girls' getaway to Taormina

Welcome back from MLK Day weekend, everyone!  Hope you kicked back, relaxed, and enjoyed the weekend wherever you are.  We laid very low here at home other than a couple of hikes into the valley and some evenings with friends.  And we twiddled our thumbs and waited for this baby to come, but... he's staying put for now.  Oh well!

I've been wanting to share these photos with you from now two weekends ago.  It all started when I woke up on Saturday morning and saw an email from my friend Emily, who was on her way to Florence with her family and wanted advice about flying with a runny-nosed toddler.

I turned to Elliott and sighed, "We don't travel anymore!   We used to go somewhere every few weeks but now we just stay at home.  Which is fine with a baby due any day, but... I miss it."

"Well," replied my husband, with a twinkle in his eye, "what if I told you that you were going on a trip today?  That your friends are whisking you away for a girls' weekend in Taormina?  That you are going to spend the whole day shopping and eating in nice restaurants and getting a massage at a spa... and that you're staying overnight in a hotel there, too?"

Umm... whaaaat?!

But he wasn't kidding!  My friend Bethany had secretly arranged to take her two pregnant friends--me and Becca Arthur--to Taormina for a little last getaway before both our babies are born.  (Becca is due in May with her fourth child, a girl!)  Bethany had arranged the whole agenda herself and would be picking me up in about 2 hours.  Time to pack my bags!

We spent the whole day just as Elliott had promised: wandering around the beautiful Sicilian town of Taormina (which I have blogged about before here and here), eating delicious food, and browsing through stores that we would never enter with our rambunctious toddlers!  It was a beautiful gift of a day with two dear friends.

We shopped for pottery in our favorite artist's studio.

Fruit made entirely out of marzipan!  Better to look than to eat.

I love these hand-painted tiles for each profession!  I am "la mamma," Elliott is "il veterinario."

Mini cannolo with pistachio cream.

Cool design idea: display your wine bottles on old roof tiles.

Sicilian ceramics.

Becca and me at lunch in a lovely little restaurant overlooking the water.

 Later we ate granite at our favorite little shop.  We chose mandarin and raspberry.  So fresh and fruity!

The photos ceased after this as we left Taormina to drive to our hotel, where we relaxed that evening and all got amazing massages.  Later we went out for dinner, but unfortunately at this point I was starting to feel ill.  I had no idea why, but then around 1am I woke up and made a beeline for the bathroom to upchuck.  Sadly for me, the stomach virus (which has been ravaging our whole community these past few weeks) appeared to have struck at the worst possible time!  I took this photo from bed in our hotel room the next morning as I tried to keep a cup of tea down and read a book while Bethany and Becca enjoyed breakfast downstairs.  

Bethany got a call from her husband that morning and learned that her own two boys were also losing their breakfast from the same bug!  Oh well... it was home and into survival mode for our two houses for the next couple of days.  An adventurous end to a relaxing weekend!  Thankfully it didn't dampen the spirits or mar the memories for me.

Thank you so much, Bethany, for arranging such a fun weekend for us! 

Cinque Terre :: Monterosso al Mare

Our last day in Cinque Terre... and did we want to visit one last town?  We decided to swing through Monterosso for lunch on our way back to Milan and a flight to Sicily.

Little did we know what a treacherous road we were about to go down!

We snaked up and down the green hills of the coast, passing through tiny little clusters of houses and shops, villages too small to be considered one of the "cinque terre" towns.  The view from the tops of the hills was amazing: a horizon that melted into the sea, cathedral spires nosing the clouds, bright orange nets spread under olive trees for the picking season.

However, as the road twisted down towards the coast numerous times, the scenery changed.  Water collected quickly and formed dangerous rivulets, then streams, then rivers.  At the bottom of the valleys we felt like we were in a war zone; there were barricades everywhere.  This is why parts of Cinque Terre have disappeared in mud slides in 2011 and 2012, and why the Via dell'Amore was closed between the towns, and why there were so many warning signs on the roads... and perhaps also why we were the only cars on it!

A few times I looked back and saw that the earth had washed away underneath the outer edge of the asphalt.  If we had been driving too close to the edge... would the road have fallen away beneath us?

I was actually trembling when we finally parked in Monterosso al Mare and realized it was because I had been so tense in the car.  What a relief to step out into such a quaint little town and have nothing more on our minds than where to find some lunch!

 Farewell for now, Cinque Terre.  Maybe we'll meet again... in the summertime?

Cinque Terre :: Riomaggiore

Day Three in Cinque Terre dawned rainy and gray.  

This is an unfortunate state of affairs if you are in a small apartment with four children under six years old.  We waited for the rain to abate somewhat and then, hungry and stir-crazy, we headed out into our little town of Riomaggiore.  Below is the view of the heart of town and the boat slip.  Looks a little different on a rainy day than it does in the sparkling summertime!

At the top of the town, the sun came out!  As we looked towards the back of town and the rising hills, low-hanging clouds lingered, but if we looked out to sea there was only sunshine.

For all lovers of Naomi of Rockstar Diaries, we missed each other by one day in Riomaggiore.  She took this same photo a day before I did.  I also have a sneaking suspicion we might have even stayed in the same apartment, but do not yet have proof....

Our apartment included the top floor of the narrow rose-colored house on the far left.  Below is the view from the balcony at the very top.

And then we were home after another fun day of exploring.  Time to cook dinner, read a few stories (this one's her current favorite... thank you, Jo and Will!), and snuggle down into bed.

Cinque Terre :: Vernazza

Beautiful Vernazza, the most famous of the Cinque Terre villages, was our lunch stop (and last stop) that first day.  We had wanted to stay in this town because it was famously lovely, but in the end I actually liked Riomaggiore more.  Nevertheless, Vernazza (ver-NATZ-ah) had a gorgeous coastline and lovely little harbor... and some yummy eats.

All the beached rowboats reminded us that we were visiting in the off-season.  Oh to come again in the height of summer when every captain is plying his oars across the sparkling blue sea!

We found a great little restaurant called Bar del Capitano in the main square and settled down for some traditional fare.  I ordered the trofie al pesto this time, which is pesto pasta that is cooked with sticky homemade noodles.  Delicious.

                                                                                                                                        ^ Waiting for the train! 

At home I carefully set up my camera on the balcony railing to take a photo of Riomaggiore by night.  So beautiful!  Later we played games of "This Little Piggy" before dinner.

After our babes were a-bed, the adults played Settlers of Catan... and I won!  For like the second time in my life?