We Made it!!

After a very long day of travels, we made it to Sicily!! Our day started very early with getting up at 3am to make sure we had enough time to walk to the train station to catch our 4:38am train to the airport. We arrived bleary-eyed and still not feeling like we were on vacation yet and met up with two of Dan's friends's who were also going to the conference. When we arrived at our gate for boarding, there seemed to be a problem. We heard the attendants saying some things in Dutch and we finally asked what was going on and we were told that a bird had gotten on the plane and was flying up and down the plane, leaving behind special gifts. They had gotten the bird out but were cleaning the plane and we didnt't end up boarding until 15 minutes after our plane was supposed to leave. Due to our flight being so full, we had to check our carry-on baggage, which was a problem because apparently Rome is notorious for not getting baggage to your next flight, if you have a transfer there, which we did. So we grabbed a few essentials out of the carry-on (swimsuit and a dress:) ) and watched them take it away.

We were concerned about making our connecting flight to Palermo, Sicily because we were now delayed and we originally only had 45 minutes between our flights. However, the pilots made up the time in the air and it ended up not being an issue because we didn't even leave Rome for over an hour. We sat on the plane due to “traffic problems in Palermo”. At least that's what we were originally told. However, as the minutes ticked on, the pilot finally came over the intercom and said that they were “cleaning off the runway now from an accident and that the airport would be reopening shortly”. Um...that is a problem. Apparently another plane had landing problems prior to us getting there and they had shut down the runways while they got whatever happened cleaned up. When we arrived in Palermo, we saw a plane sitting near the end of the runway, that looked like it had no back tires and was resting on its belly. When we asked the flight attendant about it, he told us that that was a plane that actually had landing problems 2 months ago...comforting.

But we landed without incident and made our way to the baggage claim, praying that our luggage made it. I jumped for joy when I saw our suitcases come down the conveyor belt. Unfortunately, one of the friend's we were with, his suitcase did not make it. We waited on a few more planes from Rome to arrive, to see if they put it on those flights but it never showed up. The airport people said they would find it and bring it to our hotel. So we headed for Cefalu! But, before we could get there, we had to take a 50 minute bus ride from the airport to the train station in Palermo and from there a 55 minute train ride to Cefalu. It was a lot of traveling but somehow whenever you can look to your right and see the sea, it makes everything better. When we arrived in Cefalu, we decided to walk to our hotel as it was less than a mile away. Well...our hotel was up a mountain of sorts. It was crazy. Dan pulled our suitcases and I've never been so glad that we didn't take another suitcase in my life:) By the time we reached our hotel, we were all drenched in sweat and ready to rent a scooter. Luckily, the hotel has shuttles to the beach and the city center so it won't be necessary but seriously, it was crazy.

When we walked into the hotel though, vacation mode hit. It's very open, there's a big terrace that overlooks the sea, beautiful flower and shrubbery (yes, I said shrubbery). Our room has a big window that opens to amazing smelling flowers. It was fabulous. By this time, we were all starving as we really hadn't eaten much except what we got on the plane, so we took the shuttle into the city center and started exploring and looking for restaurants. Apparently in Sicily, most restaurants are open for lunch until about 2 then they close again until about 7, when they open for dinner. So what are you to do when you're starving but the restaurants aren't open? Eat gelato of course!!! I know it's super cliché

to say how amazing the gelato is in Italy but it's cliché for a reason. It. Is.AMAZING!!! Dan went a little crazy, eating gelato, granita, a cannoli, and an ice cream dessert. We had dinner at a restaurant that was right on the sea, with waves crashing against the rocks beneath us.

It is so beautiful and today we are off to explore the beaches and experience more delicious Italian food!! I'm going to try and update with pictures and stories every day so check back!