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! 

"Happy Day!!!"

How many of you woke up this morning and thought, "Oh bummer, the long weekend's over!  No more Thanksgiving for a year!"  Some of you trudged back to work or study, others watched our spouses trudge off and turned around to quiet houses without cozy adult companionship.

Well, Lena has a message for you if you're down.  Her new word... er, phrase gave me warm fuzzies this morning as the week began without our Elliott/Daddy at home.

In other news, how many of you are doing some Cyber Monday shopping today?  Last year I took advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday in the States to get some amazing deals on yarn for my Etsy shop and to buy cloth diapers at a great price from here.  This year in Italy... hmm, no online purchases yet, but I'm very tempted by all the cute baby clothes and darling wooden toys at serious markdowns on Totsy. 

Anything tempting you?  Or do you avoid that craziness?

Mt. Etna in the autumn (or... hiking with kids)

The weather these days in Sicily is just perfect in every way.  Clear, refreshing days with big bowl-of-blue skies and light breezes.  Rain once every week or so, just enough to turn the earth green again and give you reason to break out your cooler weather gear.  And then there are the hints of changing color on Mt. Etna, which we are taking every opportunity to see.

Last Saturday we joined our dear friends the Arthurs for another hike on Mt. Etna.  It was a perfect day: a picnic, a fireplace (even if we forgot marshmallows), a beautiful climb, and a magnificent view.  Oh, and kids wearing themselves out with happy play!

Elise in her new hat 

Mama Arthur and her brood

Lena and Lucas

The fire builders and their helpers.  (Josh: "It's easier to wear Elise's hat than carry it for her.")

How young families hike.

 

The final push and then the summit.

Beautiful Sicily!

"There's our town, guys, can you see it?"

my gentle husband

we three and Mt. Etna

fall color in Sicily

Ever since I returned to Sicily last week, I've been feeling sad about leaving beautiful fall color behind in Virginia.  We love living here, but there's just nothing like autumn on the East Coast.  I think it's the rich color saturation of everything: leaves, clothes, sky, scarves, apples, boots, lipstick, pumpkins. 

Last week my friend Becca mentioned that there is fall color on Mt. Etna, the highest volcano in Europe, which is just a 45-min drive from our house.   Quick, gather a crew and let's go hiking!  With two of our closest family friends here, we drove up to the slopes of the volcano, picnics packed and children in tow. 

Aren't the kids cute?  Elliott and I got to see what "hiking" will look like in a few years when Lena's a little older and we add a babe or two to our family!  These are some rockstar parents, folks.

 I'm linking up with Weekend Update Blog Hop and The Weekend File.

a little Virginia autumn for your weekend

^ "Umm, Mama, I'd really like to go on a walk with you but I just have to figure out how to bring all my shoes along too."

The weekend before we left Virginia and returned to Sicily, my parents, siblings, Elliott, Lena, and I drove to a pretty little getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Elliott and I swung by UVA to pick up my sister Emily on our way to the house my mom had rented for all of us.  We soaked up time together with hikes in the mountains, leisurely meals and conversation indoors, and quiet moments around the fire pit or in the hot tub outside.  Lena especially enjoyed the huge walking stick bugs ("bee!  bee!" and giggles) that her daddy caught for her.

I'll leave you with a portrait of a blogging couple.  This is how we spend many evenings together but usually no one else is around to say, "Aww, you two are so cute with your matching computers!" and take a picture.