On this trip we came back not just to the same part of Sicily but to the same house we lived in for three months when we were on sabbatical in 2015. The food is just as good as I remembered and the people as welcoming and charming. On the other hand I think I’d forgotten how voracious the mosquitoes are and how frustrating navigating- either roads or bureaucracy can be, in Sicily.
I am very glad we saw a different part of Sicily in the Madonie, and very happy it was all arranged for us. The value of that ‘smoothing’ service here in Sicily cannot be over stated.
Tomorrow we attempt to return our scrappy rental car ( drive it like you stole it is our motto) and get into Palermo in time to do a little shopping, a little sightseeing, and roll onto our night train for Rome with enough food and drink for any army. Of all the sites in Palermo, I feel most drawn to return to the chapel in the Norman palace - the Cappella Palatinate. My first visit was in 2015, and I was simply awestruck. Chris has yet to see this magnificent byzantine mosaic encrusted Chapel, and I think it’s the kind of thing to see before you die. I’m also drawn to return to a small restaurant called Ai Macheronie in the vuccuria market (also known as blood alley amongst the crew of our friends who were here in 2015). We first ate at this restaurant many years ago when we were travelling with other friends on a bicycle tour of this part of Sicily. And finally I do feel a draw to revisit the botanical garden, very accurately labelled as “raffish“ in the lonely planet. Finally, and not least, the archeological Museum in Palermo is finally open again after almost 10 years. My last visit there was with my friend Monica when we were on the bicycle trip with her and Rod. It has been closed ever since.
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