Sicily

Trip Start Jan 07, 2007

Trip End Apr 02, 2007

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Flag of Italy Palermo, Italy
Monday, January 29, 2007

Well, the adventure started this morning, waking up on a boat. The cruise went smoothly and I slept quite peacefully. However, I drank a cup of tap water the night before (there were cups in the bathroom) and this morning saw a sign that the tap water was not potable. I quickly drank as much bottled water as I could and haven't had a problem yet, but I keep hoping everything should be ok.

We arrived in port at the perfect hour for sightseeing... 6am. We walked to our hotel and were able to drop our bags off. Sicily is an interesting place, because it has gone from Greek to Roman to Norman to Italian rule, so there is a hybrid of architecture and style. Also, the attitude on the island is entirely different toward us. Street vendors wait patiently and don't bother you while you are shopping. I also found out that they don't bargain AT ALL, when everyone else in Italy bargains

Highway to the Danger Zone

. This lead to an embarassing exchange when I wanted some sunglasses, was told they were five and I offered three for it, and the guy acted insulted. I feel like they need to post big signs that say "I bargain" or "I will not bargain." Would this be that tough to do? I can't imagine it would be.

We saw the Sicilian parliament building and several churches in the area. The highlight was the palm trees and sunshine, which we all lapped in after visiting frigid Venice and rain-soaked Rome. I have also learned that any Montanan will lap in sunshine in January at any opportunity.

I have determined that I REALLY don't like Italian scooters. They are noisy, and they don't follow any rules set up for anyone else. Not only that, but they figured out that they can go faster if they intimidate pedestrians. I saw a family of four on ONE scooter today. These things have to go. People talk about how it is part of the Italian charm, but trust me, I am shocked that on the news every night the reporters don't say "Only 1200 people died on Italian scooters today, the lowest total since 1972!" Maybe the Scooter death rate has just become remarkably unremarkable. Like the amount of deaths from tobacco.

Another cool thing that happened today was at dinner. Megan, Andy, Amy and I headed off for a budget sit down pasta meal, and we ended up with a lot more. We ended up in a family restaurant with a family serving us that didn't speak a word of English. We communicated entirely through body language, and apparently our host had played soccer on a soccer team (we had no idea how big the soccer team was or anything). He would show us a picture and then we would show him a picture. Just a good time with an Italian family.

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