This past weekend, we had the first family visitors to our apartment in Taormina – and had so much fun!

You may recall our big adventures with Enza, Frank’s first cousin, when we visited Siracusa. Well, two of Enza’s children and their spouses came to visit us. We got to know them when we were in Canicatti with Frank’s Sicilian family.

– Mirella and Benedetto hosted us many times at their house for lunch and even overnight. Mirella is a teacher and Benedetto a dentist.

– Johnny (Mirella’s brother) and Monica also joined us in Canicatti several times, and Johnny and Frank email quite a bit. Johnny and Monica are both bankers.

If you are following this cast of characters, in the picture below, left to right are Johnny, Monica, Mirella, Me, and Benedetto.

They are lots of fun to be around so we were looking forward to our weekend with them. And what wonderful guests they were! They came in with arms full of lunch, including homemade cous-cous sent by Enza. Then the next morning, they pulled out fresh pastries for breakfast. Wow.

We wined and dined at a restaurant called Tiramisu (which I have to say does have excellent tiramisu), went to the beach together, and shopped and shopped. These ladies are super stylish so we went in stores that I hadn’t even noticed – with shoes that cost almost $1,000! (I felt a little sheepish in my Crocs!)

Johnny speaks a little English, but otherwise the weekend was in Italian. We looked to our old favorite Google Translate every now and then. But for the most part, were able to figure it all out. We’re getting the hang of this Sicilian life!

Above: cable car down to the beach