I woke up and said good morning to everyone. Dario (did I introduce him yet? That's Ciro's 15 yr old son) anyway, Dario was home from school, because there is a strike going on all across Italy/Sicily. The woman in charge of the education system there is proposing big budget cuts, involving the education system, and is closely tied to the prime minister who most everyone there can't stand, and are embarrassed about (sound familiar?). The night before, while I was outside the hotel smoking an organized march came walking by, with police escorts and bullhorns,banners, etc. So the teachers took today and tomorrow off. Dario couldn't be more happy because of it!
Dario told me Rosario would be picking me up in about 15 min, so I quickly took a shower and got dressed. I was excited to see what the day would turn out to be like with him. When he got there, I met him downstairs, and we went into the bar to get breakfast (espresso). We smoked a quick cigarette, and I got on the back of his scooter. I talked a little before about riding on a scooter in Palermo, but with Rosario it was taken up a notch. He drove considerably faster than Ciro did, thankfully the seat was much more comfy, and I didn't feel as scrunched up against Rosario. Sorry if I wrote about this, but the rules of the road there, are really every man, person, vehicle, scooter, bus, pedestrian for himself. They do stop for red lights, though I could never see where the light was at the intersection, and the first few seconds all the scooters jockey for position to get in front of everyone else. Then it seems like we are at a racetrack, everyone rolling forward. Imagine a dozen scooters acting like we are about to drag race. Then one of them jumps and we are all off, I don't know if the light changed or they got tired of waiting. Oh, and there are no traffic lanes, if 3 cars can fit side by side, then count on four trying, with scooters in between. The cars sit at these 'lights' and the scooters weave into oncoming traffic lanes, onto the sidewalk and back, and you drive slowly between cars so close I had to squeeze my legs in so I wouldn't rub against the cars. Most people fold their side mirrors in, probably for this reason. Also, when we are driving along, its nothing weird to be in the oncoming traffic lane a few feet, with cars coming at you. You just weave back into the other lane if needed. Sometimes it wasn't because they had enough room to not hit you. All this happens with police around, and nobody, well, most of them, not getting pissed at each other. I saw a few older men honk and do a fist wave, which was more funny than anything else.
Our destination was Monreale, right outside Palermo. We had to drive up a small mountain to get there, and get on a highway, which was interesting going about 80 kph (1 km = .62 m, so 80kmh=49.6 mph) That may not seem fast, 50 mph, but on a scooter, driving up a windy road with cars around, its fast enough. I was guessing on the way down, we could really fly. The helmet Rosario had for me, was like a half helmet, sort of like the ones a biker gang would wear, so the wind was whipping pretty good. I didn't bring a jacket that morning, I just had a long sleeve shirt on, but it wasn't really cold, it was the wind in my face that was annoying a little. I had taken off my sunglasses to put the helmet on. I learned later I could wear both, unlike the helmet Ciro had me use, that prevented me from wearing my glasses or shades.
Once we got to the top, we parked, and walked towards the Norman Cathedral. I had brought my small Italian to English dictionary, and Rosario was excited, because we were able to communicate a little better with it.
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the cathedral....
"
The Cathedral of Monreale is one of the greatest extant examples of Norman architecture in the world. It was begun in 1174 by William II, and in 1182 the church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was, by a bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to the rank of a metropolitan cathedral. The church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily."
Go here to read more about the town of Monreale.
From the outside, the cathedral looks pretty plain. It's a much larger structure, with the buildings behind it though, now used as a preschool, is my guess, because there were a ton of little kids running around with adults who looked like they were watching over them.
The inside though, is amazing, and breathtaking, the walls are covered in Mosaics,
It was gorgeous... I even bought a tourist guide book while there to look at later. We made out way to the garden behind the cathedral, and I took four pictures then used photoshop to stitch them together. (Don't forget, if you click any of the pictures, you can enlarge it)
After going through the cathedral, we walked for a bit into town. Rosario, using the dictionary, asked what else I had or had not seen around town. We went back to the scooter, and drove back to Palermo.
We stopped at a few places, a park, a fountain, and then we were going to head to his place for lunch. He called his wife, and Francesca to let them know we were on our way. When we got there I met his wife, Paula, and Francesca showed up a few minutes later. She was in school (I guess the colleges weren't on strike) and she came home for lunch. Paula and her made us all something to eat, while we all talked. Since Francesca was the only other English speaker, she had to translate most of it. Paula couldn't understand why I was not able to eat as much as Rosario was putting away. I used 'saving room for dinner' as an excuse. That was kind of true, because that night we were all meeting back at Rosario's for a going away dinner for Gino. It was hilarious, because after we finished eating, they broke out some home made limoncello, but this wasn't lemon, it was some sort of orange, or melon, I couldn't figure it out. Rosario tried to have a glass, but Francesca and Paula slapped away his hand, like a little kid, and said he was driving the scooter, so he wasn't allowed any. They talked about other things we could see around town, and once Rosario had a couple we left.
The next stop was the Capuchin Catacombs. Cameras weren't allowed (so don't ask me how) but I found some pictures online. Rosario tried talking me into snapping a few pictures, but I didn't.
It was 2 euro to enter, and I bought a booklet for another 1.50. They have more than 8,000 mummies there. I knew about the catacombs before going, and read how it was not a place for kids. They were right. The air just felt heavy in there. I wasn't grossed out, or didn't feel sick, but after walking around it just felt strange, very morbid. They were displayed in glass caskets, or just held to the wall with a steel cable. Some still had hair, and if I had wanted (no idea why I would want to) I could have reached out and touched some of them. They have the bodies arranged differently, kids in one area, 'professional men', and women in another.
After walking around, I was ready to leave, and get some air. We stopped to get some gas in the scooter, and next was Mount Pelegrino, which is above Palermo. I thought 'on a scooter, climb that mountain?' It took about 30 minutes to go up the mountain, and the turns were hairpin turns, but we eventually made it to the sanctuary of Saint Rosali, the protector of Palermo. It was like a monastery, built into the cliff wall. Unfortunately it was not open, due to falling rock inside. We drove on, to the top of the mountain though.
Nice view huh! I took a few more shots
Remember Mondello? The resort town I took the bus too? Here is a shot of it from the top of a mountain, above Palermo. The drive down we went a different route. I wish I had a coat, because it was pretty cold up there. It wasn't bad, until we were on the scooter. When we got down the mountain, the road we were on, went through a large park. It was a beautiful ride, I even saw the 'Chinese palace'. I'm not sure what it's for, but I'd seen it on a tourism website for something. Rosario took me back to Ciro's, after a very exciting day. Before dinner time, Ciro and I went to his favorite pastry shop, so we could get a tray of deserts for dinner. We went back, and got ready for dinner. Since everyone was going, we took the car back to Rosario's and got there around 9:30pm. It was Rosario, Paula, Francesca, Gino, Linda, Ciro, Gloria, Dario, and me. There was one other couple, running late. They lived on one of the islands, and the ferry was behind schedule.
Francesca was dressed up for dinner, and I know I keep saying this, she is hands down gorgeous, beautiful, H.A.W.T. and the most attractive female I have seen over there. Once the last couple showed up, and we sat down for dinner. I sat at one end of the table, and she sat at the opposite end. She was up and down bringing the food from the kitchen. My mind wandered, as they were all talking to each other in Italian, and to an outsider, it would look like they were arguing, but it's more like passion when they talk, it's fun to watch actually. I can pick out some words when it's not too loud, they speak slow, and it's one to one, but when in a group, I just tune it out. Anyway, Francesca and my imagination. I'm gonna go off on a depressing monologue here, so skip ahead if you don't want to read it. I'll use a quote from a movie I saw once. Every guy dreams of landing a Marlin, a trophy fish, or playing baseball in the majors, but most of us, including me, don't have the talent to accomplish this. Francesca is way out of my league. Yes, I barely know her, but it'd be one of those couples where you see a beautiful woman, and some dude with her, and your mind says 'how did that happen?' I'm not fishing for sympathy, or a bunch of comments talking about how I am good enough. I know the truth, guys like me, don't end up with guys like her.
As we ate, I realized I didn't care much for the late arriving couple, the lady seemed to act a little snotty, like she was better than everyone else. I can't stress how cool Rosario is too, and Paula is stunningly pretty for an older lady.
First up, the
Antipasta dish. Salami, cheeses, small red stuffed peppers. Then the
Pasta, a spicy penne pasta Puglia style. Puglia is a region in Italy, where Paula is from. There food is know for being spicy. Ciro passed me a jar of a red pasty substance, and told me to put some on top. So I scooped a spoonful on and passed it to Gino. He leaned over and said I would pay the price for that, meaning it's gonna be hot. I thought, thanks for the heads up before I went and poured it on. A few minutes into eating, I noticed beads of sweat forming on my forehead, and an intense need for water. Rosario, Francesca, and Paula were all laughing and said to avoid the water, use the wine to get rid of the burn! Next up was the
salad, I know, the order sounds wrong to us. Then the
meat dish, it was a sort of stew, they called goo-lash, but I think it was the Sicilian version. After a short break, and a cigarette, we went back for desert. Mixed fruit in a sugar sauce. A 'chocolate salami' sort of like a crackle candy bar made in a roll shape. The pastries we brought. A pistachio cake, and finally, liquor. Rosario put about 5 different kinds on the table, and we all had a drink.
They commenced with the questions, about America. Can you really get married in a drive-thru in Vegas? Where exactly is Kansas? Occasionally, one of the English speaking natives would fill me in on what they were all talking about. Whenever I caught Rosario looking at me, he'd throw me a wink a smile, and one of his laughs. Whenever Francesca would catch me looking at her, she'd throw a smile back. Paula was just happy to see me actually eat something, she didn't notice I took about half size portions so I could make it to the end.
I went outside to smoke, and Francesca came out a few minutes later to talk. We only had a few seconds alone though. That couple I didn't know interrupted. Around 12:30 Gino and Linda were leaving. So lots of teary goodbyes, since they didn't know when they would see him again. Rosario even had to excuse himself for a bit after they did leave. They all talked awhile more, and then Ciro and Gloria gave in to Dario whining about leaving. We all said goodbye, I thanked them for dinner, Francesca said she was sorry we didn't get to talk more, and we left. I completely understood, seeing how busy she was for the whole dinner.
To be continued.....Sorry, it's time for me to go home, this was such an eventful day, I have a few more things to add, so I will try when I get home to finish this up, but for now, I'll go ahead and post what I have typed up. I was busy on conference calls most of the afternoon and I tried multitasking but ran out of time.
ciao!
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Alice in Chains - Man In The Box
