La Bella Vita

During my baby shower in the "Daddy Knows Best" segment- one of the questions to dad was- "Where do you want your first family vacation to be? Well, Daddy got his wish! 

S is for Sicily

Can you believe I couldn't decide on whether I wanted to go to Italy or not?! Crazy right? It sounds ridiculous even to me to admit that-much less to put it in writing. I'll blame it on my fear of turbulence and the end of the school year stress. Seriously though, there's so much to think about when traveling with a baby. Much less traveling to another COUNTRY! What to bring, what to just buy there, will we have air conditioning in both our vehicle and house? If you ever experienced African Trade Winds you'll know that these are legit questions. Last time we were there we experienced about a 3 day stretch of this African wind. I mean this is such indescribable heat that you literally hallucinate because you seriously could be in the pits of Hell. I sweated in the shower as cold water poured out-yes-sweated. In cold water. And if you know me, you'll know I really never sweat much less would I ever willingly take a cold shower. Back to the dilemma-Was I really stressing about going to Italy? Reality hit me at some point that there are babies born and living in Italy right.at.this.moment and in many moments before this one. So this is for sure doable...right?! I obviously knew this trip would be a tad bit different than previous-no more spending hours upon hours at the beach then going by Vincenzo to get our hair washed and styled, no more late night 11:00 dinners, and no more flying over rail road tracks Dukes of Hazard style. Which in turn saves some of us chiropractor bills and life long tailbone pain. But we'd still have our trusty travel partners with us -Bart & Tanya. Along with our 2 new travel accompanists….

Mr. Nico & Mr. Brady

We confirmed and booked our tickets in mid-May which would give plenty of time for Bart to brush up on his Italian (which strictly consists of "Il treno" and "scusa"). Plus gave me time to figure out the passport situation we were currently in. I mean what mother/father forgets to send for a birth certificate for their 1st born?! Yep, you guessed it. Us. So after paying close to triple in fees to get me the documents so we could proceed with Nico's Passport (which by the way is super cute)….

Photo Cred: Eric Nycz

Before we knew it-we were on our way! The official flight day the mood is what I would describe as full fledge anxiety. I mean I woke up and and felt physically ill thinking "Shit, maybe I should have had someone prescribe me something." Luckily having two little kids along your mind quickly becomes easily distracted. Upon arriving to pick up our flight mates- Brady came running out of the house. When I asked Brady if he knew where we were going he exclaimed, "Sunny Sicily!" 5 years old and knows what he's taking about! I then said, "Are you so excited?!" Brady yells, "I'm super DUPER pooper excited!" On cue, Nico starts dying laughing. Needless to say throughout our entire trip- "Super Duper Pooper" was used so often even the Italians learned how to say it-and wanted to know what it meant. How do you translate that?! 

We don't look nervous do we? Cool as freaking cucumbers! 

While waiting to get checked in and board-Nico looked like he was a well seasoned world traveler...

Isn't this How Everyone Travels Through The Airport?

#1 Priority Obvi

Remember when flying use to be glamorous? Now it's a big giant greyhound bus that flies 32,000 feet in the air going 525 miles per hour. Not glamorous at all. 9 hours and some minutes later we landed at FCO for our next quick flight to PMO. We had to go though customs to get on our final flight. Holding my big giant baby and seeing the never ending customs line-I was thinking, Nico made it through a 9 hour flight in addition to the 2 1/2 hour car ride to Chicago. This is where the meltdown of his life is about to occur-right here in a freaking cattle line. We weren't even to the end of the line and some lady working spotted us-motioned for us to go by her where she then escorted us to the FRONT of the line. Seriously. I should have got her name. God Bless her. Just like that we were off for the quick hop to the "big island" and in no time we landed celebrity style…

I waved coming down the steps like I was famous. 

We were welcomed at the airport by relatives and friends that gave us a lot of kisses, hugs, helping hands, water (what does 29 Celsius convert too? Hot that's what), and family members trying to get away with stealing my baby. Not this time you crazy Sicilians. Next stop, to our rental house that our "Landlord" had made sure was already stocked with supplies, food, fruit, and wine upon our arrival. What? Who does that? Marcelo does that-that's who. On our way to the house he pulls over in front of some building, runs inside and comes back to the vehicle with a huge order of freshly made food to bring back to the house. You know, because he figured we'd be tired from traveling and want something to eat. Really? Really. Marcelo=Bomb.com

Marcelo & Us

That evening we had a mini reunion with some of Steve's family members who obviously had more food waiting for us. But of course there was a lot of oohing and ahhing over Baby Nico. "Ciccio Bello" and "Che Duci" over and over and over again. Guess he is all of those things...

Melts People With His Charm & Sweetness

We visited, caught up, and Steve informed everyone of things they were dying to know such as how I produce a lot of milk but don't really require much food. So he's going keep me for awhile yet and other random facts. Once back in the confines of our own space-I yelled at him for once again comparing me to a cow. His response? "What?! They appreciate those kind of things here." Sweet husband I have huh? We then got some good non-airplane sleep and woke up to this on our veranda the next morning… 

Fresh Cornetti

The morning after that-we find another beautifully wrapped package waiting for us...more Cornetti. Steve says, "I don't think they ever want us to leave." Later that day, Marcelo brings us a huge watermelon. My next statement, "Who the hell does he think we are?" NOTE: Marcelo had fresh cornetti waiting for us every.single.day of our stay. Along 2 more melons, fresh seafood salad, and then hosted a feast our last evening there. Best.landlord.ever. 

It has been 7 years since I've been to Italy and 5 years since Steve was back. Not sure how time passes so quickly. But other vacations were taken in that time and well, life happens. So being back with a baby in tow, makes you even more in demand. In America, you look at a baby and you ohhh and ahhh but in Italy you get special privileges, get faster service, and then more special treatment. They take loving babies to another level. Babies are the reason for living. Life is not meaningful if there isn't a baby in your life. EVERYBODY loves babies. Everyone. Men. Women. Kids. Other Babies. Or again, maybe it's just Nico. He's just so damn lovable. 

What they don't understand about babies though (or at least my baby) is that I don't shove food in my child's mouth nor do I cover my baby when it's 90 something degrees because the "breeze" is bad for them. I also give my baby cold water when it's 162 degrees outside and feed him granita to keep him cool. Which by the way is Nico's favorite treat. 

Granita

Speaking of food and treats. Lets talk about the food. My oh my the food. Honestly, where do I begin? How about the figs? Seriously, I can't even. I love figs the way they love babies. Word travels quick over there (sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing) and it seemed that everyone was bringing me figs. I ate so many figs that I lost count nor was I ashamed that I had a heaping plate in front of me. Actually, I was proud. And when I offered others figs? I was just doing it to be polite-I really didn't want to share. I even snatched some figs but was caught red handed along with photographic proof.  

Full Blown Fig Addict

It was from a family member's tree so it doesn't really count as stealing. But I don't get it…everything just tastes better. Actually I do get it. Everything is FRESH.  Italians have a much higher standard when it comes to their food than the majority of Americans. All of their food-even "convenience" food has a very short and concise list of ingredients.Bread doesn't sit on the shelf for weeks. Bread is made fresh every day. I can't eat ice Cream here but can eat Gelato over there...I experience no GI upset or any other unwanted symptoms. Certain ingredients that are in our food here in the good US of A are actually banned there. Come on America….

Gelato Heaven

Freshly Made Cappuccino & Croissants

Cous Cous & Seafood

Fresh Everythang

More Gelato? Yes, please. 

It basically seemed that all we did was eat. Which happens to be one of my favorite things to do. Along with being in the sun. And being with my favorite people. In other words-I was really living the JLOVE dream in Sicilia. The timing was right that we were able to celebrate Steve's big birthday during our stay. We arrived at a restaurant called "Ground" (They love any American words) where we arrived at approximately 9:30. We went strictly for dinner-you know we have kids now so has to be a little earlier. Which means we got home at two in the morning. Honestly-that's how it works. You go out to eat and it's at a minimum of a two hour process. But what's the hurry? In Italy, life is a reason to celebrate! Any reason is a reason to celebrate! Any day of the week is a good time to celebrate! Those Italians are on to something….

Happy Birthday Chicken White!

We did a lot of exploring as well but everytime we went into town-every 6th car that would pass Steve would say, "There's my cousin." How many cousins does one person have? And then if someone saw Steve as they drive past they would stop the car blocking traffic to stop and talk. It's always like having a celebrity with us. Maybe this explains the over the top treatment from Marcelo? But the driving in Sicily is INSANE. The roads are small-meant barely for 2 way traffic. But you actually have 4 way traffic and then 1 way traffic because 3 people decide to pull "over" to quick run and get an espresso.There are stop signs but don't you dare stop! If you do they will honk at you. The smaller the mode of transportation the better. Scooters are ideal. In fact this is the exact Vespa Steve had when he was young in Sicily that we spotted on an Island we went to. Maybe I'll frame it for Nico's room?

Even with having two young babes in tow we still were able to go sight seeing and go to new places. Erice, Favignana, Cefalu, & San Vito to name a few. But no matter where you go-everything revolves around the beach. Lucky for us-both kids loved the water. Enjoy a few pics from our trip below!

How Could Anyone NOT Love This Water?

Isn't Sicily so amazing?!! One of my other favorite memories was at a restaurant called "La Favarotta". We joined some friends there and it was quite the happening place. A birthday/baptism/wedding all happening within one party. (Only because they are too cheap to host them separately per Salvo). :) This place was packed. There was a kid's bouncy house in the back with a bunch of kids all sweaty and laughing. There was live music and dancing by both the young and old. It was so neat to see everyone interact and even though there were language barriers- it didn't matter because fun and laughter is spoken the same in all languages. We of course had to photo document some of these fantastic memories and Brady came over between me and the table and accidentally spilled my glass of red wine all over Stefano's baby pink shirt and white shorts. 

Wine Spilled On You = Good Luck in Italy

I'm pretty sure we should have good luck for the rest of our lives. It was 11:00 at night and still 84 degrees-Stefano just really needed a cool down. Speaking of heat. Remember my concerns regarding the heat before we left? Let's just say during our stay- Italy experienced a heat wave that according to the news hasn't happened in over 70 years. Thank God, we had air conditioning in our house (not the norm there) as well as in our vehicle. Also, remember no more salon visits? Happened twice even with a baby. Yahoo! Thanks Vincenzo-XO.This 16 day adventure proved to be without a hitch. The final test would be the flight home. I wanted to wait till we were back in Chicago to really judge how my baby travels. I thought the way there was probably just a fluke and I didn't want to jinx anything. Wouldn't you know-Mr. Nico aced the test. It kind of got sickening everyone saying how good he was throughout our travels. Kinda like when people always say how cute he is. Sickening. Ok, I lie. Not sickening at all. A fellow passenger turned around and said "Your baby is amazing." Not good…amazing. People coming over to us on the jet way complimenting him. All while I silently thanked Jesus and took all the credit for his stellar behavior…and cuteness. 

Way Up High

We have so many special memories for this trip. But one that tops the list is on our last day there we were standing on the streets-of course everyone spotting Steve and stopping over to say hello/goodbye. One gentleman came over-I didn't understand what he was saying to Steve. But he started thumbing his wallet looking for something. He pulled this out...

It's a two dollar bill that Steve's dad gave him many many years ago. Across it if you look closely Steve's dad wrote "Buon Natale" on the left side and his name "Nicola" on the right. The gentleman wanted Nico to have it. I got emotional when he handed it to us and I'm emotional as I write this. It was the perfect ending to our trip. Coming home with a piece of Nico's Nonno. Things really came around full circle and just seemingly made sense. 

I want to thank everyone for making our trip to Sicily one to remember. From all of Steve's family and friends that spoil and love us there. Especially Salvo for taking care of all the big important details for us. A thank you to our travel companions-Bart, Tanya, and Brady for keeping us company and enjoying Sunny Sicily with us! And a huge thank you to Marcelo who was a stranger at the start but now is someone that we consider family as well. And for everyone back home that kept things in order and made coming home special too. All together you made our time away worth it. There is just something about the sea, salt water, and sun that heals your soul. Something we needed desperately. 

Amazingly Close to God

So what have I learned about Italy this time around whether you have a baby with you or not? 

• Don't expect dinner to start before 9:00pm…even with a baby. 
• If you have someone that speaks Italian you are golden (yes, we are available to accompany you on your dream vacation for a small price)
• Do not go to Italy without a baby in tow (yes, Nico is available to accompany you on your dream vacation-but his mom and dad are part of the package) 
• Don't ask too many questions. Sicilian Wisdom from my husband. 
• There's no such thing as too much gelato. 
• Italians can't say the name Brady. Brett? Bradley? Huh? 
• It's official-I have one of the easiest, sweetest, and most lovable babies.
• When an opportunity presents itself-take it.

And of course the very best lesson…

There is just something about those Italians....

XO.

JLOVE AKA "Mommy

P.S. Nico-your 9th month of life was BIG! I'd consider you an official world traveler now. You had so many firsts while in Sicily! 1st time eating pasta, gelato, fresh fruit that you can't compare, and your 1st tooth! Then 2 more decided to come through and you still were the sweetest baby ever. The sun and water made your hair grow a little more and you have skin that becomes golden when the sun kisses you. I hope one day you'll look back at this and realize you are so very blessed to be loved and adored around the world. There is something real special about you and I'm glad you prove that to everyone you encounter. Keep shining baby.