Via Miami and Rome, we flew into Palermo yesterday afternoon. The boarding of Alitalia in Miami gave us a taste of Italy before even leaving the American soil. No Zone boarding for Italians, everybody lines up at the gate fifteen minutes before boarding time, and it's a free for all race to get onto the plane... We were among the lucky ones who got a red pass(regular folks get green), and therefore got to race with the First Class and Business Class people... And surprise of surprises, somebody had actually, mistake of random act of kindness, given us a seat in Business class. The last row of business class, so the seats didn't recline very well being stuck against the wall, but Business Class nonetheless. Very nice perk, and very much appreciated. Rachel slept like a bear. I wasn't that lucky, and got to see two good movies of my choice: Black Swann, and Whiplash. I was so taken by the beat I guess I was tapping my foot against the seats in front of me so hard the guy 3 seats over had to get up and tell me to stop...
Anyhow, we made it to Palermo Airport, collected all of our luggage intact, after waiting with everybody at the conveyor belt from Rome, and finally finding out by accident international luggage came out in another room... First taste of Italian logic. To get the rental car, we had to take the shuttle, and get out at the second stop. Well, second taste of Italian logic, the second stop turned out to be the one where we got in... The driver had skipped the Rental car stop. Second time around the loop, and we were dropped off at the car rental counter building, only to find out that the Hertz booth was being remodeled, and the operations moved to another location...
Well, to make a long story short, we were finally on the Autostrada to Palermo a couple of hours later in a brand new white Nissan, but with a French GPS that refused to accept we were not in France... I had bought a SIM card for my phone at the Airport in Rome, but that somehow din't seem to work either, so we could not call the AirBnB.
Night had fallen by then, with a most beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean. Luckily, the GPS finally realized we were in Italy, and started working, sort of. It din't know anything about Piazzetta Sett'Angelli, so I programmed Palermo, and it took us downtown. I had forgotten how driving in Italy was, and had to bite the bullet and fight my way like any other Sicilian through rush our traffic down Palermo's narrow winding streets following GPS directions given in English with mangled Italian names. Thank got, I long ago had training in offensive driving!
We finally saw a place big enough to stop and ask for directions, right in front of a most imposing neoclassical building that turned out to be the Teatro Massimo. A young couple standing on the corner helped us graciously (he spoke some French), and told us to wait right there until 8, when the street would open to traffic(it is pedestrian only during the day). They also found for me a Piazza Sett'Angelli on her iPhone, I assume the famous Piazzetta my GPS wasn't smart enough to locate. Then a group of three young women stopped and offered to help, wide eyed at the fact we were from AMERICA... One of them spoke English very well, first she made my phone work, but then called my AirBnB contact on her own phone, because it was free she said. Our host was here to pick us up in minutes in his black Juke, and led us in a very roundabout way through heavy traffic and tiny streets to our final destination, a private residential complex in the restored old Cherubini Institute buildings. The gate was barely wide enough to get in, and parking required numerous maneuvers, but we were finally there at 8 o'clock.
Our appartment was absolutely charming, though unfortunately for Rachel and the luggage luggers, on the third floor. Everything is white of course, after all, this is Italy!
Anyhow, we made it to Palermo Airport, collected all of our luggage intact, after waiting with everybody at the conveyor belt from Rome, and finally finding out by accident international luggage came out in another room... First taste of Italian logic. To get the rental car, we had to take the shuttle, and get out at the second stop. Well, second taste of Italian logic, the second stop turned out to be the one where we got in... The driver had skipped the Rental car stop. Second time around the loop, and we were dropped off at the car rental counter building, only to find out that the Hertz booth was being remodeled, and the operations moved to another location...
Well, to make a long story short, we were finally on the Autostrada to Palermo a couple of hours later in a brand new white Nissan, but with a French GPS that refused to accept we were not in France... I had bought a SIM card for my phone at the Airport in Rome, but that somehow din't seem to work either, so we could not call the AirBnB.
Night had fallen by then, with a most beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean. Luckily, the GPS finally realized we were in Italy, and started working, sort of. It din't know anything about Piazzetta Sett'Angelli, so I programmed Palermo, and it took us downtown. I had forgotten how driving in Italy was, and had to bite the bullet and fight my way like any other Sicilian through rush our traffic down Palermo's narrow winding streets following GPS directions given in English with mangled Italian names. Thank got, I long ago had training in offensive driving!
We finally saw a place big enough to stop and ask for directions, right in front of a most imposing neoclassical building that turned out to be the Teatro Massimo. A young couple standing on the corner helped us graciously (he spoke some French), and told us to wait right there until 8, when the street would open to traffic(it is pedestrian only during the day). They also found for me a Piazza Sett'Angelli on her iPhone, I assume the famous Piazzetta my GPS wasn't smart enough to locate. Then a group of three young women stopped and offered to help, wide eyed at the fact we were from AMERICA... One of them spoke English very well, first she made my phone work, but then called my AirBnB contact on her own phone, because it was free she said. Our host was here to pick us up in minutes in his black Juke, and led us in a very roundabout way through heavy traffic and tiny streets to our final destination, a private residential complex in the restored old Cherubini Institute buildings. The gate was barely wide enough to get in, and parking required numerous maneuvers, but we were finally there at 8 o'clock.
Our appartment was absolutely charming, though unfortunately for Rachel and the luggage luggers, on the third floor. Everything is white of course, after all, this is Italy!
A bottle of excellent Pino Bianco was awaiting us in the little refrigerator, and we were VERY glad to find it there. By nine, it was gone, with just a little bit of help from our host, who explained to us the best places to see, and the best places to eat. Luckily, one of them was just two short block away, so we walked there for a late dinner, or so we thought. It was empty, except for a pair of DJ's playing Brazilian music with a bar of flashing LED lights...
We shared a delicious Sicilian dinner of Mussel Soup(actually, a big plate of mussels in a tomato pesto sauce), a big plate of Spaghettis in Black Calamari ink, and a big slice of Grilled Swordfish with salad, all that accompanied by a bottle of white wine our very gracious French speaking waitress recommended.
After a while, the music started to get louder, and young people dressed in black started to stream in. We finally figured out there was a late birthday party starting.
Fortunately, we had finished our dinner by the time the sound got so loud it was unbearable. Grand total for all of that, in a very nice restaurant: 50 Euros, including service... Not bad.
Time to hit the pad!
Overall a good day, with just a few incidents, and luckily, no accident yet!
So long.
Having a GOOD TIME, wish you were here...
Hey, it's just like Rome: the sign says your luggage is on carousel 9, but everyone knows it's really on carousel 10—really!
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you tell me that!
ReplyDelete