Sonne, Sea, Pizza, Carbonara & Gelato - Mini trip to SICILY

Buongiorno Bella's et Bello's.

Come stai?

Ey, I tell you, that was the trip of our lives!!

Hihi little joke. These were the last 3 already and

slowly I'm becoming incredible ... 😜

But seriously, before I start to lose myself in trivial details, I can only recommend everyone to come to Sicily, if they haven't done it yet.

We didn't expect anything and in the end we were completely blown away !!

It was actually never the case that I really wanted to go to this island. It was basically a pragmatic choice. But the details are actually not important right now.

What's important is that it was one of the best coincidences ever to land here.

EasyJet is currently leaving quite a few planes on the ground. Let's blame everything nicely on Corona, monkeypox or the diabolical Putin.

Maybe a butterfly got into the engines here and there - the fact is, however, that so many flights are canceled every day at BER that we were more focused on Plan B (which, by the way, did not actually exist) than on preparing for this trip.

Since we really didn't know until boarding whether we would even take off, everything was a bit more chaotic than usual.

'Minimal' is of course a huge understatement.

We were simply not prepared at all, like really zero!

A few panties and toothbrushes were thrown into our backpacks and we started our new adventure exactly at 4 a.m. on Sunday. At least our taxi took us to Gesundbrunnen at that time.

3 hours of sleep were behind us.

That should be enough, right!

This time we traveled with a tiny carry-on baggage.

The advantages cannot be denied.

But the disadvantages can't either.

Actually, everything worked at the airport. We were on time, the plane too.

The cabin was packed and unfortunately we weren't, otherwise the children's whimpering would have been easier to bear.

Oh well, we don't have it easy.

After about 2.5 hours and a pretty okay flight, we arrived.

Tired, disheveled and hungry.

Oh ... and without knowing where.

I mean ... hello? Who books an accommodation without a magic ball that tells you whether you will actually arrive that day !?

So we didn't know how we would get from the airport to the city center, let alone where we would sleep in the evening.

I'm telling you - perfectly prepared . 🙃

But what we did know - it was damn hot in Italy.

Phew, awesome shit !! 🔥

We quickly found a bus that brought us a little closer to our 'destination'.

And Catania airport is really close to the city center.

We walked a little ... Well, without the 'little' at the end, because we walked for a while until we could finally order a pizza for breakfast.

Juli kept noticing how dirty it was.

Actually, I also felt like I was in an African ghetto in some places, because there was trash everywhere. It was unkempt and smelled like piss, just like at Boxi.

Exciting though it was and I was so excited about the other sides we would see.

After a few hours of research on booking.com, we finally found our home for the next few days.

We wanted to get out of the city and go to the coast. I had to sell a kidney for the accommodation, but hey, why do I have 2 of those things !?

Most of you have seen the small room tour video or the pictures in the status or the occasional picture on Insta. That's why no more words needed.

The view - Phew! simply a 10 out of 10. 😍

And anyway, that scent in Sicily. 🍋 Mhhh.

It reminded me a little bit of Greece, but somehow it's also completely different.

It was a special vibe that we felt as we strolled through the streets, explored the area and let ourselves drift.

This deep blue sparkling sea right outside the door, cloudless sky and at least 35 degrees in the shade every day.

Even early in the morning, when the rays forced their way through our curtains, sweating already started.

That's also been a thing:

What, the sun shines in Italy ??

I don't know what was going on in our tiny brains, but

of course, none of us thought of sunscreen.

I repeat: Perfectly prepared and all .... 👌

On the first day, not much happened. We still had a lot of sleep to catch up on and basically just wanted to enjoy culinary delicacies before saying Buona notte .

Did you know that it is a Sicilian specialty to spread gelato on a brioche? And did you know that it actually tastes pretty nice?

And did you know that the strawberry ice cream in Italy actually tastes like strawberries?

And did you know that even someone who hates chocolate ice cream was so convinced by the chocolate ice cream there that he ordered the same flavor a second time?

Goodbye calorie deficit.

Hello old number on the scale.

But seriously - anyone who manages not to indulge on a trip to Italy is not human! 👀

The number of ice cream scoops I devoured is only topped by the mosquito bites on my body.

But many biting bugs have a preference for overweight people. (I read it once)

Juli has few to no insect injuries.

Memo to myself: think about it!

When the spaghetti carbonara is then in front of me on the plate and next to it a Coca Cola as a tribute to the famous song, I don't think about the calorie excess, but just enjoy.

Just writing about it makes my mouth water and makes me want it again immediately !!

Instead, I'm sitting with about 150 other people in a way too cramped plane and on my way to the dirty capital Berlin. We are looking forward to our doggo and ... well, that's actually it .....

When we arrive, our butt will surely be as flat as my jokes sometimes.

We had to sit in the plane for about 90 minutes before takeoff because we couldn't take off, as there was an airspace closure in Switzerland this morning and things got backed up. With a considerable delay and slowly very restless legs, we will arrive home in a while.

But hey, at least I got the chance to write the blog.

And if you think it ends here already, ... I have to disappoint you.

A few things will definitely come to mind. 😎

Actually, on day 1 we didn't do much except check in, eat, drink Aperol, and soak up that heavenly Mediterranean vibe.

Day 2, June 13th started with a rooster's cry. Well, in reality it was a very loud contraption that cleaned the streets.

Similar to a wet vacuum cleaner.

The place we landed was completely different from where we came from.

No trash, no dirt, no stench.

And clean streets.

This was Aci Castello. No longer Catania.

We missed the sunrise, but the African 'pole pole' also suits Italy. We made it very quiet. And when we finally cleaned ourselves, we went in search of food.

After that, we wanted to go back to the city by bus.

After all, we wouldn't be us if we didn't go shopping where we go on vacation. That's already a tradition for us.

And with all the perfect preparation before (hehe), we also needed flip-flops or as Juli says 'slippers'.

In addition, a million magnets and other unnecessary stuff ended up in our shopping bag.

Finally, we were in a small outlet store.

It was right next to the bus stop and only caught our attention because of that. Since the bus only comes every 2 hours here and we only had 6 minutes left until it came, we rushed through this store like a rocket.

Any participant of Shopping Queen would have turned pale with envy.

We looked, tried on, and bought.

Nevertheless, we were back at the starting point 2 minutes before the bus arrived.

__________________________________

We spent the afternoon in a so-called Lido ... that's apparently what the Sicilians call their beach bars.

However, we didn't find a beach during these days. Although we didn't really look for it. There was a lot of sea, that's for sure. But also many rocks and even more volcanic rock. People sat on them and jumped into the water from there.

And then there were the Lidos.

These were wooden structures, bridges and stairs from which you could go into the water.

At first glance, they were very amateurishly attached pieces of wood.

Completely built around and on the rocks.

There were umbrellas and loungers there.

And outrageous prices for that.

Well, treat yourself, right.

We relaxed, put our feet in the sun, swam in the really ice-cold sea, and drank Radler with chili.

In short and stupidly said:

Life smiled at us and we smiled back.

Yeah, and suddenly it was already

Tuesday, June 14th

My birthday.

Where better to spend such days than a place like this?

I can't think of an answer right now.

At 6 a.m. I was already sitting on our terrace waiting for the sun to show.

At 8 (yes, in the morning ) I already had my first beer in hand.

At 9 we strolled happily into the next little town and wanted to see what the day would bring.

At 10 we were already walking back, because Juli suddenly had a fever and the bed called her out loud.

So change of plans and back to the accommodation.

In the afternoon and a dozen ibuprofen later, she felt a little better.

Maybe she was just pretending, but she couldn't say no to a pedalo ride on the Mediterranean. 🙃

Honestly folks, that was so much fun. 🤩

The sun was mercilessly scorching and unfortunately I have a few red memories that will definitely linger for a few days .....

A little later, Juli unfortunately felt weak again and we spent the rest of the evening separately .. She was in bed, I was on the terrace.

1 trillion biting insect buddies kept me company.

I was worried, ... she felt guilty. (unjustified of course)

At some point I lay down next to her in bed and 26 mosquito bites later it was already TODAY, the 15th.

The 3 days seemed unbelievably long to me.

The mini-trip was really nice.

Or as they say here BELLISSIMO. ♥

I would have loved to see more, Sicily is really big. And of course I wanted to go to Mount Etna and treat myself to a volcano climb for my birthday. And because good preparation is crucial, I naturally had functional clothing in my luggage .... * cough

Guys, I only had 2 shirts with me, nothing else, really nothing with long sleeves.

And I'm not sure, but at an altitude of 3000 meters.

Well.

Maybe it's a little colder there than the rest of the island.

But really only maybe.

And even IF I had all the clothes .... Such short notice, there was simply no more tour to book.

Everything was sold out, practically.

But it's not over yet .....

Next time I'm prepared!

I'll bring proper clothes, sunscreen, shower gel, slippers and everything else that we forgot this time.

I'll do a tour that will be memorable and make me fall even more in love with Sicily.

Just wait! I'm telling you.

You always meet twice in life ....

Sicily is incredibly beautiful.

Loud and delicious. 😋

Everyone likes to honk and the mentality is a bit snappy at times. Often I thought 'Sorry ?? Don't shout at me, I'm sensitive. '

I've only asked for directions beforehand or wanted to buy something.

But I love the language, the food and the sea.

And with these words and with eyes that keep closing, I say with the most beautiful Italian pronunciation you can imagine

ARRIVEDERCI.

because I'm here finito . (it's almost midnight.)