As Jim and I embark on the next leg of our (eventual) world tour, I thought I’d answer the question that I get frequently when I tell someone our destination. No, we don’t have relatives there. (That was a previous trip, to Bagnoli Irpino outside of Naples – Jim’s father’s hometown.) I hate to admit it, but this trip was somewhat inspired by Rick Steves.

He had written that if you like Rome, go further south. If Rome is chaotic enough for you, stop there. Well, Jim and I liked Tuscany, loved Rome and really loved the Amalfi Coast. We even liked Naples, though it was only a two-night stop. So, we figured, let’s go ‘deeper.’

In researching this potential trip, we read that Sicilians don’t really consider themselves Italians – they’re ‘Sicilians,’ a breed apart. The island of Sicily actually broke away from mainland Africa, not Italy, and its culture is as much African and Arab as Italian. It was also occupied over the years by the Greeks, the Normans, the Bourbons, etc., so it’s a huge mashup of cultures. Jim and I are history geeks when we travel – we visited Roman ruins in France and Greek ruins in southern Italy – so we figured we could get our fill of multi-cultural ruins in one place.

And, oh yeah, I hear the food there is good. Wine? Sicily produces not only the well-known Marsala, but apparently there are very good wineries around Mt. Etna. (Nothing like rocky soil to produce good grapes.)

So – there you have it – that’s ‘why Sicily.’

Now we just need to survive the US Air flight in coach….