eaten in Italy. My brother picked a menu of raw fish which I am not a lover of and I got the worst case of food poisoning that carried all through the wedding and on the day left.
What ever you do don’t eat Shrimp Tartare abroad.
The morning of the wedding, we met at the villa to go over plans for the afternoon. We had a Cocktail party the afternoon of the wedding and the ceremony would be that evening. We got to spend time with our new family members.
My new sister in law’s family gave us a traditional Ukrainian ‘welcoming to the family ceremony’ and then we gave a simple American welcome to our family. Sorry I am not Sicilian and I do not know what that would have been. Still it was nice to welcome her and her sister and son to our family.
My brothers and I at the villa party
The views from the villa at the Rehearsal lunch.
Our new family-us with my new sister in law and her sister.
After the party was over, everyone went back to their hotels to change and then we met at the Four Seasons for the wedding. The ceremony took place at 6:00pm that evening. We had a wonderful time toasting the new couple. We gathered together to get ready in my brother’s room. We took some wonderful pictures before the ceremony.
My older brother and I with our younger brother in the middle.
The table setting at the Four Seasons
My place setting
The brides maids before the ceremony.
The happy couple on the lawn of the Four Seasons.
The happy couple cutting the cake at twilight.
The happy couple cutting the cake.
It was a nice evening. I did not eat much. The chef had to make me some chicken soup and I had a few bites of that, a small handful of French Fries off a kids plate and a small piece of wedding cake. That was it for me.
We had a wonderful evening of bands and singing. We danced until midnight when the party winded down. I had a flight the next morning so I had to get to bed early. I was still not one hundred perfect but I slept well.
The next morning the villa’s dog met me at the stairs and I got to play with him before the cab came to pick me up. I was lucky that when I got to the bus station in Catania to take the bus back to Palermo, there was a drug store there. The druggist who spoke perfect English took one look at me and when I said I was sick, she gave me some pills that knocked what ever I had out. By the time I got to the airport that afternoon for my flight home I felt much better.
The villa dog on my last morning in Sicily.
It was a great month in Europe and the first real trip I had since 2008. My classes took me to Paris and Prague and my brother’s wedding help me discover my roots in Sicily. It was a real eye opener of where I come from and how it shaped my life. I will be grateful that I got to spend this with my new family.
There will be more adventures when I get back to ‘My walk in Manhattan’!
mywalkinmanhattan 