We arrived in Pozzallo by bus from Ragusa, with a change of buses in Modica. The first bus looked like it had been in service in a war zone. Half of the seats were broken, flailing about fully reclined as the bus ambled along the twisty roads, and there were a few funny smells wafting about. The second bus could not have been more different, it was a modern, clean, nasty aroma free, double decker with comfortable seats.
Staying in Pozzallo, Sicily
Mare Nostrum Bed and Breakfast - http://marenostrumpozzallo.it/ (Via Enrico Giunta, 12 Pozzallo, 97016. Tel:+393381639181) -
We spent 4 nights at the Mare Nostrum Bed and Breakfast, while waiting for a daytime ferry to Malta.
Positive Points: 1. Breakfast. Although the food wasn't what we'd usually eat for breakfast, there were white bread rolls, cheese, and cured meat, as well as sweet pastries. Other food included yogurt, cereals, and mini pots of honey, jam, and Nutella.
2. Friendly staff.
3. Large room. Our room was very large, and well furnished. A fridge in the room would have been nice though.
4. Clean. The hotel was nice and clean, our room was cleaned daily, and we were given fresh towels every day too.
Negative Points: None. :)
8/10
Eating in Pozzallo, Sicily
Ristorante Sabbenerica -
Our first meal in Pozzallo, and a fine one at that. We had the set lunch menu for 17€ per person.
A plate of antipasto, followed by 2 starters.
The antipasto was our favourite course, it consisted of ham, cured pork, a lovely flavoursome hard cheese, half a boiled egg topped with mustard and a basil leaf, a couple of large juicy green olives, and a slice of tomato topped with a mozzarella ball, delicious.
The two starters were served in individual dishes on one plate, one was penne pasta with aubergine and tomato, the other was a creamy mushroom risotto.
The main course was slices of pork, served with chips. Dessert was a lovely light tangy lemon mouse.
We visited Ristorante Sabbenerica a second time for dinner, which was equally as good. We had pork in a lime sauce, mini pork roulades stuffed with ham, and a mixed salad.
Drinking in Pozzallo, Sicily
A Cala Brigantina -
Visit 1.We both had a bootle of Norbertus beer. A blond lager for laura, and a red ale for me. Decent beer, 5€ a bottle (50cl).
Visit 2.Our second visit to 'A Cala Brigantina' was far more interesting. It started with beer, which is always a good thing, then went downhill when we ordered food. We both wanted something hot, I ordered a hamburger, Laura ordered chicken. We were both a bit shocked when the plates arrived and they just contained a very small burger patty, and a small piece of chicken. The real insult was the fact the burger patty cost €6 and was very low rent mushy meat with little flavour, the kind you would buy in a discount food store for about 20cents each.
The evening picked up after that though. We were joined at our table by some locals, who had come to the bar to watch the football, Milan v Juventus. We had a very interesting night. The conversation was a very interesting mix of Italian and English, and some French, with various people being called over to translate parts of the conversation.
They kept offering us their food too, they'd ordered bruschetta, chips, and antipasto. We said we'd eaten, which we had, the previously mentioned minuscule burger and chicken. Then they ordered a couple of crepes oozing with Nutella, once again they offered us some. Then handed Laura a triangular portion of the chocolatey nutty crepe, she could resist no longer. She said it was yummy!
The evening ended on a surprisingly pleasant note when I went to pay our bill. I was told it had already been taken care of. The people we'd been chatting to had paid for our drinks and food. :)
Visit 3. Well that will remain a secret because I'm posting this about 1 hour before we go there for dinner/beer/wine.
Summary ~
Pozzallo is a pleasant little town, but for us as visitors, the lack of food was an issue. There were very few places open for business, and those that were didn't serve food.
Unfortunately the economic crisis has taken its toll.
The Ristorante Sabbenerica was more or less the only place in town for a proper meal, hence us dining their twice.
Moving On ~
The next stop on our trip was Malta, so once we had checked into the bed and breakfast, we took a walk to the (Virtu Ferries S.R.L. Largo Vespri Siciliani n. 70, 97016 Pozzallo RG, Sicily Tel: (+39) 0932 811811 Fax: (+39) 0932 811812). The Virtu Ferries booking office was about a 15 minute walk from the centre of town. It cost 96€ each for an open return ticket. Pricey, but it was either that or swim, and I avoid the sea because fish piss in it. :-)
And that's it folks. Our adventures in Italy come to an end. Next stop Malta. Adventures in Italy will continue in the New Year.
Please also note that all new travel blogs posts will now be posted back on my main blog at http://zoqy.net/blog/
We arrived in Ragusa by bus from Licata. In fact the journey was two buses. One from Licata to Gela (45 minutes) then a 3 hour wait in Gela for a bus replacement service for the train. I can understand why they stopped running the train from Gela to Regusa, as there were only 6 of us on the replacement bus. The train station in Gela was a little too far from the town centre for us to walk to with our bags, so we spent the entire 3 hours at the station. There was a cafe, so we found a seat and grabbed a sandwich, and a beer, and watched the action. It seemed the station acted as some kind of social club. Old men would pull up in their cars, take out folding chairs from the car boot, and then sit outside the train station chatting with other old guys. Some of them even set up a table to have a game of cards.
Photos of the Cathedral of San Giorgio, Ragusa Ibla
Video of the Cathedral of San Giorgio, Ragusa Ibla
Staying in Ragusa, Sicily
Hotel Affittacamere Bertini - http://www.hotelbertini.it/
We spent 3 nights at the Hotel Affittacamere Bertini (Corso Italia 52/54 Ragusa, 97100 Italy. Tel:+393389740139).
When we arrived we received a warm welcome from the owners. Their English was very limited, but not as limited as our Italian, but we all managed to communicate. Our room was a very good size, and it had a fridge, and a small T.V. which we never watched because we couldn't get it to turn on.
Negative Points:
1. Low rent sachets of shampoo and tiny bars of soap.
2. Noise from reception
3. WiFi. While we could use the WiFi in our room, first we had to walk down the steep narrow steps to reception with both the MacBook and iPad to get them locked on to the Wifi signal before it would work in our room.
4. It was cold during our visit but they only put on the central heating for one evening of the 3 we spent there.
7/10
Eating in Ragusa, Sicily
Osteria Vecchia Ragusa (Via San Vito 128-130. Tel:0932244272) -
A conveniently located restaurant just round the corner from our hotel.
I had veal in a tomato, olive, and artichoke sauce. Laura have spaghetti with tomato, artichoke, olive, capers, and Tuna. We shared a 'Ragusa Salad' of tomatoes, olives, and spring onions. It was all washed down with a jug of house red wine.
7/10
Cafe on Via G. Matteotti (0932667407) -
We shared an interesting sandwich, with consisted of sheets of pasta (lasagne) tomato, cheese, with a bread coating. What was not so interesting was the bill, 4€ for the sandwich, 4€ for a 40cl beer, and 1.50€ for a small bottle of mineral water. If that was not insulting enough, they added a 25% service charge on top. Given that we had to order from the counter, eat off of paper plate, and drink the water from a plastic cup, we were not really seeing the 'service'. Plus there were lots of men just sitting reading newspapers and not purchasing any drinks or food.
3/10
Konza (Via Mariannina Coffa Ragusa, Province of Ragusa, Italy 0932 686561)-
On our final evening in Ragusa we went to Konza for dinner. We shared a 007 Pizza, and a Mafalda salad. Not sure what James Bond would have made of the pizza. It was topped with a boiled egg, and a small frankfurter. The salad was large, and very nice, with raw carrot, capers, black olives, sweetcorn, tomato, and a couple of types of lettuce. The pizza was washed down with a Baffo D'Oro - Birra Moretti.
7/10
Drinking/Snacking in Ragusa, Sicily
Antico Caffe Trieste -
Let them eat cake. Oh, and drink beer in my case. A nice cafe with seating on Corso Italia. We popped in on our first night for a drink, and a snack. For me a Pineapple pastry, and for Laura a choux pastry cream cake topped with miniature strawberries.
6/10
caffe italia -
We stopped by one evening for a savoury pastry and a beer. The beer could have been colder, and the pastries could have been much warmer. The prices were not bad. 3.50€ for 66cl bottle of beer, and 1.70€ each for the pastries. Oh, and no cover charge. The owner even let us off 40 cents because he did not have change. We actually went to this place a couple of times, the location in the square was good for people watching, and the service was good.
6/10
Vivera, Terra dei Sogni 2009 - www.vivera.it
Our last night in Ragusa, and our last drink. I picked this bottle of wine up from a little shop a few doors down from our hotel. It was a very pleasant wine with good structure. A good balance of fresh red fruits with a mellow finish.
7/10
Summary -
We enjoyed our stay in Ragusa. Both parts of the town are pleasant for exploring on foot, with lots of interesting Baroque buildings. The only issue we had was food. While there are a few places to eat in both parts of Ragusa, finding a regular eating joint with decent food for less than 20€ a person was difficult. Even places to grab a cheap snack were thin on the ground.
Photos of Ragusa
Video of Ragusa
Leaving Ragusa, Sicily
Next stop was Pozzallo. We knew that there was a train to Pozzallo at 8am, but as we didn't fancy leaving so early we asked in the tourist information office about buses. They were very friendly and helpful, and furnished us with a bus timetable. We settled on a 10.30am bus to Pozzallo, with a change in Modica.
We arrived in Licata by SAL (http://www.autolineesal.it/) bus from Agrigento. The journey took just over an hour. The bus station was basically a large parking lot, but there was a cafe across the road from it to get refreshments at.
Photos of Licata, Sicily, Italy
Staying in Licata, Sicily:
We stayed in a studio apartment we'd rented from Casa Albergo Al Cortiletto (http://www.casealbergolicata.it/). The studio was a decent size, and had a mezzanine level with two extra beds. Super friendly staff, who collected us from the bus station (but did not drop us back).
Positive points:
1. Size of living/sleeping space
2. Location
3. Good internet speed (WiFi)
3. Staff, professional, and friendly
Negative Points:
1. Hot water, it only lasted for 15 seconds, hardly long enough to shower, very bad.
2. Small television
3. No heating (we visited in Winter)
Eating in Licata, Sicily:
Slim pickings, to say the least. A few places selling sandwiches and tepid pizza, and that was about it.
Drinking in Licata, Sicily:
There was no shortage of bars in Licata to stop at for a drink. Most of them had people sitting outside at tables, but no one seemed to have ordered a drink. Two places worth a mention. 1. Cafe Italia on Corso Umberto, and and Cafe San Angelo on Piazza San Angelo, which served decent complimentary snacks with our beer.
Summary:
Although the town of Licata was a pleasant place, the lack of decent food, or any food at all, spoilt our stay. The only supermarket for people with a car, was down at the port. Small shops selling food within the town where non-existent.
Video of Licata, Sicily, Italy
We arrived in Agrigento by bus (Salvatore Lumia - http://www.autolineelumia.it/) from Sciacca. It took just over 90 minutes, terminating in the centre of town. During the journey the bus driver looked like he was going to blow a fuse. There was a small group of youngsters at the rear of the bus making noise; chatting, singing, and laughing, the driver obviously didn't appreciate being disturbed as he admonished them a couple of times to no avail. Once he motioned that he would throw them off of the bus if they didn't quieten down. Laura and I were waiting for the driver to stop the bus and kick them off, but the youngsters made it to their destination unscathed.
When we arrived in Agrigento, we walked to our rented studio apartment, off-loaded our bags, and headed to the nearest supermarket. Having spent the previous few days not eating well, we needed to get some vegetables, and other good food inside us.
Staying in Agrigento:
I had booked us 3 nights in a studio apartment from Easy Apartments Agrigento, Traversa Ortolani 21 (http://easyapartments.it), but when we arrived it worked out we would be leaving on a Sunday, so I extended our stay to 4 nights. Before we arrived the owner was super helpful sending me a ViaMichelin map link with directions from the bus station to his office, and also a bus timetable from Sciacca to Agrigento. When we arrived, the owner was equally helpful in person. He let us check-in early, gave us a town map, and lots of useful local information.
Positive Points:
1. Washing machine, and microwave with a grill, in the kitchenette.
2. Good sized bedroom
3. Location, central but quiet.
Negative Points:
1. Very small wall-mounted T.V.
2. Limited cookware in the kitchenette
3. Very small fridge
Eating in Agrigento:
We ate like kings while in Agrigento. We ate every meal, cooked by me, in our rented studio apartment. Just up the road was a small supermarket, with a couple of fruit and vegetable stalls just on the street out the front. The supermarket and market stalls served us well, and even closer to our studio apartment was a good butchers shop (Macelleria Calandra). Mmm, the chicken and lamb chops we purchased from there were both excellent.
Drinking in Agrigento:
Nero D'Avola 2010, Baglio Berribaida - http://www.baglioberribaida.it
An easy drinking wine. Deep ruby colour in the glass. On the nose slight floral and herb hints. On the palate it was light and fresh, with sour cherry and plum notes. Finish very short.
6/10
Summary:
Most people go to Agrigento so that they can visit the 'Valley of Temple'. We are not most people. Neither of us were feeling great during our stay, so doing any excess walking was not something we needed, plus the idea of using public transport to get to the temples put us off of visiting. We needed rest and some healthy food, and that is exactly what we got. Our bodies are our temples and we gave them many good offerings. We didn't completely miss out on the temples though, as our bus left Agrigento for Licata it drove right past them all. ;)
We arrived in Sciacca by bus from Marsala. The bus stopped very near the centre of town, it was only a few minutes walk to our accommodation.
Staying in Sciacca: We spent two nights in Sciacca at the Porta di Mare B&B - http://www.portadimaresciacca.com/
Positive points: 1. Location. It was within a short walk of the main town square.
Negative points: 1. Breakfast. Breakfast was included in the room rate, we were given vouchers for a cafe that was about a 5 minute walk away from the B&B. The voucher was valid for a coffee (cappuccino or espresso) and a croissant. The cafe was a stand-up only joint. We didn't feel it was worth bothering with the breakfast, as it was such an inconvenience to have to leave our accommodation for it, so we went without.
2. Uncomfortable room. Our room itself was a decent size, but because of the oversized furniture, including a four-poster bed, it was difficult to move around freely.
3. Bathroom cleanliness. When we arrived our bathroom was full of flies and little midges, some alive, some dead. Also the toilet seat was not properly clean. As they knew of our arrival the proprietor should have made sure the bathroom was in good condition.
4. Access. Entering and leaving the B&B was awkward, due to the fact that we had to use a spiral staircase, which was made specially difficult when carrying our luggage. We appreciate that space was limited, but the bottom step of the spiral staircase could easily have been positioned to make using it easier, rather than it being butted up against a wall.
Eating in Sciacca
Food was a bit thin on the ground. Restaurants near our accommodation were in extremely short supply. In fact they were in such short supply that we lived on sandwiches for the whole of our stay, sandwiches for lunch, sandwiches for dinner, and not particularly good sandwiches.
Drinking in Sciacca Caffe Delle Rosse -
A little cafe/bar on Vittorio Emanuele. We popped in one night for a drink. We both had a small beer, €4 each for 40cl. There were several tapas style dishes on the bar, you could help yourself for €2 per plate.
Le Plus Bon -
A big place down by the marina. It was part of a small complex of cafes/bars lining the seafront. When we visited at lunchtime, for a beer and a snack; a sandwich, it was quite busy, there were dozens of mopeds parked all along the front of the adjoining cafes, belonging to the large crowd of students who were socialising with their friends, drinking bottles of beer, smoking cigarettes, and eating pizza and sandwiches.
Pub opposite the Basilica - Not sure of its name but a nice venue. We supped a couple of Thwaites beers that came in at 9%. Strong and tasty, and worth the €4 for 40cl.
Video of Sciacca
Summary
Sciacca was a nice place, regardless of the lack of eating places. The people were really friendly and the town had a young vibe to it.
We arrived in Marsala by train from Palermo. Even though it was not a great distance the journey took 4 hours and involved changing trains in Tripani. When we arrived in Marsala we walked from the train station to the centre of the old town. Even if we had wanted to use a taxi, we would have been out luck, because there were none in sight. I guess it was good exercise for us to walk, but as we were both feeling unwell we didn't particularly enjoy it.
Video of Marsala, Sicily
Staying in Marsala
We rented an apartment with Holiday Residence Marsala (http://www.holidayservicemarsala.it) on Via Bovio, which was right in the centre of town. The apartment was a good size in a newly refurbished building housing two apartments.
Plus Points:
1.Location
2.Kitchen well stocked with pots and pans, plus some store cupboard ingredients
Negative points:
1.No Wifi
2.Very small shower cubicle with a fixed shower head.
3.Cold. The apartment was very cold when we arrived, The fabric of the building was cold, everything was cold to the touch, the walls, floor etc. It may have been so cold from being unused since the Summer season. Laura was so cold she slept in her clothes; jeans, hoodie, socks. The apartment owner did adjust the air-conditioning for us to blow out warm air, which helped. But as there was no heating in the bedroom, it remained very cold for the whole of our stay. The bed linen was so cold, it felt damp. Eating in Marsala
Casa Randall
Our first meal was one cooked by Laura, and it ended up being our only meal. She made a large pot of chicken in a tomato and bean sauce, which we ate over the three days of our stay.
We didn't eat much else, and didn't manage to eat all of the chicken as we were both feeling rundown and had little appetites.
Drinking in Marsala
How ironic, being in Marsala and not at least trying some Marsala wine. The first day in Marsala I did pick up a bottle of Triacca 2005 Inferno, but being 'Tom and Dick' I only managed a glass of it spread over 3 days. I can give no impression of it, apart from the simple fact that it cost 14€ a bottle.
Summary
It was not the best of times. I had a stinking cold, and stomach bug, for the duration of our stay in Marsala, spending most of the time in bed. Not that there would have been much to do anyway, because it was the weekend, and everything was closed during most of our stay.
Laura spent most of her time playing solitaire.
Moving On
Our next stop was Sciacca. I checked the bus timetable online, but to be make certain, we popped into the tourist information centre to find out where the buses departed from and to make sure I had not misread the Lumia website. My Italian being about equal to my Russian. :-)
The lady we spoke to in the tourist information centre spoke perfect English, well almost perfect, because she spoke with an East Coast American accent. ;) She was extremely helpful, checking for the bus timetable, and giving us directions to the bus station (a petrol station).
The bus stop was outside a cafe, across the road from a petrol station. We stopped for a drink and snack while waiting for the bus to Sciacca. It arrived, a little late, we boarded, goodbye Marsala.
Our journey to Palermo started in Salerno. We caught a train to Naples (Napoli) in the morning, wandered round Naples (Napoli) and the cruise liner terminal for a few hours, before heading to the Calata di Porto Massa ferry terminal. The ferry terminal was a very minimal affair. There was only one small cafe with seating for about a dozen people. The only other business in the terminal building was a pharmacy. It was standing room only for most of the 200+ people wanting for their ferry. To add insult to injury our ferry left from about 200 metres from the terminal building and we were told we could board at 6pm, but when we got there, we were told it would be 6.30 or later. This meant waiting in the open air or slogging back to the terminal building with our bags.
We were both exhausted and feeling unwell, all day all we'd wanted to do was get on board the ferry, eat, and go straight to bed. We were finally allowed to board the the ferry at 7pm.
In retrospect we should have stayed at the cruise liner terminal because it was also a shopping centre with a few places to sit and relax, and there was a free shuttle bus between it and Calata di Porto Massa.
Once on our ferry, things initially looked good. We were the first two passengers to board, we went straight to the reception desk to check-in where we were given keys to our cabin. A 4 birth cabin for the two of us which was a good size. As we hadn't eaten much all day we dumped our bags in our cabin and went in search of dinner. Finding both the self-service restaurant and the A La Carte restaurant closed we headed to the bar to kill some time. After a small can of beer, served with a plastic cup, we checked the restaurants again, the self-service was open, but the A La Carte restaurant was closed. From then on things went down hill fast. The food in the self-service restaurant was disgusting. In hindsight going to bed hungry would have been a better decision.
For dinner we had some unidentifiable pieces of meat, boiled carrots, boiled cauliflower, and boiled green beans. At least I'm sure they were green long before they'd been overcooked and lost all of their colour. The vegetables were obviously frozen not fresh, and actually a miracle of science, as the overcooking had managed to leave them both soft and limp, and hard and crunchy.
So, we'd had to wait for over an hour after we'd boarded the ferry for the 'restaurant' to open, and we ended up with stone cold 'food', which cost just under €40. €40! A scandal. If we ever needed to sail with Tirrenia Ferries again, we would definitely make sure to take our own food on board. A further insult to the service, was the fact that when we returned to our cabin, we found that the toilet did not work, and we had to get someone to come and fix it.
Finally, much later than our poor bodies needed, we could go to bed. The cabin was freezing, but we were so knackered we managed to get some sleep.
On a positive note, the ferry did arrive in Palermo on time, where we were very pleased to disembark and enjoy the early morning sun as we ambled to our hotel.
We stayed at the Hotel Orientale for 5 nights. It is an interesting hotel housed in part of an old palazzo. You enter the hotel through a nondescript wooden dor on Via Maquedes, into a large courtyard. The courtyard was littered with cars in various states of disrepair. The you walk up the once grand staircase to the hotel reception.
Our room was medium sized, with a small desk and chair, and a wardrobe. The windows did not fit very well, so we could hear the market outside at street level, but at night the street was deserted, so it was very quiet.
Plus points:
Bedroom and bathroom very clean.
Comfortable bed.
Working air-conditioning.
Endless hot water.
Location. Close to the train station, and in a vibrant area.
Negative Points:
No WiFi in the room.
No Fridge.
No T.V.
Breakfast. The self-service buffet, consisted of cheap processed packet food. There were croissants, sponge cakes, chocolate cake, and white bread for toasting. Coffee was available from a vending style machine, it was bad. Jugs of a cordial type drink were also available, but they were so sweet we couldn't drink them.
WiFi was available in the reception of the hotel. We sat there a couple of times but as the reception also doubled as the TV lounge of the receptionist it wasn't comfortable to stay for long, especially when she'd start plumping the cushions despite the fact that we were lounging on them.
Having said all that, we really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Orientale in Palermo, Sicily.
Place in the market ~ It had no name that we could see, and was located in one of the narrow streets south of Via Roma. I had Spaghetti Ricci, which was some kind of fish sauce, Laura had papperdelle with mushrooms. Good wholesome food, but I think we may have been overcharged because the bill came to 31€, and apart from the two dishes all we had were two beers and some tiny scraps of bread. We had no way of knowing how much our bill should have been because there was no menu, just the name of the dishes written on a white board. It wasn't a swanky restaurant, just a basic backstreet gaff, so definitely somewhere that should have been reasonably priced.
I guess that should teach us to ask the prices before we eat. ;) It didn't though, because the following day, we once again ate lunch without knowing the prices, but at least the food was half the price of this place. It was crap, but half the price.
Sant'Anna Focacceria ~
We'd seen a large group of people eagerly stuffing their faces at this place, they really looked as though they were enjoying the food, so we thought we'd try it.
I wish we hadn't bothered.
We sat outside in the sun, which was the only good thing about our lunch. I ordered pasta Al Forno, which came in a tinfoil container, was mushy, lacked flavour, and was stone cold. Laura chose penne pasta with aubergines, which was was served on a plate, but was also poorly cooked, lacking in flavour, and completely cold.
So, now we knew why the group of diners we'd seen were eating so eagerly, the food was cold, and nasty, but they were hungry and just wanted to get it over with.
We only ate our food because we were hungry and too tired to go looking for somewhere better.
Drinking in Palermo, Sicily
Corvo Rosso Vendemmia 2010 ~ http://www.duca.it/
My first bootle of wine in Sicily and for the price paid, not a bad one.
L'Antica Taverna Conti ~ We stubbled upon this little bar in the market North of Via Maquedes. Super cheap beer. A mere 1.50€ for a 66cl bottle of Forst beer. Next to the bar was a place selling food, so we both had panino con panelle, a soft sesame seed roll filled with slices of fried chickpea pasta, with a generous squirt of fresh lemon and black pepper. It was mighty tasty, and the cheap beer and great people-watching opportunities saw us returning there every day of our stay in Palermo. While we were busy drinking beer, other customers at the neighbouring tables were busy skinning-up. We got high on the fumes. There was no age discrimination going on with the wacky-backy customers, they ranged from teenagers to pensioners.
Summary ~
Palermo is a funny old town. It is difficult to get an angle on the place. We stayed in the older part of town, and every morning I expected to be awoken by the mezzanine from the local mosque, but there was no mosque, only countless catholic churches. The town felt more like being in North Africa than Southern Europe. It was a strange feeling, but one that was quite endearing. Every street off of the main roads also seemed to house street markets, selling all manner of goods, from fresh fish and vegetables to household cleaning products and clothes. There seemed to be no real order to the markets. No central area for any one kind of product, but rather little clusters.
Video of Palermo, Sicily
Moving on ~
For some unknown reason, there did not seem to be any direct trains from Palermo to any point on the island. Quirky to say the least. Out next stop was going to be Marsala on the East of Sicily. Not a long distance, but still requiring a change of train.
Richard: The American elections are over and we have Michelle Obama being the Worlds best dressed woman for another 4 years. Walmart shoppers can rejoice in having their style icon in public office for 4 more fashion filled years.
Laura: After many, many, many hours sat outside our favourite bar in the market by our hotel, I observed that I've never seen so many people with curly hair, or so many people with red hair. Some had hair that was both curly and red.
