Mediterraneo Palermo

WE depart Sicily with wonderful memories of sunny skies, blue Mediterranean seas, green hillsides covered with grape vines and olive trees, old cities, castles and greek temples, and of course good food. <br>We will see more sights in Rome, and then travel down the coast to Sorrento and Amalfi. I will post more about the things we are doing and seeing as we continue our trip.

... only one. Had no idea what was going on the whole time as all the announcements were in Italian but I got there in the end. I think I stuck out on the boat as being the only foreigner because I was the only one on the entire boat wearing shorts. Even though the temperature is in the mid 20's no one wears shorts. They all wear jackets and pants because to them it is cold and I think shorts are not stylish<br><br>.Palermo<br><br>I originally had planned to only stay a couple of ...

... stone seating still exist, as do the wonderful columns which were the backdrop to the stage area, the brick-like upper walls which surround the semi-circular theatre from above. Photos do not do this place justice..........views from the top of the theatre are simply spectacular........across the coastline site Etna, to the north, the rugged &amp; beautifully blue coastline stretches, up &amp; across the backdrop of hills &amp; mountains, evidence of more ancient structures can ...

... s remains were taken through the streets (she had been known as a holy woman when she lived her life in isolation on the mountain, praying &amp; watching over the city), the plague was no more!?<br><br><br>The grotto we got to see on Mont Pellegrino obviously held much more favour with locals who still take offerings to the Saint, and we could see evidence of jewellery, money, etc inside a glass-walled shrine where a likeness of Santa Rosalia has been setup.....quite ...

... time-trial car race was taking place on the winding roads on one side of the mountain, meaning police had closed that route to the top. The noise of the straining engines could be heard echoing around the lower reaches of the place, and was quite interesting to watch the speeds of the cars as they wound their way past, below our panoramic viewing area up high.<br><br>Our return trip to Palermo featured 120-140kph speeds on the motorway, even in a Mercedes van!<br><br><br>

... tiles in the world....truly something to see, and the views across Palermo &amp; the nearby coastline were very nice as well.<br><br><br><br>A morning well spent, and well worth the money, as we saw &amp; learnt so much more than tourists travelling by themselves would expect to. We walked to local trattoria for a late lunch, then stocked up on supplies at the nearby supermercato, before snacks &amp; rums for tea and an early night!<br><br><br><br><br>

After our horrendous train ride and not to mention nearly floating away in Sorrento we have made it to sunny Palermo. <br><br>When you arrive Palermo it is a contrasting mix of decay and splendor. You see this from the moment you leave the station. You have dirty smelly alley ways and grand old palaces, with there scars still evident from the bombings in WWII. Palermo is also home to the largest Opera house in Italy and third largest in Europe. <br><br>The ...

If you have doubts whether the mafia is still working... I don't.<br>Palermo is a charming mediterranean city, his highlights are so great, his Cathedral is amazing, but try not to get lost in the streets... we saw a peculiar street market and we decided to ...

... with stairs leading up to the temple floor. The floor was now covered with rubble, but this is the only temple we could climb around in. Walking up the hill we encountered the most intact temple. It was almost entirely there. All the columns were supporting a roof and the inner row of columns supporting the secondary roof was still there as well. Of course we couldn't go inside this one, but it was spectacular. It was in better condition than the Acropolis in Athens. The sun ...

... in the form of one of the kitchen WORKERS (hello, lose your job for that here? apparently not) to come up and bodly ask, single or group? senora or senorita? I thought the Napolians were bad. Geez. So I pretended to not understand a word, and completely ignored him and kept eating my soup (a little faster now). Problem solved. Not quite. Less than a minute later the only kitchen person closest to hazarding their way through English came up and basically ...