I can't believe our cruise is over, it went way too fast! We met up with Pam & Mike early, got a bite and then said farewell to them. They were headed to Rome for a couple of days of tours, and we are flying out of Rome to Palermo, Sicily.

Our bus to Rome left right on time and we got to the airport around 11:00 am. We tried to check in our big suitcase, but were told we could only drop it off 3 hours before our flight--which meant 2:30. Ugh. So, we lugged it around and found a place to while away the hours.

We were both a little nervous since we've never flown on a European flight before, and very few people spoke English. We got the bag checked, got through security--although I had to have a frisky pat down since they didn't have the X-ray machine, and Rich's bag got searched due to a small knife he had in his carry on. They let him keep it, but advised him to check it next time. :)

We lined up to board the flight and were led outside onto a bus. Then we were driven out to the plane, where we boarded by climbing stairs. Thank goodness it was a nice day and not raining! The plane was nicer than I thought it would be, and it was a pretty quick flight to Palermo.

Sicily doesn't look anything like I thought it would. It's very arid and mountainous, with TONS of apartment buildings. Most of the communities are built along the coast, at least from what I could tell from the air.

The lady we'd hired to pick us up was a few minutes late, but she eventually found us and away we went. It took about an hour or so to get to Palermo--the traffic was pretty heavy and she said that was typical of a Sunday. Thank God we had someone who knew where they were going, because the streets are so tiny and curvy--don't know if a taxi driver would've found it.

Our host was waiting for us outside the apartment and gave us a quick tour. The place looks just like it did in the pictures online--very quaint! Massimo was very nice, had a welcome treat for us, and showed us how to get to the shops and restaurants.

Since it was way past our dinner time, we ventured out and found our way to a restaurant, got a table and had pizza. Mine was supposed to have Italian sausage but it actually had a hotdog in the middle - see the picture. Too funny!!

We stopped off at a small grocery store on the way back, got a few essentials and actually managed to find our way back to our apartment. It was a little scary but the streets are well lit and seem safe enough.

What a day!! Food tour tomorrow! :))