Spring break this year only got me more excited for summer vacation. I don’t know when else I will get to say, we spent the summer galavanting around Sicily! While we may get tired, and it can be a little stressful…. our kids have turned into fantastic little travers. We truly have so much fun together when we are exploring! We’ve also been so fortunate with weather and trying to plan for areas where the weather for the season should work in our favor (i.e. staying in a southern country or region instead of going north right now during winter or rainy seasons). 

So for spring break, Pat again was gone for a work trip. This time to the other side of the island here on Sicily to Trapani. So, we tagged along, again. Pat was working longer days than he expected, so we did a lot of this adventuring without him… but we had a great time. The highlights of our trip were:

1. A ferry ride to a small island of Favignana. The island used to be a tuna fishery and canning town. Now, in the summertime it is bustling with the beautiful beaches. We were there in an off-time, so it was quiet and calm. We only spent like 2 hours there, wandering the streets, eating gelato and picking shells from the beach. 

2. Beach day. The girls felt like it was warm enough to go swimming on our second day…. so i let them. It was freezing.. but they didn’t care. 

3. Scootering around the parks. At this age, if the kids can find a good park to play at… they are good. Give them a random peacock and bird enclosures (why those are there, I still don’t know) but they were so happy.

4. A kids bounce house. Think of like a giant McDonald’s play place. They loved it. 

5. Gelato every day.

6. Busiata Trapanese- this is our families all time favorite pasta now. It’s a special type of noodle from this area of Sicily, and the sauce is a pesto made of tomatoes, almonds and basil. It is absolutely delicious. The girls got it 4 times at different restaurants. 

As we travel for longer periods of time, we are getting a little pickier about our hotels. This time we made sure to get one that had at least a tiny kitchenette. This one had a a microwave, a mini-fridge, a kettle and a little sink. We stayed at the Residence La Gancia It was a perfect! We also had beautiful ocean view, their breakfast room had an even better room where we took some of our afternoon “chill time” just coloring and reading. 

This trip was also nice because it was a road trip. It takes about 3.5-4 hours. For me, this was easier than a plane ride. I could fill up the mini van with anything and everything i could possibly want to use for entertainment and snacks. We were able to bring the kids scooters. And even though I did the drive myself with the girls, the views throughout Sicily are just beautiful. From the mountains, to the farms and vineyards, to the ocean views that remind me of Hawaii. It just blows my mind every time we explore somewhere new how this is where we live! 

When in Trapani, we collected postcards for our Penpalz and some of that fantastic pasta to send to one of our Penpalz! Since Easter was this month, we are also including one of the traditional Columba cakes from the area as it’s a symbol of spring here! We can’t wait for you to get your postcards and the box!

Next month we will be sharing adventures from somewhere very exciting- Istanbul, Turkey!