My trip to Italy began with my driving to the German club where I left my truck and boarded a limo for the drive to Philadelphia airport.  At the German club, I met the other four people from the club - Jean Dyson, our tour manager; Wayne and Jane Carey, and Sherri.

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After going through all the customs and TSA procedures, we boarded our plane for Boston's Logan airport where we were to switch to AlItalia for the trip to Rome.  We were all (the five of us and about 230 more people) standing in line to board the plane when an announcement notified us that AlItalia would not be flying because of mechanical issues.  We were given no explanation nor any indication of what we were to do!  All was confusion and frustration!  Jean called Collette, our tour company, to find out what to do.  The only option Airitalia gave was to wait until 9pm the next night for a flight. We checked in at the airport's Hilton ($350/night and there wasn't even a complimentary breakfast!).  After many calls, it was finally determined that we would take a 10:30am flight to Detroit and the a Delta flight to Rome. Although not completely satisfactory, it at least got us to Rome earlier than waiting for the next night's Alitalia flight at 9pm.

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The flight was LONG! Cramped and tired, I sat a prisoner in my window seat for the 10 hour flight.  From Rome, we were loaded into another plan destined for Palermo.  We missed the first day of our tour thereby missing the ruins of Castello a Mare, Palermo's cathedral, the Palace of the Normans, and a short bus trip to Monreale to visit a 12th century cathedral.  

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We reached the hotel in Palermo around 3pm, checked in, and spent the rest of the time exploring Palermo.  The five of use ate dinner in an outdoor cafe, walked by the Politeama Concert Hall.  We couldn't go in because they were getting ready for a Mozart concert.  We also walked by the impressive Massimo Opera House.  The marque announced a new production of Don Giovanni!

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