Trapani

After Monreale, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, walked directly to the new bus station and took a bus to Trapani. This part of the itinerary had changed many times even when we were planning at home. Since John is under the weather, our choices became easier.

Trapani has a lot fewer tourists than Palermo. We were surprised to find that the half-a-dozen small B&Bs that were taking reservations online were completely unmanned. I felt awful that sick John had to trudge around town, but the happy ending was that we ended up in a top floor apartment in an old palazzo.

We loved Trapani. It seems such a pleasant and livable town. We saw fishermen sitting around fixing nets in the evening. The town is surrounded by water. It reminds us of Nafplio (Peloponnese, Greece). Best of all, we found popular eating places adored by local people!

One of the reasons to come Trapani is to visit the hilltop town (~750 meters) of Erice. Our landlady warned us to watch the weather, as we could easily be heading into a cloud with no chance to enjoy the spectacular views. Neither of the two days we had looked good, but Tuesday seemed better, so we took the bus up. We were under darkish clouds, but could clearly see down and around. The town of Erice seems sparsely inhabited. Not too many things were open, which was no big deal for us. However, by the time we left, the clouds had descended, visibility was about 5 meters!

Even though John wasn't 100%, we stuck with our original plan of walking the 7 kms back to town. On the way back, we had very rewarding views, but we also had every kind of weather: sun, rain, mist, fog, wind, clouds, hail, lightening, thunder, and a water spout!!! I realized Accuweather and Google weather are not adequate, and found out from our landlady that ilmeteo.it is the one to use.

Looking east from Erice.


Looking west with Trapani below. Check out the salt pans to the south (left). Supposedly on a very clear day, one can see North Africa form here. Tunisia is just 125 miles to the west.


The clouds roll in on Sun-Ling.


And John.




And some views from the walk down.




Trapani.
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Twice we ate lunch at this self-service cafeteria near Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.




The Art Nouveau Post and Telegraph Office. No photos allowed inside.




The waterfront at night.


Some shots from around the Old Town.

John is down

Our original plan for Sunday was to go to Monte Pellegrino. A good activity for Sunday when many things shut down in Palermo. I was concerned about the weather, as we might be heading into yet another cloud, which soon became irrelevant after breakfast -- John felt awful and had a fever. We ended up spending the whole day in our room, John resting, me reworking our travel plans.

We decided to cut our Palermo program short, but not without a requisite visit to the spectacular Monreale. The locals have a saying -- to come to Palermo without going to Monreale is like coming as a donkey leaving as an arse, not something we want be guilty of, even when one is as sick as a dog.

The town of Monreale sits above Palermo to the west; 30 minutes by local bus. This is the view back to Palermo.


The interior of Monreale Cathedral is covered with 12th-century mosaics.








The mosaic repairman stepped aside for a moment.


Adjacent is the cloister with finely carved capitals and columns. This is a view from the cloister to the side of the cathedral.








Here's John feeling very lousy, taking photos of the cloister's corner fountain.


And on the walk back to our hotel we passed Fontana Pretoria for the final time.

Palermo Impressions

Palermo is bewildering to me. Most places we visit are either fully modern or have made big strides in modernization that outpace any books. Not so with Palermo.

Decay: Palermo's former glory is amply evident in the massive number of old buildings and churches. However, the buildings are in various state of repair, or disrepair. A number of buildings are yet to be rebuilt from WWII bombings! Nevertheless they are throughout the city. Given Italy's high per cap GDP and our high daily cost, couldn't they do better?!

Traditional hours: Afternoon siesta hours are observed by many businesses and churches, more so in smaller towns. Restaurants don't open for dinner until after 7pm, tourist restaurants excepting. Sunday closings are common, including buses and trains.

Street food/markets: Meat and vegetables are still sold at the street stands that are set up and taken down everyday! This probably has to do with their mild climate. Some vendors actually hawk. In the back streets, mobile food vendors are a lot of fun once I get over my timidity.

Language: English is not so common, considering in the old days, Sicilian may be their 1st language, Italian 2nd. Our "Spanliano" is pretty well understood, alas our Italian listening comprehension is minimal, but more than nil :(

Cultural crossroad: Our pre-trip crash lessons in Sicilian history are reinforced by the mishmash of architectural styles and interior decorations, in a single building, single room. I don't think we have been any place that has a more tumultuous past and complicated history.


Quatro Canti (Four Corners) - The heart of Palermo.


Courtyard with palm tree.


Palazzo dei Normanni, the royal palace of the Norman kings of Sicily.


Inside the Palazzo dei Normanni, some shots of the mosaics circa 12th century AD in the Cappella Palatina, royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily.






More 12th century mosaics in the church called the Martorana.




Artichokes are in season at the Ballaro Market.


Decay.


We always seemed to be walking past the Fontana Pretoria and each time pausing, like many others, to admire.




Street Food! The panelle (chick pea fritter) at right in a bun is my favorite and they are even better when in a panini.


Panelle patties ready to deep fry (at right).


And the Teatro Massimo at night.

Cefalu', Sicily, Italy

Cefalu' is an hour train ride to the east of Palermo along the coast, usually a day trip. We chose to overnight in Cefalu', as we planned to do a little walking in the Maidone National Park; to do major walking a car is needed as public transport does not extend too high up the mountains.

In the morning, we took the bus to Gibilmanna, a Catholic pilgrimage site because of some miracle. We chose this place because it boasts splendid views from its 800m of altitude. However, in keeping with our usual luck, the visibility this morning was about 8 meters and rainy. The church was tightly shut in spite of the hours posted, so much for our usual plan for seeking refuge in Catholic churches from weather (heat, cold, rain), noise, people....especially considering our distance to Mecca, I mean, the Vatican. To keep warm, we had to start walking, since we already had all of our layers on.

As promised by the weather forecast, the rain soon stopped, and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful walk, though we had to overcome, 1) one hour detour due to impassable water crossing, 2) sticky mud, and 3) barking dogs.

Our destination was the picturesque village of Castelbuono. The village was more populated than I had expected. From where even higher villages can be seen in the distance. It puzzles me what supported those villages in the old days, what supports them today?! If I had come in the middle of summer?....

Cefalu' itself we wandered through in half an afternoon and morning. The cathedral (duomo) was the only church that had its doors open (this may be a good thing, I wouldn't go dizzy). Its millennium-old mosaic apse was impressive to see, though I wish it were closer with more light :(

The old town streets are narrow, stairs, odd angles, multifarious buildings. It would have been a lot more fun exploring, if I was not kept so busy dodging cars. Judging by the number of souvenir shops in town, surely they wouldn't co-mingle cars and tourists in the summer!

On the train to Cefalu.


The Cefalu Duomo; outside then inside.




Wednesday evening the port was breezy.


Friday morning the port was very breezy.


We started the hike to Castelbuono at Giblimanna Santuario at 800 meters above sea level in a cool, wet, cloud.


Then, ten minutes later, the rain stopped almost instantly, the clouds blew away, and the sky was blue. But we carried on for awhile with our rain jackets and pants still on.


A couple of views towards the town of Isnello.




The trail became quite sticky after a bit of drying the in sun and wind. Sun-Lings displays her boots for the record.


Then unexpectedly, just as we spotted Castelbuono in the distance, the muddy track turns into a newly paved road.


Olive trees and trail marker.


After a failed shortcut, aborted after warnings of high water from a farmer and which necessitated a tense return pass of a vicious sheep dog (sorry no photo), we found ourselves once again on the new road, replete with locally made guardrails.


The town of Castelbuono (castle at left) from far and nearer.




The Castle.


Castelbuono historic center.


Every building had many balconies support by train track rails.


Bonus: the bus ride back to Cefalu from Castelbuono finished along the Mediterranean Coast.


And pizza for dinner at a not-for-tourists restaurant.

Safe Arrival Post

All is well. We are safely ensconced in a cozy hotel next to the train station in Cefalu, Sicily. Delta and Alitalia successfully delivered us and our bags to Palermo, and the ensuing bus + train connection to Cefalu was easy. We've already toured the Duomo, chatted with Tourist Information, found the bus stop for tomorrow's excursion, bought a few things at the supermarket, and more. Stay tuned.