We're back! Had a great time...
Rome - great city and very walkable. When in Paris we felt the need to take the train most days. In Rome we walked everywhere except to the Vatican. In hindsight, we could've made that walk easily as well. We downloaded Rick Steven's audio tours and that was perfect for most sites. I highly recommend if anyone goes to the Vatican that you pay for the guided tour. It was way too crowded and hot to try to listen to an audio tour. We ended up walking through most areas going "Hey, that's an interesting tapestry". We were able to sit in the Sistine Chapel and do the audio tour there. Amazing. Rome was so crowded with tourists from all over the world. Despite all the warnings, there were only a couple of places where we were concerned about pickpockets. The city felt very safe and we were out late most nights. Also, everyone spoke English very well so we didn't feel uncomfortable with the language barrier.
Sicily - beautiful. We were on a wine tour here and had an Italian guide. We went to Mount Etna which was amazing. The wineries were nice. Literally though we pretty much got up, had breakfast, went to a wine tasting, went to lunch with wine, took a nap, got up went to another winery and/or dinner with wine. All meals take at least a couple of hours and they serve SO many courses. Literally they'd probably bring out 15 different dishes for the antipasta. THEN we'd have pasta (sometimes) and the main course. It was purely gluttonous and actually got old by the end of the trip. We just wanted pizza and a salad or something light. We didn't feel nearly as safe in Sicily. The guide was very cautious in most cities, especially at night, that no one walk alone and to avoid alleys. (I know that seems like common sense, but it was such a stark contrast from Rome that it likely made more of an impression.)
Pantelleria - really beautiful island. It was cold when we were there and, of course, not tons to do on an island when the weather doesn't cooperate.
I'm glad we did this trip and had a great time. I wouldn't suggest Sicily or Pantelleria on anyone's bucket list though. I'd really like to go back to Italy and explore the northern regions.
