What a whirlwind week I have just had! I spent the last 8 days in Sicily; a trip that I have had to keep secret from family for months. To explain why we need to go back to the very beginning.
August 2018
This story starts over a year ago, in August 2018. As it had been years since we had all gone on holiday together, my in-laws put out a message to ask if anyone would be interested in a family holiday to Sicily in 2019.
As much as we would have loved to go, Ross and I had to decline the invite.
Partly because we had a friend’s wedding at the end of the week that suited everyone else. And, partly because– given the success I had seen with stem cells— we had already begun planning our dream trip to Japan for the Autumn of 2019.
However, that all changed when Ross’ brother Stevie and his fiancee decided to take advantage of the close family being together and get married in Sicily!
Except, they hadn’t realised Ross and I weren’t planning to go. And, this is where all the secrecy began.
KEEPING everything Under Wraps
For the wedding was going to be kept under wraps and the couple were planning to surprise the family once in Sicily.
They, therefore, had to spill the beans to us to ensure we had the opportunity to go (which worked out well as it meant they had witnesses for the legal wedding ceremony they had in Scotland back in February).
We, of course, couldn’t miss our brother’s wedding! So, we started to plan the logistics of how we could get ourselves there but also be home in time for our friend’s wedding.
Planning to Travel To Sicily
Our original plans were to fly to Sicily for the wedding, stay a couple of days and then fly home. We would then be home in time to travel to our friend’s wedding.
But, given I had a setback with my health at the beginning of 2019, I was feeling a bit stressed over the thought of so much travel in literally a few days.
In the end, Ross and I decided it would be best to head out to Sicily before our family arrived. This meant we would have more time in between all of the travelling.
Having Time Together First
It also meant we would get to spend some time away together (since Japan has gone on the back burner for now).
It was decided that we wouldn’t tell our family that Ross and I were going. The main reason was to avoid any questions about our change in plans (which I’d find stressful as it’s far too easy to slip-up when keeping a secret!).
And, it also meant that no-one would suspect a thing in regards to a potential wedding! Which worked out perfectly.
So, last Tuesday Ross and I made our way to Sicily.
I was feeling super paranoid about my mother-in-law discovering we had gone on holiday (especially since I had to announce I was away on my Etsy shop). So we told her that Ross had surprised me with a little trip away to Amsterdam.
Which was only half a lie since we did technically fly to Amsterdam… we just stayed for a couple of hours before boarding our connecting flight to Catania, haha!
The Start of Our Trip to Sicily
The start of our Sicilian trip was a little stressful as I was knocked travel sick on the flight and then the car rental company insisted we needed to spend €250 on extra insurance.
She really went at it with the hard sell and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The way she spoke about Sicily and crime made you want to get straight back on the plane home.
Not being one to be taken advantage of by scare tactics, Ross simply went on his phone and found a 3rd party company to take out extra insurance with for £18.
Job done, we were on our way.
Anxiety sky-high after our 1-hour drive to our accommodation (Sicilian driving is eh… something else shall we say), I immediately relaxed as soon as I saw the cottage we were staying in.
A Beautiful Rural Cottage
Our base for the next few days was an utterly blissful rural cottage near Giarratana. It was literally in the middle of nowhere, so a car was needed. But it was perfect for a relaxing, peaceful few days.
Even better, a lovely restaurant was literally about 50 metres away from the cottage so we had everything we needed right there.
It’s the first time we have stayed in Airbnb Plus accommodation and the cottage was utterly immaculate and full of little extra touches.
We spent a couple of days exploring and the rest of the time was spent beside the gorgeous swimming pool.
Sightseeing In Ragusa
On our first adventure, we travelled to the nearby city of Ragusa. Which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And, it’s not hard to see why.
The older town of Ragusa Ibla literally sits on a hillside and is full of impressive baroque architecture. Without any plans, we simply wandered through the narrow, winding streets and took in the sights including Chiesa del Purgatorio.
Visiting Ortigia
On another day, we visited Ortigia. Now, one thing I have to say I worked out pretty soon into our trip is that I struggled to cope with the humidity and heat.
I have travelled to some very hot countries before but, for some reason, I found the sun in Sicily to be particularly fierce and I just could not cope with it.
Our trip to Ortigia was, therefore, cut far too short as I was completely done in after only a short period of time.
I can’t tell you much about the place but I can tell you it’s the home of Archimedes… since we opted to go into a museum dedicated to him because it had A/C and I was pretty sure I was headed for heat exhaustion!
Saved by Archimedes…
I didn’t find Ortigia particularly impressive except for the town centre. But, I’m perhaps being too harsh since I was so wowed by Ragusa and wasn’t feeling my best.
Surprising the Family
On the Sunday, it was time to head to Fontane Bianche where our family were staying. The plan was to surprise everyone with wedding invites and then Ross and I would appear.
Our brother Mikey told everyone he was headed to the shop to get mushrooms for breakfast when really he was letting us into the villa.
As it turned out, the villa was set out perfectly for a surprise entrance. We were able to get inside the gates and park our car without anyone seeing or hearing a thing.
It All went to plan… sort of
We had one incident where the three of us had to duck and hide behind the car as someone came out of the annexe (which was close to where the cars were parked). But, thankfully they didn’t see us or notice the sudden appearance of a different car.
At this point, I was in stitches and trying my best not to laugh as Mikey was texting Stevie about the hiding fiasco and essentially telling him to hurry up and that he couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery (he was struggling to get everyone together to hand out the wedding invites).
But, finally, we heard the shock and excitement from family and knew it was time to make our entrance.
Which involved some more running and hiding but, by this time, we were in full stealth-mode and no one saw us until we were right beside them.
Everyone was Surprised
To say it was a brilliant surprise all-round would be an understatement. It all worked out perfectly and no-one had suspected a thing (even with the men being told to bring kilts… which was sold under the guise of celebrating Stevie’s 30th birthday, which, thankfully, struck no-one as being odd haha!).
The wedding was planned for the next day and it was fun to have that 24 hours with everyone feeling excited and in high spirits.
Beautiful Wedding
The wedding itself was lovely and the couple had their Sicilian friend conduct the ceremony. Afterwards, we headed down to the beach for photographs and the guys in their kilts were certainly a big hit. I can’t imagine that would be a regular sight in Sicily!
I think the photographer they hired had a blast too. I don’t think he would have attended a wedding that involved kilts, the Star Wars theme song or the Gay Gordons ;).
The newlyweds did a great job and it was so nice to be a part of it all. We had the day after the wedding to spend with everyone too before then flying home.
Travelling home
The flights home were great but we literally had 20 minutes in Charles Du Galle to make our connecting flight home to Edinburgh.
We were given a little map by the flight attendant and told where to go. She said it was an easy transfer but I noticed it said the transfer took 20 minutes and went through passport control.
I have never moved so fast in my life haha!
This trip to Sicily has certainly been an eye-opener to just how much better I am doing these days.
I may have been worried about all of the travelling at the beginning of the year but I seem to have taken it all in my stride. Let’s just hope my body keeps its act together for our friend’s wedding this weekend!
It will be a brilliant way to end a fantastic week.
Oh my god, how incredible! Both the dual surprises and the destination – my family is from Sicily (and it looks as though you were staying half an hour from a small town with a very familiar name…) so visiting the island is the dream! Glad you were able to plan the trip in a way that was able to work for you and your health too 🙂 x
Thank you so much Lis. Ah that’s amazing, I hope you get to visit one day 🙂