October 27, 2010
This is the day we decided to venture to the other side of the island. Our destinations: Palermo (the capital of Sicily) and Monreale. The hour and a half drive to Palermo was lovely. F decided to sleep, and there was much pretty scenery to admire as we went. Once we arrived, it was a whole different story. Sicilians (or maybe Europeans, in general) are absolutely nutty drivers. To them, traffic laws are merely suggestions. They pretty much go when and where they feel like, at whatever speed the feel like. This includes the people on Vespas. And the pedestrians aren't much better. For this reason, the streets of Palermo were essentially a free-for-all.
We were trying to follow a GPS to our destination, but because of the driving madness and some technological inaccuracy, ended up driving in circles for a while. Finally, after nearly being smooshed by a bus, we found a place to park and decided to walk the rest of the way. After we'd walked a short distance from the car, it began to rain. Naturally, this happened on the one and only day I had decided to leave my coat in the car. Oh well!
After some walking, and directions from kind strangers, we arrived at the Catacombe du Cappucini. While a little eerie to be walking through a cave of skeletons, this was very interesting. There were separate areas for different classes - professors, clergy, etc. There were babies too, which was sad. These catacombs are famous for one baby in particular, a little girl who died in 1920, but is still perfectly preserved.
By the time we came out, the rain had gotten a little heavier, and D and Sam both kindly offered me their sweaters. I chose to just deal with the rain, and Sam reminded me that the top I was wearing had a hood (haha, I knew that...), so that made things a little better. On the way back to the car, we stopped by a bread shop, where Sam got a crusty roll and I, a pastry. Both were delicious. I was in the back with G, and had to sneak bites while he wasn't looking so he wouldn't get cranky.
Our next stop was Monreale, where the plan was to go look at the cathedral. Crazy Sicilian roads and drivers struck again. We got to Monreale with relative ease. However, once in the center of the town, the roads were so incredibly narrow and hilly, it's a wonder cars fit there at all. Just about every street was about two car widths wide, with half of it taken up by parked vehicles. Many of these streets were (poorly marked) one ways. Others, without much more room, were intended for two-way traffic. Not surprisingly, many cars in that area were dented.
We drove around in circles, first looking for he cathedral, then trying to find parking. Poor D was getting extremely stressed. Sam and I would have offered to take over the driving for a while (though I admit, I probably would have had a heart attack trying to do so), but neither of us drives a stick (we should remedy that...). I believe the final straw for D was when she accidentally ended up going the wrong wan on a one-way street, and scraped her car backing up out of it. Although it may also have been when she was trying to drive uphill on the wet cobble stone and her tires were losing traction.... Either way, we gave up on the cathedral. I have to say though, that Monreale looked like a very pretty town.
We had intended to stop somewhere for lunch, but after all the driving drama, just headed straight home. I did my best to keep the baby entertained, and it was a quiet ride back to Sigonella. B had started on an early dinner before we got back, so it wasn't long after our return that we sat down to some salad, grilled meat and potatoes au gratin. The rest of the evening was quiet, with no special activities.
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