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!
Through London In The Dark On A Bus
To start the journey back from Palermo, I needed to get to Gatwick Airport for the 06:20 easyJet flight.
I did think about checking in to a hotel at the airport, but in the end I got up early aiming to catch the 04:00 Gatwick Express to the airport.
I looked for a taxi and in the end I took a night bus from close to my house to Victoria.
It was an unusual and almost magical experience, as I sat up front at the top, on a virtually empty bus, that sped through an empty city. It ran a bit faster than the schedule.
Some of my friends advised against this method of getting to the airport, as you don’t know who you’ll meet. But I didn’t meet or even see anybody, except for the bus driver and another passenger on the bus, who took the same route to Gatwick.
If I have to get an early flight from Gatwick, I will use the same method again.
Off To Palermo Tomorrow
I’m off to Palermo tomorrow on the 06:20 easyJet flight out of Gatwick, to do another home run by train.
My schedule is looking like this at the moment.
8th – Palermo
9th – Naples
10th – Genoa
11th – Turin
12th – Geneva
13th – Paris
14th – I’m booked on one of the last Eurostars back to London.
The Anonymous Widower 