This blog is the second half of our time in Sicily, Italy. A total of 17 days!
We stayed on the beautiful island of Sicily for 17 days. Spending over two weeks in the same place has been our longest stay in one place. We did this intentionally, because this was the time Justin returned to Utah for work and Brooklyn returned home to be with her dog.
I have been asked over and over while here in Sicily (Sicilia in Italian), why I named my daughter Sicily. When I tell those asking that I loved the name and hoped to one day visit, they always smile and seem so pleased at my Sicily’s name. This island of Sicily is definitely beautiful.
We were fortunate to have rented a house on the beach coast of Alcamo. Alcamo, near the beach, is nearly closed down for the winter. Just as we arrived here, I was told, the weather started to get a bit colder around 54 degrees, and most people here consider this very cold. So when my kids ran around on the beach and even got in the water a bit, we probably seemed a bit crazy, however, we only see an occasional person on the beach anyway, most of the houses around us are closed for the winter.
Luke’s Day – The Valley of the Temples
(Each of the kids got a day to plan and do what they wanted)
The Valley of the Temples comprises eight temples at the edge of the city of Agrigento. These temples are the best preserved Greek temples in Sicily and were built between 510BC and 430BC. The drive to Agrigento took us about two hours. We enjoyed walking along the ridge that these temples are located on and seeing the gardens and ancient burial tombs.
This is a short video of the temples. If you watch close you can see Zeke teasing his brother.
Palermo and a Youth Activity
We found a walking tour of Palermo online and we were able to visit quite a few of the sites listed in downtown Palermo. We started at the huge theater in Palermo, which is the second largest in Europe, then went to a street market, where we read to watch for pickpocketers, walked by the fountain of shame, visited another street market, did a little souvenir shopping, got some dinner and then drove 10 minutes to the Palermo church for the youth activity.
I wanted to add a bit about the Fountain of Shame it’s real name is the Fontana Pretoria built in 1554. It is called the Fountain of Shame because of the nude statues on it which were visible from the windows of the San Giuseppe Dei Teatini church. Apparently, the nuns would say, “How shameful.”
The youth activity was fun, the youth played games, table tennis, just dance and fusbol. They had a spiritual thought/lesson and chatted/hung out. I enjoyed talking to the four missionaries who came. I learned there are four elders and two sisters in this area. What remarkable young people all the missionaries I talked to were.
Zeke’s Day
For Zeke’s day, he wanted to sleep in, play video games (yes he brought his playstation), go to McDonalds and go jogging. Each day we tried to be home so the kids could do their school work and stay caught up with their online school. Yes we learned our lesson with last term. Each of the oldest three know how many assignments they need to do each night to finish two weeks early before the term ends. We will see how everyone does with this schedule in a few months when the term ends.
Back to Zeke’s day, we all enjoyed sleeping in and hanging out in our rental house. I had a few items to get in town and so a few of us drove into Alcamo, we have now figured out how to use Amazon.it (Amazon Italy). There is a hub in Alcamo and we can order things to be picked up there. They are not as fast as the USA Amazon, but still it was nice. When we were driving back home we found a burger place that seemed to make Zeke happy and I didn’t have to drive 30 minutes to the nearest McDonalds, so I was happy too. They even had a burger called the Americano.
Eliza’s Day
Eliza’s day was filled with us driving around the town of Alcamo looking for a store that sold make-up. It was easy back home just going into the grocery store to find make-up. However, Italy is a bit different. We also seem to go to the stores during reposo, and we have learned that Italians are serious about their reposo time (time the stores close and people eat lunch at home and some take a nap-even kids go home from school for a couple hours). There are a few bigger grocery stores that don’t close during reposo. We ended up using Amazon.it and the amazon hub to order a few things in that we couldn’t find. We did find fun facemasks and Sicily was excited to have a spa night for Eliza’s day and watch Harry Potter.
Church and Lunch at Our Favorite Italian’s Home
I love this picture of all of sitting at their huge table. We were so lucky to have the two sister missionaries serving in their ward come over too. They translated and we all talked and had a great time. I enjoyed talking with them about my missionary daughter, Caroline, too.
I learned in Italy they serve several courses at their fancier meals. Our first course was lasagna, second course was broccoli, sausage, wings and chicken strips, Third course was oranges (I was show two ways that Sicilians peel oranges. Also somewhere in there we had bread and a pickled type vegetables too.
We ended by making American cinnamon rolls. Teresa was overwhelmed by the amount of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon used in making them. They were delicious, which I was so grateful for, because I was a bit worried using the different yeast and the more course brown sugar that Italy has.
Teresa even gave me her recipe for Italian ragu sauce and the butter/flour mixture which she put on the top of the lasagna.
Salt Pans of Marsala
The Salt Pan’s of Marsala were only a 45 minute drive from our rental house and are located on the North East part of Sicily. It was interesting going to a place that harvests salt when we come from a place in Utah near the Great Salt Lake which also harvests salt.
I thought the wind mills were very pretty. Apparently, these salt pans were used 2700 years ago, by the Phoenicians and the salt is still harvested by hand. I bought some pure fine salt for salads and some salt with basil mixed in it, which I was told was good for seasoning chicken.
Loved reading about your adventures in Sicily and there about. Life probably seemed a little more relaxed where you got to spend more days. Interesting what each of the kids chose to do on their day and how small things we take for granted are special when you can’t locate or buy like in the states. Having an Italian family be so welcoming is such a blessing to enjoy time and food with. Your recipes and theirs traded and prepared is so unique and special.
Glad your all making such wonderful memories. We love you all.❤️
Grandma and Grandpa
After doing so many things, it is interesting to me that even London will ask when she can have a day off to hang out at the rental home, go on a walk and just rest.