The only sounds to lull us to sleep in the retro swiss ski lodge were the quiet tolling of the huge bells attached to the local cows as they quietly moved around the mountains. Apart from that - total silence.
As we made our way down from the top of the enormous mountains we drove through some more towns and continued to puzzle about how the population lived. As we approached the coast again there were more pastures and crops but not enough to support all of the mountain towns. It's a mystery.
We headed along the coast to Palermo, the largest city in Sicily, with the help of the GPS now christened Gloria (Mark 2). When we were in Botswana we used an amazing GPS who Erin christened "Gloria", so this is her Italian counterpart.
I have become a complete convert to all things technical: what a turn around I hear you say??!!
Firstly I did NOT bring any books with me at all, and have been using a Kindle app on the tablet. I was not convinced that I would enjoy this, but Ewan had downloaded lots of Scandinavian crime novels which are great. Although there is something a bit bizarre when reading about a murder mystery in Iceland whilst on a train in Italy!
Anyway, with the assistance of Gloria, we approached Palermo with some confidence that we could actually negotiate the tangle of streets. Despite a few small hiccups when she seemed to get confused (nothing to do with my navigation of course) we made our way to the Palazzo dei Normanni. It's the top attraction in Palermo - a medieval palace now used as Sicily's parliament. The most stunning aspect of it was a beautiful tiny chapel which outshone many of the far larger Duomos and Chiesas (churches) we'd seen. First built by Roger II in the 12th century it has been restored and was absolutely beautiful: carved and painted wooden ceilings, marbled Byzantine-style mosaics, tiny gold and coloured mosaics depicting biblical stories and stories of real life of the times. Sounds like very other church but this one was really special. Our appreciation of it may have been helped by an audio guide that actually made sense!
As anyone who knows Italy will tell you, the opportunity to overdose on churches is easy. In Palermo there were huge churches on every street corner whilst the population is crowded into old apartment buildings - typical of many Italian cities. Even in the tiny mountain towns there was a number of churches for each of them : surely one would suffice? Clearly they are all on a path to heaven!
Then we wandered around the Piazzas and old streets towards the port. There was some evidence of buildings which had been bombed in WWII that hadn't been rebuilt.
We enjoyed risotto for lunch - pear, gorgonzola and walnuts (superb!) - whilst we tried to book accommodation for the night and flights. Our hotel - the Hostel Casa Marconi - was not far from the centre of town and we took the advice of the hotel owner and dined at a local outdoor Trattoria - Il Viccolo - to the sounds of a an accordion player busking in the Piazza. So very Italian!
The only down side was the huge piles of rubbish we encountered on the walk there: disgusting! Apparently there was a strike or some problem with the rubbish collectors who hadn't collected the rubbish for some time. Some years ago the whole of Naples closed down after the rubbish collectors went on strike for weeks - I hope that isn't the fate of Palermo.
This morning we were on a sad mission: we had to return the gorgeous little Fiat to Avis at the Airport. It had done well getting us around Sicily, but it was time for us to head for Florence and the joys of Tuscany.
Sicily was a wonderful trip and we didn't see even a third of it, or have any altercations with the Mafia. My only other sadness was that I hadn't been able to sample all of the desserts on offer, and I definitely didn't have enough of the ricotta and fruit-filled cannoli for which Sicily is famous ( then again that may be a good thing!).
The only fly in the ointment today was that accommodation in Florence was as scarce as hen's teeth and we had tried but failed to book any, so we found ourselves ringing possible places from the McDonalds outside the central Train station in Florence. Apparently we had arrived just before the commencement of - wait for it!- The World Cycling Championships!!!! Well you might ask if one of our duo (and it wasn't me!) had any idea about the timing of this momentous event, but the other half of the duo assures me he had ABSOLUTELY NO idea. I will leave you to come to your own conclusions about this amazing coincidence.
Anyway we finally managed to locate the most expensive hotel we have stayed in so far, and it is not exactly luxurious for the price. But on the other hand the train station was looking as if it might be the only accommodation available so I am not complaining. It's also within walking distance of most of the 'Things to see" so that will be great for the next few days.
Now we're about to set off to get our bearings, and some dinner, so arrivederci for now.
Your excited traveller,
Dianne
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