Palermo Early by One by Keith

Hello - i'm doing my first dictating to an iPad - this could change my world for good.  I am loving this.  Today was our first day in Palermo - what a wicked city.  Deb and I just went for a long walk to get acquainted with the neighbourhood, which is full of beautiful buildings from the early medieval period right up to the occasional cool art nouveau place just to keep things interesting.  We were booked into a B and B in a sketchy, back alley neighbourhood which we thought better of - instead we opted for the Hotel Garibaldi which is very nice.  I lolled around and watched the Wimbledon final this afternoon after we arrived (in italian) - way to go Rafa.  We actually have a separate living room in our suite.  Then we set out and wandered around and landed in the middle of a down home Sicilian flea market - the second of the day for us.  Deb bought a whole new wardrobe for 6 euro.  Then we somehow landed in a very fun street bar where we were entertained by a drunk guy who serenaded the local folks, whether they liked it or not.  We both wished we could speak Italian when Feodore joined us at our table - he thought he could make us understand him by speaking more slowly and clearly - interesting logic from a drunk guy.  Amazing gelato followed, with another stop in a sports bar to check out the fans and the World Cup.  I ate a big wiener.  We are following our instincts and trying to enjoy the local flavour as much as possible.  I'm looking out at the roof lines of a couple of monuments as I sprawl on the couch listening to crazy traffic noise - such a contrast from the quiet, beautiful cottage in Scopello.  It was muggy today - Deb's on her third shower - but the breeze from the harbour makes it quite bearable.  Tomorrow we tackle some of the fascinating buildings from the inside. I can't wait.