Palermo, Sicily, Italia

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Our first day in Sicily actually started in Rome. We got up early and headed to the train station to catch our 7:30am train ride to Sicily. The train ride was 13 hours long and I think that really speaks for itself. It was pretty bad due to mainly being stuck at a repair bay for 2 hours while something was fixed. We arrived in Palermo at 8:00pm and made our way to the hostel. We got there and were instantly upgraded to the Columbia Hotel which was way better although being surrounded by wild cats! We then found an Indian takeaway joint down the road and ate our first decent meal all day.

The next morning we got up and spoke to the manager at the hotel about getting our room changed as the air conditioning didn’t work in our room. This wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t 35 degrees outside! We got our room switched and after moving our things in, we walked down to find a pizza restaurant that was supposed to be really good. But it was closed. So with that we went a few streets away and got some Panini’s from a place called Gigi Bar. That afternoon we walked back to the hotel and I got to work on fixing the hotel Wi-Fi but after an hour gave up. We then had a lie down for a few hours. After this, we headed back out to dinner, but this time down near the train station to a pasta and pizza restaurant that we had seen the day before. After an amazing dinner, we walked back to the hotel for a bit of TV and bed

Saturday arrived and because the new room had the windows shut and we didn’t think to open them, we slept until 1pm! Obviously breakfast was no longer a good idea so we went down the road for some Indian food. After lunch we headed back to the hotel because by then it was 3pm and too late to really do anything but watch TV. We went on the internet for a bit and watched a movie called Blue Valentine. Less storyline than Napoleon Dynamite (yes I didn’t think it was possible either). After losing two hours of my life to that movie which I will ever get back, we went back to the restaurant from the night before for another meal. It seems like all we do at the moment is sleep and eat!

On Sunday morning we decided to do a day trip to a small island about 90 minutes north of Palermo. This island called Ustica, was really an amazing place. The whole island is only 9km from end to end but most of it was just residential area. So backing up to the morning, we got ready and headed down to the port. We then got a ferry to Ustica and walked up to the town centre. We had a bite to eat and then made our way to the beach. After getting lost we caught a bus to a lighthouse on the edge of the island. This was thanks to an American man who had been living in Palermo for 20 years. He was really helpful as we were having a bit of trouble getting to the beach. Once we got to the beach, it became apparent that it was definitely worth the trouble. We walked down a little dirt path and found this amazing little lagoon with about 20 other locals swimming around. After a few hours of just relaxing and taking in some rays, we headed up the road for some lunch. When we got there, we decided not to eat there because the only things on the menu were salad and fish. So with that we headed back to the bus stop and caught the next bus into the centre. We got some more food at another café and then got some ice cream down the street. After a pretty big day we walked back down to the port and waited a few hours for the next boat as there wasn’t much else to do. We got back on the boat just after 5pm and headed back to Palermo. After getting back to the hotel, we walked back down near the port and had a fantastic pizza each from a restaurant we had seen earlier.

The next morning we had to once again deal with the incompetence that is the Italian postal system. We once again tried to get a parcel sent back home to try and reduce our weight for the plane. No such luck. With the Italian clowns that we saw running the post office, I’m surprised they have the collective brain power to switch on the lights! After wasting most of our morning at the post office, we headed down to the markets down the road and grabbed a bite to eat. The rest of the afternoon was spent booking and organising the Greek leg of our tour. At around 6:30 we walked down the other end of Palermo and found a great pizza restaurant. They have sensational food and I would definitely be back. After a fantastic dinner, we made our way back to the hotel and to bed.

Tuesday arrived and we thought that we would check out the Mondello beach. This beach is pretty popular among the locals and tourists so we thought it would be worthwhile. Once we got to the bus stop however, we found that the buses were on strike. Just our luck! So after yet another disappointment, we found some lunch and decided to make our way back to the city center. We found a man with a horse and carriage ride and decided to give it a go. He was asking €80, but we managed to haggle it down to €50. The ride lasted for about 45 minutes and took us around Palermo. The sights leave a lot to be desired as the city looks as if it could have been abandoned for years. The horse ride kept Sarah happy though which was worth it. That afternoon we headed for the Via Cappuccini catacombs. This is a huge underground tunnel system with human skeletons lined up along the walls. Apparently in this underground section, there are over 8000 people kept, and all under a church! After of visit with a lot of dead people, we headed back to the hotel and watched a bit of TV before making our way to the Indian place down the road for some dinner.

The next morning, we thought we would attempt to get another bus to Mondello beach. We got to the bus stop and once again there was a strike. Bloody ridiculous how little these people care. Some guy offered to take us but we didn’t really feel like the characters of a bad horror movie so we passed on that and headed back up the road for some food. After lunch we walked to the train station to get our tickets to Catania the next morning. We got our tickets and dropped them off at the hotel before making our way to the waterfront for some nice views. Once again, no such luck. Palermo has possibly the dirtiest harbour I have ever seen. There was so much rubbish that it looked like a water dumping ground. After this we headed for dinner at the restaurant we had on our second night. This was pretty good for Sarah but my veal was pretty bad. After dinner at the hotel we packed all our things and went to bed ready to make the trip to Malta

Our last day in Sicily, we got up and headed to the train station where we were due to catch a train to Catania and then fly to Malta via Verona in Italy. Once again, our plans failed and our train was cancelled. We tried to get a refund on the ticket but the man at the information desk was around 320 years old and kept telling me to go to the platform in Italian. This wasn’t going to help as I don’t even think he realised that the train had been cancelled. After giving up on the hope of a refund we walked to the bus station and forked out more money for a bus ticket to Catania. After about 3 hours, we arrived at the airport and waited to board our plane. Thinking this was the end of our troubles, we started to relax. A little too soon I think. Our flight was delayed 2 hours and we were stressing hardcore that we were going to miss our connecting flight to Malta as the flight crew really didn’t care that we would miss it. We finally boarded our plane and waited through the longest ever flight safety video. This is a seatbelt… YES I KNOW, HURRY UP OR I’LL TIE YOU TO SOMETHING WITH IT! After finally touching down in Verona, we were paged by the flight crew to get off the plane first. Thank god we thought. We raced off the plane to find a team of people waited with boarding passes and bag tags to get us on the next flight. It was such a relief to know that we were actually going to make it. We got organised and were driven privately to the Air Malta jet that was parked just metres from our plane from Catania. We got on and finally took off. Possibly the most frustrating day I have ever had, but for what Malta had in store for us… It was all worthwhile.

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Photos

Septapus
can't really be an octopus with 7 legs now can it