A battle worth fighting for!

Just about 5 mins before boarding the plane to go to Sicily, Italy and we're still not checked in yet!!!

No, it's not because we were late... on contrary we were 2 hours ahead and we were very excited to go to a different country and to FLY for a change.

We've got our passports, tickets.. luggage are all in the size and weight requirement.. shouldn't have any problem..

We were ready to go.

Unfortunately, we did have a little-big issue.. not his.. MINE

Yes.. here I'm holding in my hands.. the cause of our little-big problem. (nope, I don't look happy there)

Can you imagine going to the check-in counter and happy as can be to have them to say to you.. "Sorry you can't fly. He can go but you can't" HUH?! WHAT?! and WHY?! So they explained that I can't leave this country without my carte de sejour (like the green IC) cos in my passport, I've got a visa that is expired. Well, I have a receipt to show that my carte is in process but that won't do. GREAT.. WHAT NOW?!

They are being fussy cos it's in the airline company rules.

So Johan made lots of calls to immigration offices and all those concerning my carte to see if they can send a fax saying that it's OK for me to fly.. ZERO help.. ALL very negative and the hope of flying was almost gone.. Johan was on the phone for as long over an hour trying to work out something. (poor him)

Then we tried to negotiate with the employees of the airline. Finally, using a different strategy and solution... without concerning my carte de sejour.. Using the case that I am LEGAL to fly to Italy and that I have an arrival stamp from Paris that should allow me to visit other European countries withing the 3 months since my arrival. What a battle.

Eventually they bought our strategy and we managed to fly to Sicily. OUF.. what a relief! I would be really sad. Would have done other things but that would be a waste of air ticket (non-refundable) Then we would have missed the wonderful people we met and the other beautiful sites of Sicily.

Sicily is an island down South of Italy. It's an island full of life, histories, beautiful scenery and monuments. It's an island rich in its natural resources. It has a wonderful climate and fertile land.. It is also well located in the world for 'business' and it was a good stopover for travellers. Due to all these qualities, this island was invaded by so many cultures, people from many different parts of this world and all the different empires.(to name a few, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normandy and of course there were lots more)

Some of the places and sites can be dated back to the 3rd century before JC! Can you imagine that.. Above and below are photos of the Greek temples. Below is one of the many lovely days that we went to swim, snorkeling and just sun bathing. Enjoying the sun cos in France, the summer was too shy. Summer just stayed down South of Europe while the rest of is stayed COLD. Not a pleasant feeling to be cold. So here we are sunny and WARM.. aaahhhhhh... Another good reason why we came to Sicily... FFFFFOOOOODDDDD Italian Food! Yummy yummy in the tummy. Their main dish PASTA!!!! Always PASTA.. ALL SORTS of Pasta.. not just spaghetti bolognaise.. so much variety here and all sorts of sauce and things you can mix the pasta with..
OF COURSE PIZZA is another famous Italian signature food! TOO MUCH variety.. You won't be able to make up your mind which pizza topping you want to eat. So DELICIOUS!!!!
These two lovely people that you see with us above are two very lovely friends (Tiziana and Sergio) whom we visited in Sicily.. If it's not for them, we won't be visiting this beautiful island! They have been really wonderful to share their "world" with us. To host us in their lovely apartment and to bring us around.
Here is their family who so openly invited us to their home to share dinner with them. NOW here we have the best of the best Italian food.. MAMA's COOKING!!!

It was VERY good and VERY delicious. We ate really well in Sicily. Fortunately with all the walking, visit and swimming.. we managed not to put on weight.

So there you go... it was worth "battling" to go to Sicily.. don't you think??

To see more photos of us in Sicily... click on this link http://lesaventuresdeyoyo.spaces.live.com/