The Elusive Pearl

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Visiting this southern isle was in many ways a huge culture shock. Having very little time to brush up on my Italian meant I had to adapt to a diverse way of life, one I had certainly never experienced before. When describing Palermo words like: Run down, disorganized and removed immediately come to mind. And without even mentioning that the head of the Mafia was found and captured when we were there, Sicily served up a unique experience...

Highs
1. Leaving the UK and having a welcomed dose of Vitamin D projected onto the body. After spending just a few hours in the sun I looked myself again.

2. Azz’s desire to have a casual dip on a secluded part of the coast instantly amused and bemused a bunch of young locals. Fascinated with his bravery and intrigued with his randomness. Puzzled we tried to understand why, and after several failed attempts at trying to understand anything they said, they turned to lewd hand gestures. With time, we worked out that Azz had been swimming next to a sewerage outlet. Needless to say Azz wasn’t bothered - he rarely is.

3. Molesting the greatest gelati ever. And as it turns out, no gelati throughout Italy would match it.


Lows
1. Sicily is dubbed “the Pearl in the Mediterranean” still to this day we are unsure as to why - the pearl certainly eluded us.

2. Our arrival at our non-existent Palermo hostel accurately exposed the awful disorganization of this gritty little city - still clearly reeling from the effects of WW2.

3. Our Sunday night out in Palermo, at the cities apparent club of choice, served up a crowd which was, without a doubt, the most hideously-seedy looking bunch of people I have ever mixed with. Eye-sore with a capital E.

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