500 Things to do in the 500 Days until the Big 3-0: 203. Searching for Vito

5th September 2014, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

I've always had a fascination for Sicily.

Solely because that's where all the movie Mafioso are from. So it may not be the best of reasons... But it still stands, as the movie mafia peeps always were killer cool (quite literally) and wore awesome hats - I wanted to go to there.

Thanks to the Camel and her hubby-to-be, I was finally there. Although that nearly did not happen following a 4 AM cab ride that should have taken 45 minutes and ended up at 2 hours following road closures and fog infestation. So as per usual, my getting just about anywhere involved racing with two suitcases whilst wearing my travel pillow and eye mask.

Once I had found Barbra at the airport we made an attempt at getting clarity out of the Italian bus system so that we could actually get into Palermo which was our first destination for the weekend. And this is when I remembered that Italian five minutes are not rest-of-the-world five minutes.

After a lovely day in Palermo with Barbra and a lot of limoncello (but no mobsters), our ride to Polizzi Generoso and Masseria Susafa had arrived and we stumbled into the rental with three other wedding guests. I would like to think they enjoyed our company. Then again, when dead sober and having travelled all day, I will rarely find drunken and giggly idiots all that much fun, so most likely they did not really enjoy us that much. They did do their best to look and act like they appreciated our jokes though.

Happy days were over when we realise that the Sat Nav is out and we have absolutely no idea where the frickin' hotel is. With Barbra asleep and tucked in in the back seat and me having no sense of orientation whatsoever I'm fairly sure our drivers were wishing they had chosen other people to offer their services to.

About 5 hours after leaving Palermo, after a lot of horror movie jokes as we were driving through the Italian darkness and exactly zero Mafioso we were finally there. And the party was in full swing already to warm us up for the big day ahead. Me and Barbra picked up were we left off and proceeded to have wine whilst catching up with our favourite bride-to-be and enjoying the beautiful vineyard that would be our home for the next few days.

Following a final glass of wine, me, Barbra, Neil Patrick & David made our way down to our rooms (still no Mafioso) and somehow ended up drinking the most vile wine I have ever had whilst attaching wrong colour hair extensions backwards and later proceeding to the pool for a 3 AM dip.

The next morning, in spite of a mild wine hangover, I went outside and viewed the landscapes in daylight for the first time. And it was beautiful.

Best wedding venue ever you guys!