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Published: October 26th 2006
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Sicily
Our Canadian friends who had to suffer us for 6hours Chapter 20
Sicily - Part 1
They awoke at 6.45 am, ready at 7.15 for breakfast with Anna-Maria and her family. The train was at 7.55am so when Anna-Maria was trying to download a floppy disc for our two showing various pictures of Villa Pane, Martin was beginning to regularly check his watch. After saying their goodbyes, her husband gave our two a lift to the station. With 5 minutes to spare before the train left, Maya got stuck with her rucksack in the barriers, finally unravelling herself with just a minute to spare. Once they sat down, two Canadians they had seen on Capri the day before said hello and an Italian teacher struck up a conversation. The Italian guy called Dominic could have been a political comedian, his anti-American stance was rightfully vicious, and he really had no qualms about letting the whole train know.
The two Canadians, Mark and Carolyn were very happy and proud to be from north of the US border. Dominic’s command of English and six other languages was impressive as were his culinary expertise on bubble and squeak. A most entertaining journey ensued until Dominic had to leave the train at
Sicily
The general opinion of Blair's stance. Torre del Greco. They were left chatting to the Canadians who were also going to Sicily but hadn’t yet bought their tickets. At Naples, a quick snack was grabbed and the train was delayed by ten minutes as the 9.36 IC Train pulled out of the city that shall not be mentioned again. Martin and Maya had made reservations and upon opening the curtains to their compartment, they found themselves sharing with a very old looking mother (must have been the renowned Italian fertility treatment) with her two children and what appeared to be their grandmother.
Eight and a half hours was going to be a tough challenge, for it was about to get worse. Just as the train pulled away from you know where, the grandmother started openly belching, not perturbed in the slightest, just belching, not covering her mouth or excusing herself. A foul stench was emitting with every belch. It made our two feel physically sick, especially if they were going to have to endure this for the next eight and a half hours.
Fortunately about a half hour later, having been intoxicated with Old woman’s burp breath, the two Canadians came to the rescue advising them that their own compartment was now empty. So they hurriedly left the Adams family to inhale their own grandmother’s stench and went to join the saviours. It was a breath of fresh air, quite literally, to sit with this young couple. They were both from Quebec and bilingual to boot. Carolyn had been studying micro-biology in Vienna whereas Mark had just graduated and went to join her for a 6 week European tour. The trip had already taken them to London, Paris, Dublin, Barcelona, Rome and Sorrento and was now taking them to Sicily. Neither of them had ever been there, yet they were going to go and stay with Mark'’ Sicilian family whom he had never met before and who did not speak English or French. (Quite an adventure was awaiting them)
Many hours passed as they sat chatting about different experiences as the south of Italy zoomed past their window. Before they knew it, they had arrived at San Giovanni, where quite unexpectedly the train boarded the boat and crossed to Messina on the Sicily. It was most bizarre to see the back end of the train parked alongside the front end of the train inside a boat. Upon arriving at Messina, Mark and Carolyn said their goodbyes as they had decided to see Toarmina first before heading to the family reunion. Martin and Maya remained on the train which by now had left the boat and continued for another three hours to Palermo.
The train sped right along the coast, offering some stunning and some not so stunning coastal landscapes. The skies were very overcast though it was actually 20 degrees outside and the views from the train window were rather limited as far as distance was concerned. With the compartment to themselves, Martin read the Lord of the Rings to Maya with all the different voices suit the different characters. The people in the carriage next to them must have found the characterisations to be a clear sign of insanity, needless to say they never came to investigate. After an extremely long journey they finally arrived at Palermo Central station.
Upon asking, they were informed that they would need to catch the number 102 bus to the hotel which was 6km away from the station. The internet site had said the hotel was near the station, maybe with a private jet it wouldn’t be considered as being too far. Not impressed, they boarded the bus and fortunately a very kind Italian lady and an even kinder Swedish man were extremely helpful and told our two where to get off and where to catch another bus (nr.702) to the hotel. They thanked the couple and did just that, risking their lives at a roundabout under construction (scheduled to be finished in 2003!) and finally reaching the 4* Holiday Inn. The receptionist was excellent and kindly recommended a restaurant nearby as our two had hardly eaten all day. (H: Holiday Inn: Viale Regione Siciliana Nord-ovest 2620, Palermo. All rooms feature satellite TV, in-room movies, minibars, hairdryers, high-speed Internet access, individual climate controls, irons and ironing boards, voicemail, and safes.)The room was more than adequate and the shower was a delight after an 8 hour train ride.
Once refreshed they headed for the recommended restaurant which was only five minutes down the road. A very Sicilian affair, with incredible frescoes and interiors. Two pizzas later they returned to the hotel, replete and ready for bed. Palermo could wait until the following day. Highlight: The boat train and being rescued by Canadians
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