Once a year Fred's side of the family gangs up on some foodie area. This year it was Sicily, which meant - planetrip! First one for Henri, first conscious one for Karl.
Including onboard entertainment.
We went to the Catania side, which is where the famous volcano Etna is located, towering impressively over the landscape.
We stayed at a really great agriturismo (we as in all us fourteen, go count, they're all in this post somewhere), which was more Beverly Hills than roughing it the rural way. First act of out of office - meet grandma and aunt Carolin poolside.
While the kids got that Vanity Fair vibe going...
...or tried Joshua Tree type rock star poses in the sprawling gardens.
Many high points of the trip were of a foodie nature.
There even was an easter egg hunt.
Which of course brought some new Lego.
Aaah, jolly good times.
By the way, showing up 14 deep spanning three generations gives you a whole different cache in Sicily. They don't take you for no gringos.
More food. And while waiting for it (remember, it was always slow), some crowd pleasing entertainment (admittedly this is a total propaganda shot, mostly iPhones were distributed, game apps activated and many a new level on angry birds and ninja-go conquered).
There were lots of excursions, ruins, amphitheaters, columns and grottos galore. The first generation definitely was very pleased about the "Bildungshunger" of the third.
Here for example they're all sitting in a grotto in the bleachers of the Syracus amphitheater.
This cave is called Dionysus' Ear.
And yes, there are monsters in those caves.
Strolling was of course a big part of those excursions.
Soap bubble gun-fights
More strolling.
And of course churches (immediately followed by ice cream as a motivational ploy/blackmailing tool).
Views to take in.
In one of those castellos Karls did a great impression of a dictator waging war (yah, sometime we're not so sure about the educational value of all those belligerent Lego worlds).
He even assembled an impromptu security council, giving everybody roles.
Next up (way up) - the great craters of the Etna.
Another advantage of traveling in larger groups - you do get the occasional family picture without carrying around a selfie stick (photo courtesy of grandpa, photo bombing courtesy of uncle Ivo, or Ivoshivo as Henri christened him).
Some of those craters were quite a steep climb (which explains Karl's pride in this pic).
All in all it was more mellowing it though. Like playing bounce ball on some plaza.
The last day we went down the canyon of Pantalica, where there's a great Necropolis with 5000 caves that were sculpted over a thousand years before Christ. Quite impressive place. Omi almost joined the natives though by performing wild Indiana Jones stunts (you had to be there to believe it, sorry, no photos available at the moment).
Quite a troop of troopers it was though.
No obstacle stopped us on the way.
So here they are in all their glory - the troopers of Pantalica. Soon to be rewarded with, yes, of course, ice cream!
