The drive to the airport and finding parking at Venice Treviso was surprisingly easy. We gave ourselves 2.5 hours in the airport before our flight because we'd never been there before and had no idea what to expect. Let me just say that security at European airports, or at least this one, is a breeze! Only I had to take my shoes off (probably because they were knee-high boots) and they didn't inspect or test any of HB's drinks/food. No body scanners, no angry TSA agents, it was pretty sweet and easy so after we checked in we had about two hours or hanging out to do so we ate lunch and got a few beers.
Ryan Air makes you pay for assigned seating and priority boarding so most people are without a seat and boarding is first come, first served. Since we were so early we were amongst the first 50 to board and had our pick of seats. Something else neat Ryan Air does is they don't use a ramp. You walk out onto the tarmac and up stairs either at the front OR the rear or the aircraft. Boarding is super fast that way. You also disembark in the same manner. One of the biggest downsides for us (giant people) is the leg room. Here is a pic of Zack. You just can't help but feel bad for the guy.
HB did NOT enjoy the short 1:15 flight. Some of the other passengers, however, did a little too much. There was a group of about 20 guys on the flight who must have been going for a bachelor party or something because they were standing up and carrying on the entire flight. Then on the way off the plane, one of them threw up all over himself. One thing I love about European dudes is how they sing. As soon as the group, who had already boarded the bus to take us to the terminal, saw this they all started singing. I couldn't understand what they were saying but I still thought it was quite entertaining. I really need to find some friends like that. We Americans just don't sing enough!
From the airport we caught a taxi at the airport to our apartment. People in the US talk about DC drivers being the worst. Well, people in Italy are awesome drivers, but they all do whatever the hell they want, to the max. They run stop lights after they've been red for five seconds, they cross multiple lanes of traffic and pull out in front of you, all the while managing to avoid an accident. They are the best worst drivers ever. Our taxi driver should have gotten a medal after the race from the airport. And OMG all they do is honk. Constantly. I'm fairly certain their driving position isn't 10 and 2 it's 12 and horn. They honk to tell you to go faster, to watch out, to move out of the way... it's insane. And they pay absolutely no attention to road rules. At one point there were cars four across on an overpass that had three lanes. All the cars were about 6 inches apart from one another. It was at this particular junction out taxi driver decided it was a good time to cut across 3 of these lanes to take an exit ramp. But despite what auditory damage may have been done by the horns and the mild heart attack I had, no person or vehicle was hurt.
Speaking of horns... One night we were in our apartment and there was an unusually loud and long symphony of honks going on outside. So I stepped outside onto our balcony in the rain to peer down the street. About two blocks down there was clearly some sort of accident. I couldn't tell exactly what happened because it was dark but I think a pedestrian was hit. Either way, there were flashing blue lights and people standing around as per usual at the scene of an accident. But instead of quiet concern all you could hear were horns. The longest uninterrupted horn blast lasted at least 30 seconds. Talk about road rage!
And since I've fully digressed onto the topic of road rage in Palermo, I'm going to jump ahead to the end of our trip to share this story with you:
This crazy lady with balls the size of boulders was traveling the wrong way down the right side of the street. A three wheeled van taxi (wish you could actually see the whole thing because it is amazing!) stopped before she hit him. He refused to move so after a few minutes of shouting at each other from their respective vehicles she proceeded to get out and yell at him through his windshield. At one point she even went around the back to yell at his passengers! I don't know how it ended because HB was hungry and eventually we decided to leave and find some lunch but hooooooly crap. You couldn't pay me enough to ever drive on these roads.
Back to our first night on the island... Here is one great shot I managed to take from the taxi ride:
Sicily is amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining when we arrived but seeing that still left me breathless.
The apartment we rented through vrbo.com (in Europe it's known as homeaway.com) was very nice and the landlord Massimo was superb (you'll hear more about him later). Upon our arrival he greeted us with this:
Such a sweet guy! And not a terrible bottle of wine, either. It was a good thing, too since we had to go back out in the rain and get dinner. One less thing we had to forage for. Luckily the apartment was situated very close to the Ballaro Market, a very old Arabic food market they say is famous or something. Grocery stores, at least in downtown historic Palermo, do not exist. There are tiny 10 x 20 stalls of dry goods but if you want fresh food you have to go to the market. So we schlepped back down the five flights of stairs with HB and his stroller (fully equipped with waterproof bag) and walked in the rain to the market. We bought some fresh chicken sausage, potatoes and broccoli (because when you're wet, tired, and hungry there is no time for creativity) as well as some breakfast food and made our way back as quickly as possible.
Here is a pic of our living room. Sorry about the poor quality; I was tired. The doors go out to a balcony, and check out that ceiling!
After dinner we called it a night... except for the short time we spent watching American Pickers dubbed in Italian, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I should probably get Italian TV at home. If I could watch all my favorite shows in Italian I would probably learn it faster. Besides, what I really need do is to learn is how to barter in Italian for when I go to their antique markets. But I digress yet again. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next installment in our Sicily vacation. I think there will be at least 5.
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