I instantly developed a love/hate relationship with this Italian island. Love the scenery, the food, the vibe. Hate driving around in a sardine can on wheels! Tony is driving a FIAT- 2 door manual- it’s only saving grace is it has aircon and can fit down the narrowest of streets.
The drives have not brought out the best in me and I may have had a few over the top moments brought on by heading the wrong way down one way streets and having to reverse back up dead end streets.
Tony has been amazing- managing me and Sicilian traffic. All that aside, we flew into Palermo for a week of heat wave weather and holiday traffic. I am actually quite good at navigating now and we arrive where we should be.
Palermo was interesting in that it is old and graffitied but still busy. We unexpectedly arrived on the day of the 400th anniversary of the celebration of their patron saint. What a party. Fireworks at 1am and throngs of people all through the night. Truly special.
We stayed in an air bnb - quaint captures it best. Again, the aircon saved the situation.
I have missed the best bit. Mark,Koko,Minako and Taishin arrived safely and it was so wonderful to see them again. Just having some company was comforting.
After 2 nights we drove to Mondello beach for a swim in the sea. What a sight. Warm water and the ubiquitous umbrellas and lounges on the beach. I bought an inflatable tube, dropped my shorts and took my walking stick and floated away. It was heavenly and I don’t think I set my rib recovery back too much. Minako and Taishin watched over me and helped me a lot.
We then drove to Cefalù and the less said about that the better. I wept when we finally arrived at our accommodation- too much traffic and one ways!
We headed straight for the beach to have a sunset swim - again it’s unbelievably fabulous. My inner tube was in full use again.
