Finishing Up Sicily - Palermo

We walked along the beach at Mondello and I guess if I wasn't spoiled living in one of the best beach cities in the world I may have been impressed. But a beach with narrow strips of free beach area with intermittent strips of private beach with lounges and umbrellas which are rented 10 Euros per day. But overall the buzz of many people, teenagers and families with young children did make a lovey scene.

Bye Bye Blues served what I would be pleased to get in a Michelin Starred Restaurant. The food was innovative, exceptionally well and lovingly prepared. One added feature of a classy fitted out restaurant was a large screen LCD Tv connected to three webcams in the kitchen boradcasting the preparation of the food about to reach our table. I ordered an assiette of raw seafood followed by a roll of seafood sponge surrounding shrimps. We shared a selection of nine desserts and rolled back to the car.

Next day (Monday) a good breakfast sitting on a terrace overlooking the Marina and ocean and we head off for Palermo but when it starts raining (gently) we decide on Cefalu, a coastal village (maybe fishing) about 80kms East of Palermo. After a lengthy walk along the bech and the historical part of Cefalu heavily punctuated by stops at Pasticerries, gelaterias and coffee shops we head back to Palermo for the first time and luckily the rain cleared up. The 'book' said to go to the Catacombs Capuchin which is one the most gory things imaginable. People between 1600 and 1800 asked to be buried in the catacombs either simply wrapped in shrouds or mummified. And there the skeletons sit today - hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. Gory as I said http://tinyurl.com/bv5489.

We head to the Massimo Theatre where we heard some rehearsals inside. We then walk past an interminable number of shoe shops winding up at La Rinascente, 'the' department store in Sicily. Nice to look at but nothing grabs me in terms of buying. After looking around we head to the rooftop retaurant as it is now 18:30 and the effects of the numerous cakes, pasteries and gelatos has clearly worn off. We stumble on a Sushi Train which pathetically has nothing on it except flowers but the kind sushi chef made everything to order and we shared a great Japanese meal - a nice break from the Caponata/Pasta/Seafood meals of the past 12 days. The food was great even if the service was extremely slow but I guess fresh is better than speed.

After a long day back to the lovely Hilton Hotel and a nice relax. Next morning a later than normal breakfast 09:00 and we leave the hotel knowing we havent really seen much of Palermo. We park the car while our attendant sells us the scratch and match tickets for a small tip $A2. I am wondering whether he is a lookout for the car thieves or just trying to make a small living. We start our walk into Palermo but get distracted by the H&M shop where Katja finds some clothes she likes. We decide to walk back to the car and try very subtly to put the shopping (and my handbag) into the car.

We head back to the theatre Massimo where we 'enrol' for the English Tour of this magnificent opera house. It is the third largest in Europe with the second largest stage area. Interestingly the stage is angled at five degrees to allow the ground level seats and five levels of boxes a good view of the offerings. Fortunately they were rehearsing Lucia Di Lammermore which fills the beutiful theatre with wonderful operatic singing and a full orchestra.

We continue our walk seeing some old buildings, old abandoned building, beautifully restored buildings and all sorts of typically Sicilian sights. Lunch time arrives like clockwork and we decide on a Sicilian style restaurants we had seen the day before in one of narrow lanes.

We walk towards the Palermo Cathederal and Katja has the great idea of taking a horse and carriage to see those parts of Palermo that we have not yet seen. After negotiating down from Euros 50 to Euros 30 a charming 22 year old Sicilian man takes us around the city. Although he spoke no English I managed to find out that he has been doing this job for 2 years full time and one year part time after studying tourism at the University (?). He was getting married next week to a girl he had been with for 6 years and they lived in a 1.5 bedroom apartment which cost them Euros 400 per month.

Interestingly of the 30 Euros he would keep 10 and pay 20 to the 'Patronne'. Now he owned the horse and it was his business so go figure who his 'Patronne' was!! I asked him about the Mafia in Palermo and he simply shrugged his shoulders.

Finishing the buggy ride at the car we head back to the hotel where we have a rest before a meal at a restaurant recommended by the hotel - bad move. Reasonable food in Sicilian style but nothing special.

So tomorrow it is off to Sardinia late in the evening on a turboprop plane which should prove interesting.

Last day and we head for the Cuppolo Palatino which is one of the most stunning churches I have ever seen. The frescos on the walls and ceilings tell all the major Christian stories. This will give you an idea http://tinyurl.com/6c4ezuq
Then bck to the hotel for a relax pending our departure for the airport where I hope that the 2000kms wear and tear on the car doesnt cause any issues when I return it.

Anyway nothing else for now. Will write my thoughts on Sicily in the next few days but it is certainly a great place to mix a holiday with a historical tour and I would have no problem recommending it to anybody as a worthwhile tour.

XD