We decided to try our luck with catching the local city bus to take us to the beach area, called Mondello. Our apartment host, Massimo, gave us directions on how to get there and which buses to take. We managed to find the first one, but waited almost an hour to find/catch the next one. Ugh. We finally got on it, and then jumped the gun and got off too soon!!! #CityBusFail. I suppose in the long run it worked out okay, because as we were walking to Mondello, we saw a very nice restaurant and stopped in for lunch. It was right on the water and a very pretty view of the city of Mondello, which we wouldn't have had if we were there. (Trying to find the silver lining here). LOL Lunch was in a palace called Alle Terrazze, and all the waiters were dressed in tuxes! Gorgeous place, food was excellent, really enjoyed it. We strolled down the way after lunch and the weather was so nice--warm sun, crisp breeze. We found out that the haze is from the sands blowing in from the Sahara!! It has been breezy the past few days. We managed to catch all the right buses back to the city and didn't have to wait at all. What an adventure!