Palermo!

WE FINALLY MADE IT TO PALERMO! 
Palermo is where my family is from in Sicily.  In fact, there is the "Piazza Ballarò" that is home to the famous Ballaro Market (Mercato Ballarò), and I had made it my mission to finally see it after years of hearing about it.  After an hour and a half bus ride, Bill and I arrived in Palermo only to find out that we were on the opposite side of the city as the Ballaro Market.  Who knew!  Thankfully, the city was not a New York or DC, so we made it to the other side in a good amount of time and got to get a glimpse of the whole city on our way.

We ran into the Teatro Massimo, which is Palermo's opera house.  I expected it to be impressive (I mean, we ARE in Italy), but this...was HUGE AND INCREDIBLE.  Massimo.  Bill and I wanted to go in, but unfortunately they were only holding guided tours Tuesday through Saturday (of course), so we did our best by walking all the way around it and checking out whatever we could.  We are now determined to be hired to sing there one day.  We put it on our list.

Today we are packing to finally go back to the US!  We will miss it here very much- people have been so welcoming and kind, and the weather is gorgeous.  This has truly been a trip of a lifetime and in the meantime, we have even become comfortable linguistically and culturally.  That was the goal!  All of our expectations and hopes have certainly been met, and now we cannot wait to come back home and tell all of you about our great experiences.
Ciao for now :)
Aubry and Bill