As we told you in our last post, our friends Chris and Florrie got a transfer from Germany to Sicily. First we thought we didn’t get it, and then all of a sudden we did. The move was rather hurried and stressful. Our last full week in Germany was spent in a cute little apartment above a restaurant in a local village.
We had a great view too.
Our last night (New Year’s Eve) was spent with our good friends Chris and Pete Yost. In the morning we started out on our three day drive to our new home.
The first day of the trip we drove through Germany and Switzerland and then into Northern Italy where we saw a very adventurous person.
Those of you who have been to Italy before will recognize this symbol. For those who haven’t it’s 
The second day of our trip we drove through some of our favorite regions in Italy; Tuscany and Umbria. As you can tell by the picture we didn’t stop in Tuscany, we were on a mission!
We did stop in Orvieto in Umbria for lunch. Actually, with the help of our good friends the Yosts, we got through the last step of selling Chris’s CRV there too. We figured driving in Italy is crazy enough that we didn’t need a car with the steering wheel on the right hand side, Nemo was always nervous in that car.
Our next stop was in our very favorite place in the world, Gaeta! Not only did we spend the night there but we spent it in our old apartment. Nemo and I were treated like kings. 
Anyone who visited us in Gaeta has this picture, now we do too!
The next day we had our morning cappuccino and cornetto in our favorite Italian bar (which is not the same as other bars) with our favorite Italian barista, Erasmus.
He remembered us all and was very happy to see us. He was happy to hear we were moving back to Italy. We continued our drive through southern Italy, stopping at our favorite olive oil place on the way down and driving through some thick fog.
Finally, after almost three full days of driving, we made it to Reggio di Calabria where we took the ferry over to Messina in Sicily.
Now we are busy learning about our new home. Here is a little information for you: Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy. It has been conquered numerous times and so has been influenced by many cultures. Some of these cultures are
the Arabs,
the Greeks
and the Romans.
Sicily is a country where you can get some of the best food ever, whether at an Autogrill, a restaurant, or a truck!
This is a great restaurant in Siracusa (actually Ortigia,the ancient part of Siracusa). It is called Dock and serves marvelous sea food.
You can find one of the ten oldest trees in the world here on the slopes of Mr. Etna and absolutely fantastic wine sold in recycled water bottles!
You can visit an erupting volcano and cute little coastal towns.
If you are lucky you may even find a home with wonderful views!
Sicily is a beautiful country full of friendly and caring people.
Until next time Ciao!
