Vacation courtesy of Steve

Steve served his mission in Sicily 25 years ago and goes back for work almost once a month. I have been begging for years to go and see where he hung out and revisit some of his P-day outings. With Pete and Ray coming for Thanksgiving, Steve planned an itinerary to show us the best of island life.
We flew into Palermo, Steve's third city he lived in during his mission, and rented a Fiat Bravo
and headed out an hour to Cefalu`. This is the view from the balcony of the Villa that Steve reserved.

The villa had a pretty yard and pool surrounded by tropical flowers

And in the yard was an ancient olive tree and piece of an olive press

We didn't waste anytime but headed into the old town to eat arancini, the greatest Sicilian food invention: golden breaded rice balls stuffed with meat and cheese

The city had gorgeous buildings and colors which Pete captured with his camera. (Yes Pete this blog is about you!)

The Piazza del Duomo had this great Norman cathedral (built 1131) that sat at the foot of a craggy mountain above.

You can't tell in this picture but this cool church also sits near the ocean . It was built by Roger II who survived a shipwreck nearby. He wanted to thank the Madonna for sparing his life and had this cathedral erected in her honor

Check out the gorgeous wooden ceiling

My troops were willing to climb to the top of the citadel above but they were a bit pooped. So I suggested dolci to pep them up. And we found another Sicilian delicacy: CANNOLI!

When we were climbing these steps up to the old ruins far above,we passed people's homes and a small boy pointed at us and said "turisti"...yes even though we have lived in Italy for three years, we will always be stranieri and tourists.

The views above and below kept us motivated to press on

As we climbed higher and higher we could see the gorgeous ocean and church below us.

We reached the gate of the old fort and after seeing the workmanship weren't surprised it still stood.

But there was still another 45 minutes and climbing to reach the top.

The elements and years hadn't been as kind to some of the citadel structure at the top, but there were windows and rooms still going strong...kinda like these 40 somethings below (looking a bit aged but still holding up nonetheless)

This was an oven that would have been used to bake bread.

Italians say God roams their countryside... I think he vacations on this coast as well it was so breathtaking

It was really fun seeing these guys together and their big smiles.

We climbed some more and came to this ruin, a temple dedicated to the Goddess Diana

Everyone was joking around here and doing their best impression of Solomon pushing down the temple pose

We headed back down as the sun was starting to set

Pete stopped and enjoyed one last breath of fresh air and the view

Steve was content to stay here to hold up the wall...but we convinced him we needed him more to show us around the rest of Sicily.