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I realized this morning that I haven't taken any pictures of our apartment here in Palermo. So I tidied up a bit and snapped away. It looks just like it did in the online photos--small but has everything we need and for a fraction of the price of a hotel. It's on the first floor, which in Europe is a flight of stairs up, they call the bottom floor the ground floor. It was kind of scary that first night we arrived, because we felt like we were going down a little alleyway to who knew where! Our driver even said, "don't be scared, it's ok"...guess she picked up on our anxiety! LOL As it turns out, almost ALL of the streets here are narrow like ours. And you would NOT believe how fast these people drive down them! We don't have a tv or an oven in this apartment, but that hasn't been a problem so far. The WIFI isn't the greatest, which has been a disappointment, but we are managing. The location, however, is PERFECT! we are only a few minutes walk from just about anywhere in the old town, most of the major monuments, etc. So all in all, it's a two thumbs up. Oh, and the bed is very comfy and a king to boot, which is rare in Europe. We took a tour to the town of Corleone today with a guide and driver. I didn't pay for a private tour but it turned out to be one, always a nice treat! Sicily is one of those places that has most of their population crammed into a city with LOTS of high rise (about 10-15 stories) apartments built along the coast, and then not much in the interior except mountains and farms. The guide, Barbara, told us they had a lot of rain this past winter, so everything was very green. For now. She said it gets very hot in Sicily during the summer, well over 100! Then everything turns brown/yellow. I can't imagine! There isn't a lot of green space in the city, and with all the stone streets and buildings, it must be like an oven. In any case, the drive to Corleone took a bit over an hour. The countryside was so beautiful with the mountains, I tried to capture it, but the pictures don't do it justice. Once we arrived in town, we were turned over to a personal guide at the Mafia Museum and given a tour. It wasn't quite what I'd expected, but was still interesting. The people of Corleone don't like the movie, The Godfather, because it portrays them and their town in a negative way. The people are trying to fight against the mafia, but they are very powerful now, even if they are not as violent as they once were. After our tour, we went to visit the village of Ficuzza. Only around 370 people live there and apparently it's known as a summer resort area. It was much cooler there due to the elevation and we saw the palace that one of the kings had built back in the 1800's as his summer palace. There is also a refuge for birds and turtles there and our guide was just fascinated with the turtles. It is against the law for a citizen to own a turtle in Sicily, so maybe that's why she was so excited to see them. Rich and I thought it was just too funny how she was so happy to see them. After we were dropped off back at our apartment, we rested a bit and then ventured out to the big grocery store we had previously seen. It had been closed the day we went but was now open. They didn't have my coffee creamer or protein shakes for Rich. Such a bummer. Hoping for better luck in Madrid. Barbara had given us the names of a couple of places to eat, so we tried one--I got eggplant rolls, Rich got some kind of panini. Sicilian food is way different than I thought it would be. Not one place we've been to makes lasagna or pasta with meat sauce--it's mostly spaghetti noodles with either clams, muscles or some other type of seafood. No sauce. Lots of pizza choices, though.
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