Day Seventeen - Jun 7, 2012
Night Train to Palermo, Sicily
Daily Didactic
We woke early in our couchette car, both because the train sat in Messina a while and because a very nice older Italian man below us seemed a little frustrated. We think when you don't speak the language, you are inclined to assume you've done something. In the long run, he just seemed to want the window open and didn't want to bother us. He was pretty awesome and seemed to think if he kept talking to us we'd learn Italian. Fortunately for us our other roommate from Bangladesh spoke Italian and English, so we learned a little. We arrived at the train station and called Franco to help us find the apartment we were renting. After a short and confusing conversation, he turned out to be about ten feet away. He drove us to the flat. Good lord. Don't ever think about driving here. The fact that every car is not just a dented mess (many are) is a miracle of some sort. Franco showed us the most amazing place we've ever stayed in for $70 a night and took off. We hit the incredible Ballaro Market just outside our door for a snack to stock up for dinner. It was all amazing, but two fresh tuna steaks for $5 really made us smile. We snacked, took a nap and later in the evening walked to the "beach". Theresa whipped up the most amazing fresh dinner and we watched the young folks turn the market into a social event before calling it a really great day.
Today's Photos
