We arrived into Trapani Sicily exhausted from our overnight
sail. We spent the evening and a bit of the day resting and organizing before
heading onto Palermo to meet up with uncle Lenny, aunt Sue, Kristine, Caitlin,
and Tracy. We were so excited to see all of them.
We arrived into Palermo during a huge thunderstorm that might
I add was not predicted. Joseph spends 40% of his time reading and
understanding the weather. Due to the mountains here in Italy the weather is
always changing. The storm was loud and brought a lot of rain. Once we were all
tied up the drying out the cleaning began. I did not have to much to do, just organizing and collecting
the dirty clothes. I could not wait to do laundry. I know that sounds lame but
when it is not accessible it can be tough.
Joseph arranged for us to get a ride to the airport from one
of the workers at the marina. He took us to Palermo airport to meet our guests.
It was so great to see all of there smiling faces! Lenny had arranged for a 7-passenger
van that fit all of us. We took
the crowd to their hotel to check in. Then we hit the streets of Palermo to find
a restaurant to eat. Everyone was starving. We celebrated our engagement with
wine and laughter. I really enjoyed hearing and catching up on the entire
goings on of home.
The following day we took the group to see Agrigento because
thunderstorms were predicted so sailing was out. Joseph knew a bit about
Agrigento because he use to live and work in Catania, Sicily. He had never been
but knew it was a must see. We packed everyone into the van and headed to the
other side of the island. Agrigento enjoys fame and notoriety in equal measure.
Fame for its awe-inspiring Greek temples; notoriety for the rampant abusivismo (illegal building) that has
overrun the medieval hilltop town with high rise-rise tower blocks.
It was free to get in and a great way to see some older part
of Sicily. There was a lot of walking involved and it turned out to be very hot.
I think overall everyone enjoyed themselves. (I do not have pictures of Agrigento because my camera was left in the car)..not naming names..hahaha
We went home to the boat for some happy hour snacks and
drinks. I really enjoyed showing the boat to my cousins and aunt and uncle
because until you are on it you do not really understand how living on it is.
They were all very impressed and I
think Joseph felt very proud as did I.
We went out to dinner (can’t remember where) and enjoyed a
delicious array of desserts after. We took cannoli eating to a whole new level!
I loved that the girls and Sue and Lenny all got into the dessert eating and
drinking after dinner.
The following day was reserved for sailing. We got a fairly
early start after I finished my laundry at the local lavanderia, which I might
add are hard to find here. We all
piled onto Zimbabalooba and went out for a day sail.
Tracy was the first to
drive and did a great job as Lenny helped pull up the main sail. Kristine
showed some amazing skills at driving the boat and getting our speed up to 6.5
knots. Caitlin was very good at
winching and Sue documented the day with her camera. We went about 10miles west
along the coast and anchored for a swim and Joseph and I made lunch. The whole
gang jumped off the side of the boat and enjoyed a swim in the warm Mediterranean. Caitlin faced her fears, after much
coaching and taunting leaped off the side of the boat. 
It was so nice to be with family and sharing the boat
experience with them. The
following day they were scheduled to fly out of Trapani to continue there
adventure in Rome. We decided that
we would take the morning and show them Cefula.
It is a beautiful old city
overlooking the ocean just west of Palermo. We walked around the city and
enjoyed some light shopping. I had arranged for us to go to this pizza joint I
had read about that had over 66 types of pizza on the menu. As we walked up to
the door I noticed it did not look open. I was so bummed and once again annoyed
with one of Trip advisors recommendation being a bust. They were only open for
dinner. Joseph quickly sprung into action and we back to the old city for
lunch. We went on with one of the local hotels recommendations for pizza on the
water. The view was great and the pizza was awesome!
It was sad to see everyone go. I am so grateful for their visit
and the time they came to spend with us. 
No comments:
Post a Comment