As part of Melissa’s job she has to occasionally attend research conferences where the latest discoveries in the field are presented by the researchers who make them.  Months ago she was invited to give a talk at one such conference, called the SuNEC conference.  It was a small conference of around 20 people, and short, lasting just Wednesday September 9th, and Thursday September 10th.  Melissa happily agreed to go, because she loves science!  But also maybe a little bit because the location of the conference – a resort on the shores of Sicily –  sounded pretty amazing.  Being that my work schedule is pretty flexible right now I was able to tag along too.

Our trip began on Tuesday September 8th around 4:30 p.m.  We first boarded a train for the Geneva airport, then a flight to Rome, and then, after a short layover, took a different plane to Palermo, Sicily.  Around 11:30 p.m. we stepped off on the island, and made our way to the arrivals area.  There we quickly found a taxi driver waiting for us holding a little sign with Melissa’s name on it; we had set up the taxi beforehand to relieve our stress of trying to figure out a public transit route to the resort 33 miles away.  It was a first for both of us to have a driver waiting with a name sign and it was fun to have that taste of the fancy lifestyle.

The ride to the resort took about 40 minutes and was just as I had come to expect from an Italian taxi experience.  We sped along at about double the speed I would feel comfortable driving, and when we made it to the old narrow streets near the resort, waiting at stop signs or to turn into traffic became optional.  Even though it was dark during our ride, out the window I could just barely make out massive hills the whole way that dominated the view inland from the coast.

When we woke up Wednesday, it was raining.  After breakfast Melissa walked over to the conference room, where she gave the second talk of the day, and when the conference was done for the day, around 1:30 p.m., it was still raining.  While Melissa was busy I spent some time looking around.  The resort has one big restaurant, and two smaller bar/snackbars.  There is a level with a couple stores, and lots of nice places to read a book and look at the ocean.  Later in the afternoon the rain turned to a drizzle and we both went walking around the grounds.  We saw both salt water pools of the resort, then walked down a lot of stairs through a big garden area to the ocean.  Along the ocean there is a long sidewalk build up over the large boulders that make up the shore.  The waves were very violent Wednesday, making an exciting show of crashing and spraying water, that easily awed and entertained two Midwesterners.  We spent our free time relaxing and reading, ate a mediocre buffet dinner at the resort, and went to bed early.

Thursday wasn’t rainy, but the strong winds from the day before remained.  Melissa’s conference ended earlier, around 12:30 p.m., after which we relaxed until 4:30 p.m.  At 4:30 p.m. there was a conference sponsored event of sightseeing and dinner, which spouses were allowed to attend.  Around 20 people loaded up into two large vans that brought us to the town of Cefalù for the sightseeing portion.

Cefalù is a good example of how confusing European history can be. It was founded by Greeks before the Roman empire (but no one knows exactly when).  Eventually it was controlled by the Romans, then the Goths, then the Byzantines, then the Arabs, and then the Normans (from France).  Most of the historic buildings standing now are from the Norman times. After the Normans there was a kingdom of Sicily that was inherited by different monarchs every few hundred years until Italy became a country.

Our group had an English speaking tour guide as we walked through old narrow streets, up to the cathedral, and down to the harbor.  At the cathedral we had to wait a few minutes for our tour, because there was a wedding going on when we arrived.  The most interesting thing to me about the cathedral is its blending of styles.  Architecturally it has French and Arab features, inside is a large mosaic behind the alter done in a Byzantine style, and the stain glass windows were replaced relatively recently with modern designs.  At the harbor there were some very picturesque views of the shoreline stretching off into the distance, the waves crashing on the breakwater, and the sunlight hitting the ancient buildings of the town.  We left Cefalù as the sun was setting, loading back up into the vans to head off to a winery a few miles inland for dinner.

As we rode through Sicily the landscape reminded me a lot of California.  There were many rolling hills of vineyards, and where the land wasn’t cultivated tall grasses, bushes, palms, and cacti were more common than the occasional tall tree.  By the time we made it to the vineyard night had fallen, however street lights were positioned around the grounds that illuminated it’s lavishness.  Located on the top of a hill, surrounded by a fence the vineyard was like a small cloistered village.  In the center was a spacious courtyard bordered by hotel rooms, and a restaurant, creating a scene that looked as if it were plucked out of the 1800’s.

We were first given a short tour through the winemaking buildings (all in Italian), then made our way to the courtyard where a wine tasting with hors d’oeuvres was waiting.  And so began our marathon of a traditional Italian dinner.  Two varieties of white wine, focaccia bread, a kind of deep fried rice ball called arancine, and a kind of deep fried ham and cheese ball were all served with no limit.  After maybe 15 or 20 minutes of this warm-up eating we moved inside the restaurant to begin the actual meal.

Red wine was served in expensive looking glasses, so of course I had to ask Melissa if she wanted to watch me make mine ring (by moving my finger around the rim).  Taken aback she very seriously told me that I was “absolutely not allowed to do that.”  But across the table a fellow conference attendee had seen Melissa’s reproof.  He was a middle aged Frenchman and snickering he told Melissa that when his wife tells him not to do something like that he would be sure to do it.  Before the limits of our marriage were tested though, the antipasti course was served.  A beautifully presented plate of five different bite sized appetizer portions.

After the antipasti plates were cleared, and as we were waiting for the next course, the attendee sitting next to the Frenchman, a middle aged man from Hungary, made his wine glass sing.  It didn’t take long for the Frenchman, and the person sitting next to Melissa to join in as well.  Melissa then caved to let me try, and we all had a good laugh at the moment of silliness breaking into an otherwise formal dinner.

Our second course, called primi, was a delicious lasagna with a creamy sauce.  Then came the secondi course, which was a beef and potato dish in wine sauce.  It too was delicious.  I am proud to say Melissa and I both finished our secondi course.  When we had our first experience with this kind of meal in Naples we weren’t as well prepared, and didn’t even have them bring the secondi out.  The meal had a dessert course featuring a lemon slushy in a champagne glass along with rum cake and gelato that was tasty enough to miraculously create just enough room to devour it.

But wait! There’s more!  After all the plates were cleared, waiters came around offering espresso, and a table was set out featuring the digestive course.  The same as Naples, bottles of grappa, limoncello, and a local wine type digestive were set out next to shot glasses inviting all to drink to their hearts content.  Two? Three hours? I don’t remember the exact length of our meal, but the time flew by.  Even if Italy didn’t have the history, the way they do meals would be reason enough to visit.  Molto bene!

Friday we woke up late, Melissa didn’t have a conference to go to, and we lazed around all day.  The weather was beautiful with hardly any wind, so we spent a lot of time at the pools and even ventured into the ocean for some swimming.  We had a small adventure at dinner time searching for a pizzeria, that took us along a road without sidewalks, through a sketchy neighbor, and down a creepy alley with stray cats, and stray chickens.  All of our work was in vain though because the restaurant was closed when we arrived, not opening until 8 p.m. an hour later.  It wasn’t all bad though because when we turned around and walked the other direction from the resort we found a different pizzeria closer and safer to reach.

Saturday we slowly made our way back home by the same route that took us to Sicily.  We found an even faster taxi driver to take us to the airport, but still took the time of the ride to marvel at the views, clearer now in the light of day than they were Tuesday night.  It was wonderful to have a trip where we stayed in the same room the whole time, and wonderful that we didn’t have to run around all day to see as many things as possible.  On Monday morning Melissa was back in the lab researching for discoveries to present at the next conference.

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