Sicily last day 14. Monreale and Palermo

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Sicily Day 14. Palermo
The last day travelling from the Chiuso farmhouse to Palermo.
The morning was grey and miserable as we woke up, but thankfully the washing was dry, but alas, my shoes were wet through. Having no newspaper I packed them with some spare dry clothes with the hope that they may extract some moisture during breakfast. The view from our door would have been glorious if the sun had been shining over the rocky outcrops, vineyards, olive groves and vegetable patches with the town of San Guiseppe Jato in the distance. However, this is our last day and our hope is for the rain to stop and for us to be left with a bright image of a beautiful countryside.
We had a bit of drizzle during our ascent out of the valley but soon had to strip off due to the alpine style climb. At the summit we watched a family of rats poking around the waste bins at the road side before a long descent to Monreale. I had a bit of a front wheel slide due to the poor road surface where I got into a groove but fortunately recovered it much to my relief. In Monreale we visited the Norman Church, which is supposed to be one of the oldest in the world and the most beautiful. When you enter you are amazed at the art on all the walls and ceilings depicting scenes from the bible. All these use gold in big quantities and the place is so big that there must be several tonnes used. Much of the floor is also covered on very intricate mosaics. We stayed for four hours to view this but for me one hour would be plenty. Luckily three of us were of the same mind so we left early and went to the hotel in Palermo and stripped our bikes and boxed them up ready for the trip home. The problem I had was remembering how it fitted into the small box with the frame split into two parts. One hour later we were done and then it was a walk to the bus stop I need in the morning to see how long it would take. Much too far for a bike in a box and two panniers. It was then decided to get a taxi to the bus stop arranged by the hotel staff. Therefore the plan is to be up at 3.10am and at the bus stop by 4am, airport at 5 for 7am flight to Rome. As usual you cannot sleep when you know you have to be up early and I did not want to wake up my room mate Jerry so up at 3am and was at bus station at 3.25 after a 10 euro taxi. I will be tired tonight. On my travels to check the bus I saw a street off the Via Roma which reminded me of India because it was the street of bicycle sales and repair with about eight businesses all doing the same thing. Sweet chestnut vendors were also in abundance so a bag was obtained for two euro, nice.
I have seen a type of traffic light in Palermo. which I have never seen before where the red light is replaced by a horizontal white bar and the green a vertical white bar. Not good to see at a distance.
A good farewell meal and a good speech by John Moares and it is all over for this trip except for the boring flight home.
Summary of the tour of Sicily.
This is a very pretty place with a great deal of history dating back 2,500 years. The land is quite fertile with some stony places, which is typical olive growing land. The variety of produce grown is quite vast and the cuisine is very tasty with much fish available on the coast. The people are quite friendly but I think quite poor judging by the prices of goods and food. The infrastructure is pretty bad with the roads in a terrible state with holes and subsidence everywhere. We experienced a lot of mud on the roads due to the waterlogged state of the land and bad management where there is no adequate drainage and over cultivation where trees, shrubs and other vegetation should be present to protect the earth from erosion. Much of the old parts of the towns are suffering neglect and decay but which would look very good if spruced up.
Overall though, a very interesting trip to an interesting country.

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