A day at the b--ch!

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Bound for Palermo…. There was a brilliant lightning and thunderstorm during the night and I wondered if our beach time in Sicily would be rained out but the day dawned sunny with intermittent clouds. I slept in until NINE. Played a little poker last night but left after an hour without a winning hand. That’s two nights without a hole pair. There was a waterspout just of the port side. Fascinating phenomena.

The Captain just announced that because of the unrest, riots and the assassination of our Ambassador to Libya, our port call to Tunisia has been cancelled. Instead, we will visit Sardinia. Although I’m disappointed not to be seeing Carthage, Sardinia will a wonderful stop and safety is the main thing. Now it’s just figuring out what to do.

Well, beach time in Sicily turned into bar time. We arrived at a lovely seaside village, set up our beach umbrella, figured out how to adjust the lounges and it started to rain. We stayed for a few sprinkles but this was no passing shower. We crossed the street and sat on the terrace of a café, sipping wine and beer, reading, listening to the rain and wind whip the canvas awning, and people watching for about an hour or so before the guide summoned the bus for the trip back to the Ryndam.

On the way to the beach we had traveled through the newer part of town, now we went through the heart of the city. Gone were the trash piles of June. Evidently the garbage strike is over. The graffiti is still, unfortunately. This was a drive by tour of the main sights. There were many police cars parked at the Four Corners intersection where two main roads intersect. The façade of each corner building is cut to reveal a large sculpture and the effect is an octagon shaped piazza. This is a popular place for demonstrations and is close to city hall. That explains the police presence.

We arrived back at the port. HAL’s ship, the M/V Noordam is moored right next to us. In all this turned out to be a very expensive bus ride.

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Photos

Cittivacchia
Loading fresh produce. Yum

On board
Knute and Brucie make a new friend.