The Most Beautiful New Year's Eve in Sicily #travellikeapro

Buongiorno from our home in Sicily. Alfred and I just came back from a fabulous New Year's Eve celebration. We're going to show you all the highlights. It was so much fun meeting up with old friends, some very good new friends, and I gotta tell you, Tarmina just does it better and better every year. Buon anno! That's what they say, right? They say buon anno and New Year's And then you finish it off at midnight, you eat beans. Lentils. Lentils. Anyways, let's go see the video, see what this thing's all about. It's New Year's Eve afternoon and we've just had the nicest afternoon. There were several people who wrote us who said they were going to be in Tarmina and they heard that we're going to be as well. And so we said, okay, come on by. And we just had a great visit with Jenny and her husband Gaspare and her friends. That was so fun. And then we met another couple just sitting there. And now let's go see what's going on in the Piazza April 9. Wow. This is so magical. Look how big these balls are. Beautiful. Whoever decorated this street, it is absolutely stunning. Over here, this is new too. Place for you to hang out. Oh, there's a show going on in here too. Oh my gosh. Greek theater. Well, take a look at the dormo. Wow. I'm loving these lights. Now we're going to go inside the public library where every year there's some kind of a display. And this year we've got this guy Tino Jamona. And here he is. And the subject is a sacred Mary and Jesus. No, everything by hand. Wow. So these are ancient pieces. Hundred year old pieces. These are These are beautifully adorned pieces of Mary and Jesus in all different ways. Wow. And so these pieces are antique pieces that were worn. Yeah, these are typical purses. You find these all over the place. There we go. And there's the Sicilian cart. It's so fun showing you some of the same spots, but just with Christmas decorations, because it really brings it to a whole new level. The energy here right now, if I could just try to explain it to you, is majestic. Electric. Here we are just minutes before the big party is going to start. And what are your thoughts, Alfred? I think it's going to be a great party tonight. There's some wonderful people here. We've met wonderful people here that came all the way up here, Esther, to meet us for the first time. It's just crazy how wonderful it is. We had some fans write to us and say, hey, can we meet you at the Excelsior? We know you're going to be there. And they did. We met lovely people. Jenny and her husband, Gaspare, and her friends. And then we had Donna Marie and her husband. And then we have the regular crew of Mike and Jen Kaufman. And we have Tom and Karen. And we have Pat and her husband, Tony. And we have another couple who's joining us. So it's just going to be a bash. If you want to come with us next year, you need to let Esther know, kind of like ASAP, because before we leave here, we make the reservations for next year. So if you're interested, please just send Esther an email. All right. Here's a peek at some of the appetizers. And this is the situation as we get ready for dinner. And this nice couple that we just met. And with you here. That's all fireworks and all the little Paesi Etnea and Castanese. And this is what you have for New Year's. Lenticchie Siciliane. Lenticchie Siciliane for good luck and wealth and health. And this is what I love waking up to. And saying every year, Buon Anno, Happy New Year. And here we come, 2025. Now I'm just sitting here drinking my coffee, my espresso lungo, thinking how fortunate I am, how blessed that Alfred came into my life, that Cicely came into my life, and that you watching this came into my life. Here there's even a swimming pool, areas to sit down. This hotel is really in a great location. I know they hold weddings here and all types of events. And what's great about this hotel too is, you know, it's right on the Corso. And so you just walk out and you're on the main concourse. Best part of New Year's is you have a whole year to get a lot accomplished, get healthy, do stuff that makes you happy, and really start fresh. There it is, Buon 2025. 9am, this is when you come here during the holidays. The whole square to yourself. Oh, I wish you guys could feel what I'm feeling. You know, no matter what end of Tarmina you're at, here we are, Porta Messina. The other end is Porta Catania, the gate of Messina, the gate of Catania. There's something fabulous to see on both ends. So Al and I have this thing, you know, we live here in Sicily, coffee or something. There's a band playing and they're way too loud. So guess what? We're here at Doce Gabbana. I had a coffee here one time. It's 8 euro. But you know what? You get the best seating, right Al? Listen, I don't want to say that Doce Gabbana is expensive. But $40 each for the napkins and I had to do a mortgage application to get tea. No, seriously, it's a great place. We're sitting in the first row today and I can hardly wait to see the contro. I have to tell you the one thing that really strikes me is how many people are out today. It's January 1st and when I tell you Corso Umberto, the main concourse, is packed, I mean it's like wall to wall. Not many Americans but mostly Italians, Al. They meander around here. We were having a discussion about exactly how many shopping bags we saw. And Esther says, look, one, two, six, eight, ten. But after 758 people walked by. So I don't really think that people are spending money other than gelato. They buy gelato. And lunch. I wouldn't buy gelato. It's kind of quality in my opinion. But listen, here's what I have to say. I'm wearing a hat and a jacket and a sweater. During the day it's beautiful so I didn't have any of this layering on. But now it's about five o'clock. We're waiting for the lights so we can show you the beautiful lights. But it's really comfortable and Al and I have already decided Yes, yes, yes. Big news. Oh, we're coming back next year. And we already have two couples. Two other couples. Our regular, it's going to be called the You, Me and Sicily 6. Because that's our base. But we're starting to grow. And I got to tell you. What we're going to do is next year we ought to reserve like ten rooms, eight. Something like that. So I think you got to come myself, okay. It's a once in a lifetime experience. No doubt. Or twice in a lifetime experience. You can get to sit right where I'm at. The front row of Dolce & Gabbana. With the tree right in front of us. Oh, here it comes up. I got to tell you. You're going to be pleasantly surprised at this. This is how they serve it over here. And I think we got a little panettone to come with it. There's Pat and Tony. Today's Pat's birthday. She's a new year. I just keep saying happy birthday. Who was the first person to wish you happy birthday yesterday? Me. This is a beautiful picture of you guys right here. Good? The Dolce & Gabbana panettone that they give you. You know, complimentary allegedly. It was profoundly delicious. Until they see the bill. Yeah, we're going to see what the bill is. Ten euro for that like. Yeah, right here. What's in it? Is that the classical? Delicious. 24. 24 bucks for two cups of tea. All right, well, we're not going to do this again. I don't know. This year's tree is quite beautiful. What do you think, Al? You see those Christmas balls behind us? They're about 15 inches in diameter. They're huge. They look like bowling balls. It's unbelievable. What a beautiful tree. There goes the music. All right. It was worth paying 12 euro each for a cup of tea. It was okay. Monthly payments. No problem. Two lovely people from England just stopped us. Alfred and I were just talking and they stopped us and said what? I know you two and you don't know me. You're Esther Alfredo. I'm Rachel. This is Terrence from London and we love you two on a Sunday morning. Do you know like this warms my heart? And how do you say the name of our show? You, me, Sicily. Oh my gosh. How fun. And what do you enjoy about our show? Your show? What do you enjoy? His funny face with his cigar and especially the accents. Honestly, you've got to stop me tonight if I start doing your accents because I love your accents. I love your voices. And do you like the places we take you to? Love all the places. Love all the food, all the seasonal stuff. I went to Spiaggia San Lorenzo because of you. I traveled and traveled to get there because of you. What do you think, Al? No, this makes you, me and Sicily worthwhile for me. To meet wonderful people like this. And believe me, this is about the 10th or 12th set of people that we have met. Honestly, unsolicited. So it is a pleasure. And let me tell you, if you're in Sicily, I hope you come and find us. And listen, Happy New Year. Thank you so much for your support and what a ching-ching, what a blessing to have met you. So there was something else that you enjoyed about our videos. And what was that? Oh, do you know, Esther, when you take people to their ancestral homes and see where their nonna and nonna were brought up, it's so emotional for them. I'm emotional for them too. And I don't even know them. It's fabulous what you do for those people. It was such a huge pleasure meeting you and your handsome husband. And we'll see you back here in Sicily. Look at this beautiful family from Australia. And what's your name? Joe Puglia. John. And Adam Puglia. Adam Puglia. Ryan Puglia. No, I'm Joe Puglia. Joe. And you're from Motel Canasta. And he just stopped me and said, you guys watch our videos? Yes. And what do you enjoy about our videos? Your information, everything you do is fantastic. Thank you so much for watching. I really love it. Very, very merry, merry, merry, happy new year. Buon anno. That's your lovely husband. He's great. Alfredo is smoking his stogie. God bless you. Have a great time. You should make this too, okay? I will. Senza parola. Without words. That's so beautiful. The guy just ran up and said, we watch you on TV. That's YouTube for you. I'm in heaven. Happy new year. I'm in heaven. Now look at this good looking group right here. Right here. Our New Year's Eve good group and good food. Got the ravioli with shrimp and pistachios. Yum. That's with the breadcrumbs and pine nuts and sardines. And it should have wild fennel. To you. Wait a minute. You gotta get the cake this way. Buon compleanno. Blow it out. A cake. All these dogs running around. That dog right there, his name is Bubu. Bubu. Look at all these dogs. So this was the first hotel in Tarmina and the other ones, the existing structures were monasteries, San Domenico being one, and now it's Four Seasons, San Domenico. So this is a Venetian style hotel. This is the Jewish zone. This is why you see the Star of David. Yeah, you can't find this type of art anymore. The structure respects the ancient style that was once. So not a lot of changes. If you look around, a lot of the structure remained the same. For sure, with a piscina, with a swimming pool, and a view. Oh my god, a panorama that is beautiful. It is seriously a perfect spot for a hotel and we love coming here and I'll tell you what, we'll be back. This hotel definitely has a sort of an art deco feel. This art liberty or art deco is a very European style. The bar is one of the most impressive bars. Look how beautiful this piece is. This is the original plan and for sure he carried it out to the T. 85 rooms. See the Star of David there and also in several other spots on this hotel. It's because this is the Jewish quarter or part of the Jewish quarter. It goes all the way up to Piazza Duomo where the cathedral is. This was where the Jews lived for a long, long time. Some of them left during the Spanish Inquisition in the 1400s but many of them stayed until the 1940s. That's an interesting little tidbit about Tarmina. Our friend Pat said, can you get enough pictures of Mount Etna? Apparently no because she's always, always so fabulous. Let me tell you, there were so many highlights of going to New Year's Eve in Tarmina. I don't even know where to start but I have to tell you, one of my main ones is meeting some of you. Some of you that stopped us on the Corso or came and met us at the Excelsior. Al, you said that this really makes you, me and Cicely worth it. For sure, meeting some of our fans and some of you who watch us regularly just warmed my heart. It was such a good time with the music, with the dancing, with the pure ambience of Tarmina that if you can, possibly put it on your list. As to one thing that I know, that no video that anybody does can replicate the abject beauty of how that town was decked out. There were so many things to put your eyes on. Just the ambience. It was just crazy. The energy, the electric energy of the people, of everything was fabulous. That was my first memory. My second memory is that we have a little tradition now going. The gang that comes with us, we sit down the next day and the bartender makes us up Bloody Marys. Not, but except they're 12 euro each. I had what, two of whom? 15 each. Our team was 12. Oh, is that what it was? But anyway, so next year we figured out six bottles of the tomato stuff we're going to bring in and vodka. The Bloody Mary mix. And we just had a great time. There were great people. I'm hoping that we- We have a quart of six. We made reservations. We started with just Al and I. Next year. So we'd like to take three more couples next year. So we can have- Whoever want to join us, they can join us. Let her know because there's a lot of people buzzing around. That they're going to want to come. I'm telling you that much. If you have any interest at all, it's a once in a lifetime experience. For sure. Or twice in a lifetime experience. Or in this case for some people, multiple. Multiple time experience. That's how much people enjoyed their time there that they came back with us. And we're hoping that you do as well. Great time, great people, merriment, fun, good food. Did you see the restaurant that we went to the night after? OMG. As Esther would say, the food was just knockout delicious. So we know what we're doing here in terms of a little free day. Excursion. Pate. We are so looking forward to 2025. And bringing you more videos and stories and stuff from Sicily. And of course doing the tours. And we still have some room in some of our tours. You can find all of them at www.youmeandsicily.com. Either way, thank you for being part of this community. We love it. It's growing. And thank you for spending some time here with us. We made new friends. We had a great time. 2025 is upon us. Focus on the good. Focus on your life, your children's life, your family's life. Focus on the good. Get the bad out of your head. And I think you'll have a better life in 2025. That's what I wanted to say. Amen. She's a prolific line stealer. That's a compliment. But what do you say? That's a compliment. What do you usually say? No, no. But what do you usually say when you end the show? All right. So I'm going to say, see you later, alligator. See you later, alligator.