Palermo on Saturday, September 17, 2022

Kathie and I flew overnight from Charlotte to Palermo, via Roma. The interior of the Rome airport, Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci, is like a high-end shopping mall. Prada, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta, Salvatore Ferragamo. I felt underdressed.

And then there was the flight to Palermo. I remember flying on Alitalia in 1970. The beautiful dark haired flight attendants wore sleeveless dresses and, well, apparently didn’t own razors. Back then, eighteen-year-olds noticed such things. And remembered them.

Alitalia is now ITA, state-owned since Alitalia filed for bankruptcy a few years back. The state of the plane – maybe 1970 vintage? – was, um, interesting. Think frayed seatbelts. The only thing missing was the razorless flight attendants.

We were picked up by our driver who taught us that Sicily is really See-chee’-lee-a. He delivered us to our hotel before check-in was allowed so we dumped our bags, changed our shoes, and headed out to lunch. The hotel desk clerk recommended Spinnato, a place we liked well enough to visit several more times – waited on each time by the same older (but surely younger than I) and quite dignified server, who spoke English well and recommended items when we were obviously clueless what to order. More about him later.

On the way back to the room, we passed the opera house Teatro Politeama Garibaldi. This and its large square became our landmark for finding our way home over the next few days.