Blogs from Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Europe - page 5

Well, how many churches does it take for a city to be dubbed "City of Churches"? My guess is, Palermo would surely qualify. How many churches have I seen? I have lost count. Many are ridiculously ornate. There is often so much detail that the brain just can't itake it all in. Me, I am much more a fan of the adage of "less is more". But I have to say that our first stop of the day, the Oratorio Di San Lorenzo, was breathtaking. Serpotta was the artist who decorated this jewel which has walls crowded with stuccoed statues and putti. The women who depict the various virtues are gorgeous. They are very well dressed in the best fashion styles of the day. The putti are charming; they frolic and smirk; their chubby limbs are ... read more

Geo: 38.1124, 13.3712_... read more

So we took a small little plane down to Sicily after spending a week in Rome, enjoying time with family that my brother and I were meeting for the very first time. I remember the plane being pretty small, it held maybe 50 - 100 passengers if I had to estimate, and I remember it feeling really outdated. I feel like I remember green carpeting in the aisle. I think the plane right from Rome to Sicily was only an hour long or so, and I think I slept through most of it. I also remember some guy getting yelled at for trying to smoke in the plane restroom. Well, that's always fun, plane drama. LMAO! When the plane landed in Sicily, I have never felt so much like a celebrity before, walking down the stairs ... read more

Geo: 38.1157, 13.3612We spent Anzac Day at sea. We did get up and go to Dawn Service that they held on the ship. There are a large number of Australians and New Zealanders on board. This was good and we saw quite a few of our fellow travellers from Adelaide there.After that there wasn't a great deal to do. We had booked into the Pinnacle Grill for lunch. This is the premier restaurant on board and usually costs extra but we had a free voucher courtesy of Phil Hoffman Travel. The food was very good. The steak I had was cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth. We made up for the cost by having a couple of excellent wines.The weather outside was very stormy and we could feel the ship moving beneath us. I ... read more

14 février 2013, la Sicile Buongiorno! Quoi de plus désagréable que de commencer son voyage en Italie en vomissant un spaghetti bolognais. Probablement un cadeau de départ du Maroc, ou le seul petit extra inclus dans les vols low-cost de Ryanair. D’avoir des lits jumeaux à Palerme a finalement fait notre affaire, et après y avoir passé une journée complète à souffrir chaque pouce carré de mon corps, plus un traitement de zithromax, je me suis remise debout pour continuer tranquillement notre découverte de la Sicile. Lors de nos 5 jours passés sur cette île, nous avons visité Palerme, la capitale, Cefalù, une petite bourgade en bord de mer, et Corleone, maison hôte des parrains les plus violents de la Sicile. Mettons tout de suite les choses au clair : il n’y a aucune scène du ... read more