Jul 27, 2006 - Corleone

One of my main motivations for coming to Sicily at all was to visit for a day the small town of Corleone, home town of the fictional Don Corleone in one of my all-time favourite films, The Godfather, which is also partly set here- I wanted to see it for myself. An hour and a half's bus ride south of Palermo through the sun-dried, mountainous Sicilian interior and we (I was joined by Matt one of the guys from the hostel) were there. We walked round the town during siesta time. It is nothing more than a small provincial town and being there...

Jul 17, 2006 - The Norman Palace

This morning we decide to head back down to the Norman Palace for a look inside. After a bit of shopping and a bit of searching for the entrance we make it there just after midday - and it's shut between Noon and 2. So off to a little tavern for some lunch. After lunch, we head back to the Norman Palace and the first place we enter is the Palatini Capella which is the chapel in the palace. It's currently having restoration works on it however that does not take away from the breathtaking inside of the chapel. The entire inside both walls,...

Jul 16, 2006 - Palermo sights

Today we grab our free map and head out for some sightseeing. It is hot already and we have to keep on changing to the shady side of the streets to get out of the sun. We make our way down to the historical area of town - Palermo has a very strong Arab influence in all it's shops and architecture as that's part of it's background. We see the Teatro Massimo (Massimo Theatre) which is a grand old building that has been totally restored. They filmed part of Godfather 3 in this theatre. We then head down to the main cathedral which is massive...

Jul 15, 2006 - Onwards to Palermo

Up early this morning to catch the train for the 5 hour journey to Palermo. The cab driver that takes us to the station informs us that the bus only takes 3 hours, but the bus had already left by this time - so the train it is! We first catch one train to Catania which is about 1 hour north and then we switch trains to another one which will take us through to Palermo. When this train turns up at the platform we think it must be a joke cause it's only one carriage - including the driver's section!! We ask someone and they assure us this is...

Jun 12, 2006 - Ciao

Greetings from Palermo. I hope that everyone is ok. I'm fine, but I have had two days of complete contrasts so far; and also a blast from the past, but all in good time. I had an interesting journey down to London yesterday, because my bus from home didn't show I ended up with a 15 minute walk down to Wednesfield to catch another bus; although that meant that I missed the coach in Wolverhampton. A quick walk down to the train station saw me catch up with the coach and get on in Birmingham. Only my relief proved to be short lived when the...

Apr 8, 2006 - Agrigento, Corleone, Palermo, Segesta, Erice, Cefalu Castlebuono & Lettojanni

Ciao Ciao Firstly, thanks Arnie for informing me that I put the wrong country code with my ph number - so here it is again - Italy is 39, then my number is 3497480449. It is SO nice to get text and messages on this site so please please keep writing to me everyone ! Well, am back in Taormina today as tomorrow is the last day of the tour and I will be back on my own. Feel sad about leaving all of my new friends, and have a challenging day of travel and working things out, especially as it is Sunday and not so many bus/train/ferry services as...

Nov 30, 2005 - M:Palermo and musings about Italian cuisine

The guidebook says that you eat like royalty in Palermo. Even if we didn't necessarily feel like royalty, the food was much closer to what I had expected to get in Italy. Months before arriving in Italy I was licking my chops at the thought of huge plates of mama-made pasta, and delicious pizza, including the traditional Margherita, my favourite. Much to my dissapointment, pasta in Italy is considered "primo piatto" or first course, so you essentially get a half portion for which pay anywhere between 8 and 15 euros plus the cover charge...

Nov 26, 2005 - Sicily

Today, in Palermo, we hired a taxi ofr a tour of the city. After a brief stop at the opera house to snap some pictures, he took us to the catacombs outside Palermo. There the dead bodies of thousands are interred, but not buried. They are simply mummified and laid about until bone and rotted flesh covered by the tattered rags that were once their finery. All of the bodies were placed here in the Nineteenth Century; I really don't know why. This place is a stern warning that we cannot hold onto this life. Our life is fading and almost gone....

Aug 13, 2005 - Palermo

One of my must see places this summer was Sicily. And apart from arrivind on a Sunday (everything closed) followed by a local public holiday Monday (everything closed) it didn't disappoint. We spent four days in Palermo but would love to go back and see the rest. Heaps of history here with everybody from the Romans to the Turks and Arabs having settled at some point. Highlights included all of Palermo, Tony our cafe guy (he had to be called Tony eh?), meeting a nice Canadian couple in Rob and Vicky who drove us around (an experience...

May 25, 2005 - Day 45 - Sicily

Palermo to be exact. My last entry said I was going to be in Cagliari for a couple of days - but that all changed when I arrived there at around 5.30pm and went straight to the Ferry Terminal to suss out times to Corsica - they didn't sail to Palermo until the Friday (it was Monday) - so ended up on a Ferry that night at 7pm going to somehwere in Sicily (Trapani). Arrived the next morning at 8am (13 hours on the ferry - yay) and as had met a nice man (no gossip there) he dropped me off at the Bus station and within 3 minutes of arriving...

May 22, 2005 - Boating & hiking Lo Zingarro; To Monreale/ Palermo

Yesterday we took a boat tour from Castellammare to the Upper end of the Zingaro Reserve with Cetaria diving excursions. We were in a little rubber boat with two Italian guides and two other tourists, Walter and Annette from Brussels, an older couple on their honeymoon. It was so pleasant, and just gorgeous- turquoise and azure water, white and orange cliffs spotted with shrubby little palms, cacti, and flowering bushes. We could see people hiking on the dusty trail along the cliffs and on the little beaches, but we had the sea to...

May 11, 2005 - Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Palermo has canolies and we ate canolies and Dan ate two canolies and Ben ate no canolies. If Amit ate one canolies, how many canolies are left? Amit got olives stuffed with peppers from the market and Ben got cheese and bread from the same place. Getting to Palermo took so long because the train tracks were broken so the bus took us to almost Palermo and then we took a train to Palermo but it got in at midnight which is a very late time for a train to get in when you have to find a hotel. But not to worry, because we found one and it was...