This isn't the full day 4 post but I needed to get this in before long and I might as well start now. Yes, I have made it to Sicily. I flew on a budget airline called Blue Panorama. I am not flying back on the same airline, instead AlItalia. I had to get up very early to get on my way.I was up at 4am becuase for some dumb reason I scheduled my flight to leave at 7:15am. A saner person would have chosen something like noon. Live and learn. I got to the train station and it was just opening at 5am but the train for the airport was not leaving until 5:52. I was not sure if this would give me enough time to make it but I figured worst case I could purchase a new ticket at whatever cost and just get on my way over here. So the flight itself was uneventful if a bit bumpy due to some inclement weather over Sicily. I think I slept through the majority of the flight because I didn't really sleep well again the night before.
The adventure starts when I get out of the plane, collect my luggage and head over to the car rental place via a shuttle bus. When I get there everyone is going to other rental areas aside from Dollar/Thrifty. It meant no line which was nice. The woman at the desk spoke English very poorly and any time I asked her a question she would choose to ignore it mainly. This for every time I asked if I could perhaps get an automatic, I was willing to pay more. She deftly ignored every request. I had only the tiniest part of learning manual transmission with my brother and time flew by without a chance to get practice. Then she wouldn't say where the car was which made it difficult to find. After wandering a bit I went back in and asked her to show me. It was nowhere near where all the Dollar signs are, which is a tad confusing.
This is where it gets uglier. I get in the car and go for my GPS that I bought European maps for just for this trip. Guess what. It wasn't in my backpack.I know I didn't leave it behind. Oh, wait, I probably left it in the camera bag (I keep the camera in the backpack but probably forgot to move the GPS). That's when I find the lock had been jimmied on my suitcase and the contents ripped through. The only thing missing was the GPS of course. They left the camera bag and the other contents (batteries, tripod, the like). I was very angry but I tried to control myself as best I could. I was not sure how I was going to find the hotel, still I wasn't fully in a thinking mood.
I started out on the road and headed for Palermo via the highway system. It made sense that I needed to at least do that. Getting out of the parking lot was interesting. I couldn't figure out how to get the car in reverse, fortunately I did not need it at any point, though I will now. I drove until I got stuck in traffic. The highway itself was not an issue. I was able to get on the road and keep moving fairly easily. Now that I had hit traffic I had to learn how to drive all over again. The traffic in Palermo is made up of psychopaths who make up their own lanes and spaces to enter or exit. This includes the police cars without their lights flashing. I stalled at least 3 dozen times, often forgetting to downshift when I had to really slow down. I am not a fan of this type of driving, manual transmission, no idea where to go, psychos surrounding me. There is not a moment in the city when you cannot hear a car horn blaring. I finally decided I needed to get off the highway and look for where I was going.
Fortunately I still had the iPhone and i has a poorly implemented google maps feature. All the same it was my life line and I was able to use it to get to the hotel. Every so often where it looked safe to pull overI would do so and check where I was. I managed to not really get lost during that time but I overshot one turn then had to make a U-turn which probably was the easier way to go anyway. I got to the hotel at about 11:15 or so. The place really does have parking but it is in a small garage underneath the hotel with a locked gate that you need to buzz to get into and I suppose out of as well. I am not going to like getting up that hill and out the door in time. I needed to take the book into the room and translate how to put the car in reverse. Apparently I have to lift up the stick and push to the reverse position. I hope it makes sense when I try it.
Anyway I am not done for the day but I am exhausted so I am not sure what else I will accomplish. It has been a very trying day indeed. Perhaps the most trying I have ever encountered while traveling. The hotel has internet but it is pay as you go so I am somewhat limited in posting.
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