Just returned from the nightly stroll. The main street through the center of the city was blocked off and for a few minutes you could avoid the scooters running up your backside. Contrary to popular belief, you can cross a street in Italy without getting run over, you just need to be brave enough to saunter into a crosswalk without fear in the face of oncoming traffic. Better yet, wait for an old woman with her dog, or a mother with a stroller, to move into the zone and use them for cover. Car drivers will stop (or at least slow); scooter drivers evidently believe no traffic law applies to them. (Red light, who said anything about red lights?) These guys even drive through crowded street markets that are tough to navigate on foot. Our best scooter sighting was the family of three: father driving, mother rear, four-year old sandwiched between them as they puttered off down the road. No need for them to worry about car-seat recalls.

None of the above is meant to imply that we wouldn’t recommend a visit to Palermo. It’s just you know quickly that you aren’t in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. For example, every town with a public square has its resident bum, and many have a bum and his dog, but how many have a bum, his dog and his duck? (Ok, it technically might be a goose, but who’s counting?) The one I refer to hangs in front of the main opera house, which was where the final scene of Godfather Part 3 was filmed. Went by it three times at least, dude, dog and duck were always in the same spot. Then there was the couple with a stroller we followed down the street on Friday night, only to have them walk into the place we had the rice ball on Saturday; totally different part of town. Very Twilight Zonish.

Palermo is certainly not cosmopolitan like Rome, but there is a gritty charm about the place. People seem genuinely friendly and in all our wanderings we never felt threatened in any way. One fellow stepped in to try and translate as we attempted to figure out the bus lines on Saturday. In the end, we gave up and stuck to the shoe leather express. Tonight took us to a wine bar where a couple drinks qualified us to sample from the antipasto offerings, which after the afternoon food fest was sufficient. It was, all things considered, a pretty cheap evening despite the lowly state of the dollar. That we definitely try not to think about.