Vacation OOTD: Day 3 --Taramina, Sicily

-Mount Etna-

Jacket: J Crew Nolita Denim Jacket, sz.XS

Tee: J Crew Linen Scoopneck Tee

Pants: J Crew Factory Seersucker Trousers, sz.2

Shoes: Cole Haan

Bag: Coach

Sunglasses: Vera Wang

Sicily was our first stop on the cruise. It was a short bus ride from the port city of Messina to the historic village of Taramina. The city was absolutely gorgeous. Cobblestone streets that overlooked a beautiful blue harbor and Mt. Etna in the background. The views were incredible! But boy, was the place packed with tourists! In many of these older historic city centers, they know where the $$ is, and that's with the tourists, so the whole place was jam packed with souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes. Which honestly, was just fine with me, and who doesn't love a little eating and shopping?

Husband and I spent the day wandering the cobblestone streets, shopping, and sitting in cafes drinking cappuccinos. I was able to find a few lovely treasures along the way too. As to shopping,  you can bet I had a strategy for this trip! Jewelry. And sadly, one of the biggest factors regarding shopping was weight.

The airlines have now lowered international weight limits to 50lbs. What kind of crap is that??? I had my suitcase all strategically planned out, only to find that it was far too heavy (and I was NOT paying the $200 over weight fee, thank-you). And unlike a normal vacation, the thing about a cruise is---no laundry. Oh sure, they have dry cleaning, if you want to pay $10 per shirt. Chemicals? Overcharging? No thank-you. So that means a good bulk of my suitcase weight was basics like sleep shirts and shorts, socks, gym clothes, camis, ect..... It's not like I could pack a few, rewash, and rewear. The sinks in those ship bathrooms are teeny tiny. I couldn't even fit a tee in one to wash if I had wanted to!

So needless to say, it wasn't like I had a lot of extra room in my suitcase to bring back a ton of souvenirs. So what doesn' take up a ton of space or weight? Jewelry. Plus, so much better than bringing back clothes. Jewelry lasts forever, and you can never outgrow it.  My strategy was to find pieces that were unique to each region we visited.Which of course ment I had to look at all that was available before buying. Husband was so sick of going into jewelry shops by the end of the trip, I kind of feel bad for the guy.