Heading to Palermo

We left Syracuse and drove through the interior of Sicily towards the capital city Palermo and stopped in a place called Selinunte, a small town which has the remains of a Greek acropolis. A huge ancient city was unearthed and the remains could be walked through which is what we did for two hours. For lunch, we headed down the coast to a beach where G and I swam again for another 2 hours while the bus buddies went up to a restaurant to eat. The ocean water was quite a bit colder than the Tyrennian sea, of a few days ago, because this one was on the open ocean that is only a short distance from the Northeastern tip of Africa. It is some of the most pristine and clean water we have ever been in but most people wouldn't go into it because it was too cold. Can't keep a Maritimer out of the ocean - even though I still don't like to put my feet down onto the ocean floor. One time having my toe snatched by a crab was enough for me. So I always send G out far and then swim to him and then he has to carry me for a bit until he sets me loose to swim some more. It was an afternoon of swim, carry, swim , carry. We did make a sand castle :)
We arrived in Palermo just before supper and headed out on our own to walk for a bit and to find a nice private place to eat. Most of the bus group chose an optional supper at a fancy restaurant but we found it too expensive and then we wouldn't have had the option of what we could eat. Besides, too much time spent with the people on the bus is not good.
So, after asking some locals about good places to eat, we found a small restaurant which turned out to be very special for us. We didn't have a reservation, which was necessary, and we weren't dressed, which is normal for the two of us, but after some lower lip action and some sad puppy dog eyes, we were given one of the two unreserved tables in the room. Mind you, the place was empty because we like to eat early but by the time we left, it was full.
When we sat down, 4 gentlemen, all dressed in black tuxes sporting slicked back, black hair appeared in front of us. One was pouring free champagne, the other was placing a bun on the plate, the other was handing out the menus and the other was bowing low over us and speaking in perfect English. I swear we were sitting in a true home grown Italian family, if you get my drift. We were treated as if we were royalty and did not lift a finger to do anything including pouring water or picking up a fork. All was done for us as they watched us like a true home grown Italian family, if you get my drift. They were lovely and we shared life stories with them and part way through the evening, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, we were given a large Palermo table book, about 39€, all in colored and glossy pictures and in English, to take home with us. We were astounded by the attention and ended the evening by kissing the head man and giving him a Cdn pin. My faith is restored. However, after telling our tour guide what happened, she asked if we kissed the man on the lips and she was worried because in Italy, to a member of the Italian home grown family, if you get my drift, once that happens, you are in.
We spent the next day on the hop on/off bus seeing all of the city. We had another lovely experience at a city Pizzeria place beside the opera house where 50 cops were gathered, not only here but all over the city at every major bank and important building, to ensure that the striking force who were revolting against the gov't weren't going to cause any trouble. In amongst them were two sleeping dogs.
All in all, we were ready to leave Sicily.