Capri to Palermo

We checked out of our lovely hotel, parked our bags and went exploring. We caught one of the tiny buses to Anacapri. The buses are necessarily small because of the road being so narrow and windy, but more people stand than can sit. Not a pleasant experience!

From Anacapri, we wandered through gorgeous little alleyways filled with very ritzy stores. We decided as the day was lovely, we’d walk to the Grotto Azzura. 5 km later, through gorgeous laneways and lovely properties, we reached the grotto, but regrettably due to high seas, we couldn’t see in. Normally, boats nose in to the cavern, and the colours are amazing.

We had beautifully fresh squeezed lemonade, and caught a bus back up the hill to Anacapri. Another wander up top, we caught the bus back to Capri, and caught a ferry to Naples. We had to wait a while on arrival to board our ferry to Palermo, Sicily.

It was a large ferry, taking about a dozen semi trailers as well as other trucks and many cars.

We met a young French man, a nurse, who had taken a year sabbatical to cycle Europe. He’d left his home, north of Paris in March, and was heading to Sicily. He had a long way to go. Once aboard, we stowed our gear in our stateroom, and went and found our young friend and bought him a couple of beers. He was sleeping on a couch in the bar, so was very appreciative of the chat and the beers. We bade farewell, and we went to dinner.

We had a fitful nights sleep (the beds were hard), but sleep we did. The ship left at 8.15 pm, and arrived about 7.30 am to the Port of Palermo. Our hotel was not far away, so we left our bags and went exploring.

Palermo is very interesting, with lots of small alleyways and interesting old building around every corner. The Cathedral dates to the 1100’s, and inside is quite beautiful. The royal palace was huge, and the gardens and fountains beautiful.

I bought a new pair of Skechers, as my old ones were giving me grief after 25,000 steps a day, and Paul got a new cap. Palermo is a city of roses, and in the three market areas we went to, thousands of beautiful long stemmed roses were for sale. The aroma was sensational.Read more