Palermo, Sicilia, Sunny and WARM! 25

Sicily, So Sicilian! 

After a long day of travel that included a delay in Calgary, forcing us to cancel our day room at the Gatwick Hilton, we finally arrived in Palermo prepared to treat ourselves. This is Paris from 37,000'

and this is the Alps with the large peak Mount Blanc at the top of the photo.
I thought to myself that those folks walking south on the Via Francigena are going to have a tough time crossing from Switzerland into Italy via the St. Bernard Pass this year which is usually not open until mid June for walkers. 

Anyway, we arrived in Palermo in the dark and we decided to skip the 45 minute airport bus ride and to instead splurge €1 more to take a shared taxi into the city which would drop us off at a set destination, but within walking distance of our quaint lodgings. A good thing because it was dark, a Saturday night and we were a wee bit tired. Loaded aboard, we were off to the races, literally! Our young driver figured that he was out to break all land speed records. As we flew down the autostrada and took an exit we started to lurch and suddenly there was silence. We were lead to believe that he had experienced car trouble as he backed down the exit ramp and back into the side of the autostrada with lights blinking. I'd seen from the back seat that his petrol light was on, which suggested that he was driving on his reserve tank, but I figured he knew what he was doing. In the ensuing silence, broken only by the wild honking of horns from the many who passed by, followed immediately by the cryptic comments of our young driver, the 6 of us in the taxi began to get to know each other. The two guys beside me were busily pounding away on their cell phones when a woman in front with a small child on her lap (neither wearing a seat belt) suddenly asked in good English, "whose been to Sicily before?". Well, clearly none of us had been there so that sort of loosen a little chit chat as she explained that this was normal for Sicilia and best to get use to this as soon as possible. This didn't sound good. Then same said woman made a phone call to someone who was waiting for her and explained that the car had died. However, the message clearly didn't get through because then we heard her exclaim, "no, the driver didn't die!". This caused hilarious laughter in the taxi, and I might add that the driver looked a bit relieved at the news. So by now we were all a bit more acquainted when finally another taxi arrived with a small container full of petrol. "Ah ha" said I to myself. Then we were off again a break neck speed and eventually in town where the driver asked if we would like to be dropped closer to our hotel. Several in the cab including ourselves answered that this would be very nice, all thinking that due to our delay he was going to make it a bit easy for us. Nope. Not happening. When we got out he charged each of us the additional fare. Yes, we are in Sicilia. Home of the mafia and the shake down! 

We arrived at our wayward, but well located accommodation and decided that it being 10 pm that we'd best find some dinner and then head for bed. It turned out to be a good decision as we found a great meal just down the way and we're entertained by a lovely lady who's parents were Japanese and Korean. Raised in Japan and Italy she had just finished her music studies in Berlin (violin) and she and her husband had come south to work, but she hadn't yet told her mother that she was waiting tables these past two weeks. The food was excellent and we enjoyed our first wine and then headed back to our place for some much needed sleep. This being Saturday night there was a constant hum and stream of folks past our window as evident in this photo shot just before midnight.

This morning after a decent sleep, legs feeling a bit heavy we set off to find the Italian route guide, obtain our first stamp and along the way do a little sight seeing in this most interesting city. We wandered deeper into the old city and took a few photos along the way, this being the four corner Piazza Vigtiena, Quattro Canti.

 
This a very cool fountain,

We were fortunate to slip into our first church just before it closed, and they didn't charge us the entry fee. The 12thC San Cataldo with the three domes on the right was enticing, but I'd read that the real gem was the unassuming 12th C La Martorana was the real gem.
It was pretty special!

Note: So I wrote a nice post saving it as I went, but somehow only a portion published. Ah the life of a blogger, the ups and downs! Almost like the experiences of a long distance walker. I've learned to let these set backs go. So, will tell you that we have decided to take the bus to Monreale tomorrow rather than walk in the afternoon heat the 7 kms and get all sweaty before visiting one of the highlights of Sicily. Perhaps tomorrow I'll feel motivated to write again what I wrote today. Will see, but know that we eventually found an Italian guide book and we have our first stamp in our credentials from the Cathedral. The outside of the cathedral is more interesting than the inside, but that's just my opinion having seen probably more than my share of churches big and small. We did meet the senior priest who gave us our stamp and wished us a good journey. Sunday being Sunday in the church world, he was a busy guy! 

Buon Cammino!