Day 33: Reggio Di Calabria & Palermo

When we left our B&B in the morning and ran into an older guy (85?) that we briefly met yesterday and lives in the same building. We spent about ten minutes playing charades (sp?) on the street with him trying to figure out what he was trying to tell us. He either wanted to be pen pals with Brooke or help us find the ferry to Sicily, not sure, but either way it was a fun interaction. It ended with him pulling each of us in for an Italian goodbye (handshake and a kiss on each cheek).

We then walked with our suitcases down the long promenade to find the ferry and get a last taste of Reggio. The ferry (which took a little work to find) was a half hour ride to Messina, Sicily. We thought we'd have fun killing an hour there before heading to Palermo...we were wrong. The combination of it being a Sunday and being siesta time meant everything except the train station bar was closed (which we only found out by walking around for a half hour with our suitcases in the hot afternoon sun).

The train ride to Palermo was 3 1/2 hours, but we met a friend Alicia, a two year old that can sing a mean Old McDonald in Italian (their version goes e-i-e-i-o too). We finally got there and checked-in at around 19:00 (yep, even have to translate the time over here). We got recommendations from our Palermo hotel lady for a good Sicilian restaurant, and she made a great pick. We went to a lively area with what looked like Christmas light decorations (all white) hanging over the narrow streets between buildings.

For dinner we ate pasta in a thick red sauce at a small family run restaurant with cheap and delicious house wine. The owner stopped at our table to make sure we liked our food and later to give Brooke a token present (a tiny horse & carriage toy). One last detail, the backroom had about 5 Harley Davidson paintings on the wall.

We left the restaurant and ended the night at a bar around the corner with the US vs. Brazil soccer game on (Confed. Cup Finals). We were stunned, US was up 2-0 at the end of the first half. This lead, as you may know, did not last, and the US lost 2-3. At least we went farther than the Italians.

Ps - For those wondering, it takes about 33 days of pulling a suitcase on rough European roads for the rubber covering of its wheel to fall off. We'll see how much longer it takes for the whole wheel to go...