Ahh Sicily!!

We took the train from Rome to Sicily and have been here since Saturday. The train ride was pretty sweet and very picturesque. The highlights of the trip were when an American guy got on the train in Napoli with his 85 year old Italian Mother. She was a scream! She didn't speak much English and she seemed to really enjoy giving her son (who was our age) a lot of grief! She was really fiesty and loved to laugh. She would say things in Italian and then laugh and laugh and we had no idea what she was talking about. At one point they went back and forth in Italian arguing with each other and then he told me that she was insisting that she keeps seeing the same things out the window and that we really weren't going anywhere. The train goes in and out of tunnels so frequently that you for long stretches you get a view for a minute or two and then your back in a tunnel, then it comes out and the view looks pretty much the same.

The other exciting thing was when the conductor got into a heated battle with a homeless guy that had snuck on the train and was crashing out in the space between the cars. It was apparent that the conductor was going to throw him off at the next stop, but when we got there the guy was suddenly comotosed and would not budge! He was laying on the floor between the cars and the conductor was beating him with his hat but he wouldn't flinch. The homeless guy won out in the end and stayed on the train all the way to Sicily.

The most amazing thing about the trip was that there are no bridges connecting mainland Italy to Sicily and they actually put the train onto a ship to get it across!! It is unbelievable and I couldn't believe it until I saw it. They drive half of the train right into the belly of this huge ship. Then they disconnect, back out, and then drive the second half in right next to the first. The whole process took about a half an hour. Once the train is onboard, they allow you to get off and go up on deck. The boat ride takes about another 30 - 45 minutes, then you get back in the train and they reverse the process. It's pretty amazing and pretty funny to see a whole train sitting inside a boat!

We had booked a room at a flea bag motel called the Hotel Touring that was a few minutes walk from the train station. We didn't get off the train until after 9pm, so we knew we had to stay close to the station. The town is called Messina and the very small part we saw seemed rather seedy, but it was late and very dark. We had to walk through some dark alleys to get to the hotel, but it wasn't too bad. Then we walked a pretty long way to find a pizza joint to get something to eat. That was quite an experience! They definitely do not see many Americans here and we felt like museum exhibits. The pizza place was rocking and there were a lot of people there. There was a family with three little kids that were staring at us like we were martians. They had huge smiles on their faces and thought we were hilarious. Although it was a very strange experience for us, it was not worrisome at all. Everyone was smiling and laughing and trying to communicate with us. There were several teenagers and young guys there and they were all very friendly. We could not get a translation of what the rolled up pizza like like thing was that they made, but I rubbed my stomach and said "Good, Yes?" and they all laughed and said "yes, yes, yes is very good!". We bought a couple of those and several beers and walked back to the hotel to make arrangements for tomorrow. We plan to jump back on the train and head for the beach. We found a place on Expedia that seems to good to be true. It is a resort called the Villa Residente Club and looks like it would cost over $200 a night, but we booked it for less than $60. Beautiful beaches with lounge chairs and umbrellas, several restaurants and bars, etc.. We were tempted to book it for a week and use it as our home base while we explore Sicily, but we have grown very suspicious of the claims (and the photos) on Expedia. They will be picking us up at the train station to drive us to the hotel so I hope it's not too bad. Apparently it is too far for us to turn around and walk back to the train!

Heading up on deck after the train was parked in the belly of the ship.

That is another ship like the one we were on. That one was full of tractor trailer trucks, but it hauls trains too.

A little bar on the ship.

Sicily!

That's the other half of the train.

Leaving the ship.