Do Italians Talk With Their Hands?
I only have a few words of Italian, but at least I can pronounce celiachai, which is Italian for coeliac well enough to get served gluten-free food.
On the other hand, I find Italians easy to understand, as they seem to use their hands more for emplasis, than other nationalities.
I must learn some more Italian!
At least I know most of the words for food, although at lunchtime one day in Carluccio’s I wasn’t sure what rapa was. But then there was a translation.
Supper In Palermo
The hotel recommended a restaurant round the corner called Gagini.
The food, staff and atmosphere were all excellent and of course gluten-free.
The starter was particularly good as it was three types of seafood blended with salt from Trapani on Salina and spices. I’ve actually been to that island in the Aoelian Islands.
Palermo Cathedral
Palermo cathedral isn’t as grand as some in Italy, but it’s worth a visit.
It was about five hundred metres from my hotel, so it was an easy walk, except for the dodging of traffic.
Carriages In Palermo
Palermo has lots of horse-drawn carriages for the tourists.
Not for me though a ride! I’ve only ever been in a horse-drawn carriage once and that was in Seville.
But unlike many places nearly all of the horses, looked to be in good condition.
Wandering Around Palermo
I spent most of the afternoon and some time before I left in wandering around Palermo.
I like the buildings of the capital of Sicily, even if some parts are a bit run down. I wouldn’t stay in the Hotel patria, judging by the look of the outside.
My Hotel In Palermo
I stayed in the four-star Palazzo Sitano.
The only problem was that I’d booked a single room and it wasn’t ready when I arrived, so I got an enormous and very comfortable suite for the same price.
I liked it and would stay there again.
It says on their web site, that it is close to the centre of everything, and I certainly didn’t have to go far to the station and important sites like the cathedral.
And the staff were excellent, as was the map I was given to find my way around.
the television system was also very good and remembered the last channel, when it was switched off.My Sony in this house does that, so why does the usual television in a hotel forget?
Into Palermo By Train
Getting into Palermo from the airport is easy by train, especially if like me you’ve chosen a hotel within walking distance of the main station.
I took the trip in, on a fairly empty train with a German girl, who was going cycling over Sicily. That is not for the faint hearted, as the island is fairly mountainous.
Sicily has quite an extensive rail network and it must be third only to the UK and Irish railways in size for an offshore European island.
Breakfast At Gatwick
It wasn’t that good, as the South Terminal doesn’t have a Jamie’s Italian like the the North one does.
I was in a restaurant, where I had some pretty good scrambled egg, but there were other things on the menu, that I thought, if they had been properly cooked, would be gluten-free.
The restaurant was also serving Aspall’s cyder, which I know is gluten-free, but they didn’t know it was.
Surely, if McDonalds know what contains allergues, it is not beyond the wit of any restaurant to do the same.
So that’s one restaurant, I won’t bother with again.
A Problem With Disabled Toilets
I went to the toilet at Gatwick and despite it being a long walk from the Departures Lounge, I had no problems.
But it wasn’t so easy for a guy on two crutches I met, who looked distinctly unhappy. He told me the problem was that as the disabled toilet is the only place where smokers can’t be spotted, they use it as a smoking room. He said that it was particularly disgusting and smelt very strongly of smoke.
I bet those smokers don’t smoke in their own toilets at home!
The Anonymous Widower 