I was picked up by Silvia and Baldo (o Boldo?) at the airport and came to find out they prepared a potato and ham dish for a late dinner for me. Only thing, I am a vegetarian. But no problem, she made some pasta for me. She is a super hero doing everything she does with the home and cooking and helping with anything and everything. They knew a good amount of english as well. I watched The Simpsons Movie with Baldo with Italian subtitles so it was pretty cool. He even told me that the subtitles are in Sicilian. Yeah, for those of you who don't know.. there are over 700 different dialects in Italy. It's like how the United Kingdom has the Wales accent and Scottish, Irish, and English. Well, there are over 700 different ones in Italy. That's crazy. They couldn't tell the difference between my American accent and an English (but said the American ones are easier to understand) however they could tell that the Italian couple staying with them from Genova had a different dialect than them. Crazy. I remember being told last year, that Nonna from Giano (Southern Italy) was hard to understand because of her different dialect but I didn't think there would be so many. I thought only Northern and Southern and probably Sicilian, but no no no no.
Breakfast was always an espresso and a croissant filled with the egg cream, perfect. Oh and one morning I got croissants filled with a flavour, I had a half of a white chocolate and half of a pistachio and woah, the flavour was insane. Oh, and the last night, I had a knock at my door with a briche filled with caffe gelato and whip cream on top. From Moritzio, the ice cream man that drives around there neighbourhood. Definitely a crazy taste, but something you should try in Sicilia.
I remember going to Palermo like I said, the first day. Also, in Palermo they have a museum with the writings from witches on walls right before they were killed, written in urine, feces, and blood. I didn't pay to see but wow. I was shown a park by Fabrizo and Valeria, and she was suppose to give me names of the stuff I learned but I forgot to ask. I remember learning about the Sicilian flag, the legs point to the three parts of Sicily. Oh, when parking your car in a free parking spot, it's not free. The street guys who sell you crap like sunglasses or towels, or coconuts, etc.. well they sit there and wait for you to park and expect some money (like fifty cents). If you don't pay, you come back to your car broken. That's insane. After my morning and early afternoon in Palermo, I went to the beach in Mondello. Breath-taking. Mountains are everywhere you turn. Having breakfast with everyone on their terrace, I was blown away by them but it was just every where you go. Can we trade the Midwest flats with the Sicilian mountains please? The water was so clear. Santorini was really blue but this water was so clear, you can walk and see where you step and the sand was white, you could also walk for a long way out and still not be shoulder deep. I was once pretty far out and i was only knee deep. Michaela (scared of fish) would have loved it, I didn't see ANY fish and it's shallow as heck.
Came back a little burned on my shoulders from walking around Palermo. But also came back with a tummy filled with an Aranchini. I was told about this and the granita (which I got limoni granita in Palermo, so goooooood) by Alessandra and Giacomo. I ordered an aranchini without meat (senza carne) and it was amazing. Took me two bites to consider if I liked it or not. It is basically a fried rice ball with different fillings. I think mine was the rice (obviously) and then mashed potato.
The next day, breakfast and off to Monreale. Monreale for the cathedral. It was filled with mosaics as well as Ravenna had. I got a cheap mosaic ring there. I also got a Panne Conzata because when they dropped me off, they said this was there thing. I got one, it was basically a sandwich. Mine was good but way too big, I got one with mozzarella, olive oil, pepe (pepper) and tomato. Climbed to the top of the cathedral for an amazing view. Well worth the 2.50 euro. While climbing, I was near someone who spoke English and she said to me (because the walk ways were so tiny), "imagine two Americans trying to pass one another!". Obviously she had no idea that I was an American, but yeah, Americans can be larger than Europeans. This also reminds me of when Michaela and I went to see Pitch Perfect 2 at the movies and when an American said in the movie, "they (Europeans) hate us!", some British girls next to us laughed and said "ITS TRUE!". They had no idea they were sitting right next to two Americans.
After Monreale, I slept a little and then went for a run to the beach and the hike up the mountain. The beach, when I got there was green. What happened? I have no idea but glad I swam the day before. The mountain was horrible but worth it. My only regret was not buying the larger water bottle, when I just simply bought a small one. I ran out of water before I got to the top. The view though, it was like no other. I think this is the top three views I have ever witnessed (not in order): San Marino Castle, Santorini Light House, and Riserva Naturale del Monte Gallo (this view). Incredible. Going up, I felt like I was on the Survivor because of my empty water bottle and finding aloe plants on the side of the road for my shoulders. Coming down, I was stopped by men freaking out at me in Italian and I got out of their mouths that it was a private residence where I came from and that they didn't see me. So I said, "non lo so" and "Sono American, mi dispiache" which is, "I don't know" and "I am American, I'm Sorry". They finally gave up trying to explain and said ciao. I won't say anything else. I got amazing pictures and the most beautiful scene in front of me, breath-taking (or breathless from the walk up).
So that night we booked myself a train to Trapani. Over three hours in a train. Not worth it. Trapani scared me, I felt so unsafe and my stomach was hurting really bad that entire morning. I was getting cat called by men saying, "ciao, ciao bella". It was dirty, with garbage everywhere. Also, no one around. I felt like someone could have drove a van up next to me and take me without anyone noticing. That's why I didn't go into the streets to find the cable cars up to the town Erice or to find the sea salt. I stayed on the beach walk and didn't go far on that either. Didn't try to find the port for the ferries to go to Favignana (an island nearby). Decided to buy an earlier train ticket right back to Mondello. But I had four hours to waste until the next one came. I was so tired too. I was up buying the Trapani ticket after midnight and having to wake up at 5am to get ready. Wasn't a fun day at all. Would I go back to see the cable cars, sea salt, Favignana? Yes, only if I had a group of people with me and I had a rented car.
Found some pink sand in an area though, but I also did see a man fully nude on the beach tanning. But I did buy some limoni granita in Trapani and I think it was better than the one I got in Palermo. Helped my tummy ache too. Oh and the night before, when we stayed up late buying the ticket, we had Panella and Crocché for dinner. Fried Sicilian food, we ordered it. All fried foods are good, so yeah.
Anyway, if you would like to see Palermo/Mondello, stay with this family, seriously. It really is affordable and they really help you to be as comfortable as possible. As well, they offer food and transport (for a fee, but come on, you get the real stuff).
https://www.homestay.com/italy/palermo/64407-homestay-in-partanna-mondello-palermo
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