So, where's this godfather guy?
Trip Start
May 14, 2011
1
7
25
Trip End
Jun 04, 2011
Where I stayed
Monreale, Sicily, Italy
Thursday, May 19, 2011
We had thought about staying in Cefalu, but drove straight through to Palermo. And then skipped over Palermo to head up into the hills to Monreale, which is home to a very beautiful cathedral. It seemed easier. I’ll let my travel partner tell how he had to find a parking spot, but while this was occurring I was in the great little b&b we magically found by seeing a sign for it on the street. We were desperate. I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I took a nap. Or tried to but then got absolutely paranoid when my chauffeur didn’t appear for nearly an hour. I had killed him off and I was calling the embassy in Rome to try to get his body back to the US by the time he unlocked the door of our room.
The highlight of dinner was caciocavallo, which is an aged mozzarella and this one was fried and then covered in a light sauce of lemon juice, olive oil and parsley. I will have dreams of this cheese for years to come.
(C) Sicily is much eaiser than I thought it would be. Arrival into Messina is straightforward and only a few blocks onto the autostrada which leads west along the coast all the way to Palermo. So we decided to split our days in Sicily a little differently and we skipped Cefalu in favor of an extra day near Siracusa. Hence we drove right on past and arrived in Palermo just an hour or so later. We decided not to fight the traffic hassle in Palermo and instead we'd drive up the hill to Monreale where we thought we'd find an easy place to park, nice B&B, etc.
The B&B was surprisingly easy to find and it turned out to be a charmer. But the driving and parking in Monreale is unbelievable!!! It seems to me that in any other town - even in Italy - they would have turned most of this place into pedestrian only. But not here! The roads are five feet wide, chock a block with moving and parked cars and there are a thousand people walking all over. I left Sara at the hotel and went to park in the parcheggio next to the Duomo - I figured I'd just rather pay for the overnight than deal with the disaster of street parking. But, after an hour of driving in circles I COULD NOT figure out how to get around past the Duomo to the parking. I kept ending up on one-way streets headed back the way I came. I finally drove almost back to Palermo and started over. Then walked 15 minutes up hill to find a nearly hysterical travel partner whose imagination had me kidnapped or something. It's nice to have someone who worries about you!
Comments
I can totally relate to your driving experience in Sicily! I, too, have driven there. I would average ten miles in two hours. Love your travel blogs, write more!