Day 1.5: Travel !

September 18-19, 2023: Overall our travel day went very well! The food on our Swiss Air 777 was pretty darn good. It's been years since I had a hot meal served onboard a flight --PanAm maybe? --- and was really impressed. There were actual courses to some extent (free cocktails!, appetizer, main course/dessert, coffee followed by a bar of Swiss chocolate) and flight attendants seemed 

in a constant motion of efficiency and purpose. These are some talented folks who spoke, at minimum, German, English, Italian and Spanish. We are SO lazy in the U.S!

About 10 hours to Zurich, Switzerland which, judging by the gorgeous green and lush view through the airport glass, is somewhere I’d like to revisit. Only an hour between flights and we were off to Palermo. 

Ha, ha...what a contrast! Went from green to brown and efficient to, 

well, not so much. Kind of a sad situation onboard as well with the older Italian woman in front of us throwing up for the entire 2 hour flight. Ug. 

On arrival, we disembarked onto the tarmac and boarded buses amid the early evening heat. Our shared checked bag arrived okay, which was a god-send. While Tom waited for the bag, I thought I'd get a jump on things and find the car rental location. I found it (see video). 2 hours later, we had the key, not to the manual Fiat 500 we had chosen, but to a larger Jeep Compass Hybrid. Now, in the U.S. you might think, "Yes! A larger vehicle for the same price!" But in Italy, you really want the smallest car you can find given the parking nightmares and Mad Max driving tactics employed in Sicily, especially. Also, it was a HYBRID. No idea how hose things tick, as you will see later on.

We were on our way to the hotel, but it was 9:20pm and a 30 minute drive with the parking garages closing at 10pm! The hotel receptionist couldn't have been nicer and got us to the right garage location with minutes to spare. The plan was to leave the car for 2 nights and walk the city due to the 'restricted traffic zones' in our historic district from 8am-8pm (requiring a permit) and the absolute horror-show of combat driving that my 13 years of code-3 fire engine maneuvering could never have prepared me for. 

Well, we made it, handed off the car keys to the garage guys and wheeled our luggage about a 1/4 mile to the hotel. LOVED the B&B Hotel Palermo Quatro Canti! Centrally located in the historic area where most of the cultural sites AND nightlife are found (!), very clean, great staff, great breakfast buffet and a beautiful rooftop dining and cocktail area. You might think we called it a night, but why waste time? We washed up and headed out for quick stroll around the neighborhood which is what everyone else in Palermo appeared to be doing. Then it was off to bed for a leisurely start the next morning!