Monday 22nd September Germany - Lina and Cristofolo Our first morning in Germany was great because the staff was so helpful and polite! Imagine that! The night before we were so tired and slightly p***ed off to notice the fabulous décor… slight Asian theme in shades of jade and dark blue and really neat bathrooms. During holidays in Australia we’ve stayed in a few Formula One motels and they’d been great for a quick stop over and this Motel One in Germany was no exception. The main difference was the breakfast. There was a coffee machine which made all imaginab [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 18th September Licodia - Catania When Kurt and I got up we started our final clean. Kurt took all the suitcases downstairs to the van, and I gave the place a final clean. Zia Vincenzia’s apartment was so clean, that I felt I had to give the bathroom a once over and the floors a sweep. We stopped and had our final breakfast with Zia Vincenzia and her daughters Anna Maria and Angela. It was nice and funny. I went back upstairs to finish sweeping and Kurt went to packing the car. Later Zia Vincenzia said she’d be really angry [View Full Entry]

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Friday 19th September Catania We had the best night’s sleep without Licodia’s nightly hoons on their vespas and cars!!We decide that Friday had to be a lazy day because I was so behind on the blog and we were all very tired after our stay with family. We discovered that the cabin, while very nicely decorated, didn’t have a toaster or coffee cups (but had 2 italian percolators and cute little expresso cups!) So my Mum was ingenious and gave us deep soup bowl for our coffee. It was great! Because the second cup of coffee never taste as good as [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 17th September Licodia - Vizzini Zia Vincenzia’s son-in-law Guiseppe, invited Kurt, Joshua and my Dad to go fishing in Lago Licodia. So first thing Wednesday, they were up ready to go and Katelyn couldn’t make up her mind whether to go fishing or go shopping at the market with me. She was worried about the road and thought the market would be the same size as Licodia’s market. Just as they drive off, I found out the market at Vizzini is huge!! poor Katelyn! Angela drove my Mum, Zia Mimmi and me to Vizzini. The market was great with [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 16th September Licodia - Agrigento We had planned to leave Licodia three days earlier to spend a few nights at Agrigento, but between ourselves decided to spend the extra time in Licodia. So we planned to make Agrigento a day trip. Katelyn was given more panadol for her fever and off we set to Agrigento. Although the road was o.k it was a little curvy and so poor Katelyn threw up. We went to the Valley of the Temples, a huge ridge of land that had a few temples along it. The three main temples we saw were Temple of [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 14th September Licodia - Marzarone’s Festa D’Uva Sunday morning did not bring good stuff for us!! My Mum and I both woke up with the runs and later I threw up!! My Dad also had a throwing up marathon. But Kurt had had the runs for a few days. My Zia Mimmi from Switzerland had also been sick a few days earlier. So while we thought we’d over-eaten big time, we may simply have been a little run down and therefore very susceptible to the virus roaming around Licodia. Boy did we feel bad!! For breakfast, I could only manage [View Full Entry]

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Friday 12th September Licodia - Donnafugata.. On Friday Kurt bought a telephone card from the local bar. I’m always so impressed when he heads out on his own with limited Italian and doesn’t hesitate to speak to the locals. After that he went to Giuseppe’s home (my dad’s cousin’s son) to use their internet. He virtually lived there during so much of our time in Licodia, trying to download photos for my blog, reply to emails and do banking. They were always so welcoming and trying to feed him. Kurt spoke to his Mum and Dad who had just returned from [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 11th September Licodia Market - Campania We were very excited to learn a produce and clothing market came to Licodia every Thursday. There was heaps of cheese and salami and clothing everywhere. Katelyn loved it!! She took her allowance and loved the E1 and E2 stands. She pulled the clothes from the bottom of the piles, turned them over and threw them back. She’d ask “Quando coste?” and spend her money if something took her fancy!! What amazed me about these markets was that there were no fitting rooms, not even little cubicles to try on bras!! So if [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 10th September Villa Romana - Whole family dinner My parents and us were up and ready by 8.30am ready to drive out and visit Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina. The great thing about the 3rd century Villa was that it was covered for many years, which protected it from an earthquake and just general aging. The majority of the Villa is covered with a Perspex roof which apparently is causing conservationist major concern as 80% of the mosaics are fading. The heat under that roof, on that hot day, was horrible. We were sweating profusely and started [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 9th August Licodia Giuseppe took us to the council to help us get our original marriage certificate back. When I applied for my Italian passport and wanted to have my children’s names added, my marriage certificate was required. I don’t how it happened but the Italian consulate held on to my original marriage certificate and when questioned they said, if I wanted to hold an Italian passport, my marriage certificate had to return to my parent’s place of origin. So here we are at the council office of Licodia, humbly requesting our original certificate. And guess wh [View Full Entry]

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