Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Palermo

So where are we today –oh yes, Palermo. Today’s veranda view isn’t great but you can’t have a wonderful view every day.





On the other side of the ship is a huge cruise liner. Ours has a max capacity of 383. We think this one has a capacity of about 2000. It towers over us. And on the other side of that ship is an even bigger one.

Now with three cruise ships arriving at the same time, you can imagine what the local traders thought. To go ashore you had to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers, horse drawn cab drivers and people selling just about every kind of tourist tat you can imagine.

Then we tried to make our way into town. If you thought northern Italy (Milan, Florence and Rome) were busy, that’s nothing compared to Palermo. Manic is the work most people are using to describe the traffic, the crowds and the heat. We made it into town, then came right back and sat by the pool to recover. Thought you might like a look round the pool deck. These pictures were taken early yesterday morning when it was quiet.














Last night we passesd through the straits of Messina, between Sicily and the Italian mainland. At their narrowest the channel is about two miles wide and you have to take a pilot on board. It was 8 pm and the sun was setting, so sorry about the quality of the pictures.






And finally, for those who like such things, here’s a picture looking down on the bridge wing from above. The man is letting rip with the ships horn (which is VERY LOUD).






Sorrento tomorrow

Marie and John

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