May 7th-9th: Lipari to Volcano to Palermo to Napoli!

Wow. Lots of traveling these last couple days.
I chilled in Lipari for a hot second only to find out the Sulfur baths (the reason I came to Europe at all) are in the Volcano islands.

Sulfur, for the few non-chemists who can keep up with this blog, is that smell that happens when something is wrong with the inner workings of a public restroom. Rotting eggs comes closest to capturing its essence with some Zoo Doo mixed.
Zoo Doo is something zoos used to sell for presents. It is a bucket full of different animals' poop to use as fertilizer. What happened to that?
So imagine that smell. Then imagine that smell is a liquid. Now imagine that smell is a warm liquid with very squishy mud at the bottom. Obviously you want to pay three euros to swim in it.
And that's what I did.
It was horrifying. I still smell faintly of it despite having  taken three showers since.
After that-you get the opportunity to go into the Hot Springs. Be not fooled by the name, however. The hot springs are actually incredibly cold and I did not see a single spring. At a few select areas, bubbles came out of the water and those spots were about a degree warmer than freezing (Fahrenheit).

Fun fact: I once quit a swimming team because the water was too cold to practice in. Just Gianmarco.

So. Boat from Volcano to Messina then train to Palermo.

This morning I ran to the Orto Botanico-bottanical gardens.
There were a lot of different kinds of cacti. I imagined a superhero/villain called cactus man. I am sure power rangers have already done this at some point.

Then the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, which means: Gallery of something something.
I tried to take a picture of a statue of a woman holding a severed head. I was caught. I told them I was texting someone. It was the most poorly executed lie ever told in Europe. There was possibly a worse one told when I forgot my Mom's birthday a few years ago...but that was in America.

I then got to eat a Panino Con Milza and a Panino Con Panelle. I was told I had to get one while I was here by a hostel person. They lamented that I would be leaving Palermo so soon and would probably only get a chance to eat one as they were very filling. They do not know me.

I don't know what Milza or Panelle is but it was either look that up or write this blog. They were delicious so if it's frog ball meat-I don't care.

Tonight I am taking an overnight train to Napoli. Then Pompeii. Then Rome. Then Florence. Then Milan. Then Verona. Then Venice. Then AUSTRIA!
I've actually booked all my Italy hostels. It took 2 hours.

Thank you for reading. Come back soon.

Side Note: In honor of Mad Men I bought some Lucky Strikes. Do these things exist in America still? If they do...well then...that was a waste

Side Note Due (Italian for: better Side Note): The flower sellers are fucking crazy. They will put the flower in your hand then accuse you of taking their flower without paying for it. That's what I told the cops and I'm sticking to it.

Smooches