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Brad

  • Not what I had envisioned

    Yesterday morning I picked up my rental car at the Avis on Via Francisco Crispi, 260 near the Port of Palermo. It was an easy 30 minute walk from my hotel. I must admit after a few days of observing the local drivers on these streets I was a bit concerned about getting myself out of the City without taking a wrong turn, ending up in a ZTL (limited traffic zone), narrow side street or going the wrong way down a street. The speed and sounds of the racing engines can be intimidating as a pedestrian.

    My heart did sink a bit when the woman behind the counter told me I would be driving a red Jeep Renegade. A Jeep? In Italy? While it isn’t the Fiat or Peugeot I had envisioned, I guess it will have to do.

    Once I was behind the wheel and following my route out of town (most of which I had walked the day before on the way to Mount Pellegrino), my anxiety disappeared. It was a surprisingly easy. So for all the websites that say “don’t drive in Palermo” “don’t rent a car in Palermo” and if you do rent a car to only rent it from the airport- don’t listen to them. I will agree there is no reason to have a car in Palermo while you are staying there- it is a very walkable city. But if you have done any amount of city driving in places like Boston, New York or LA, you should be fine. If someone honks at you (the will) just honk back. You do have to be aggressive with merging and turning where you may or may not have people following rights of way or “stopping” at stop signs.

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  • Monte Pellegrino

    Monte Pellegrino is one of the towering limestone peaks that you see while flying into Punta Raisi. I couldn’t find a lot of information about hiking it from the city, other than some posts about taking the 812 bus, which will take you all the way up the auto road to the Sanctuary of Saint Rosalia (or drop you at the bottom). Having an aversion to public transportation, I studied the street maps and decided to walk from my hotel, located just off Via Vittorio Emanuele. It took about 45 minutes by way of Via Roma to Via Francesco Crispi and Via Montepellegrino to reach the trailhead. Google maps did not provide the best route and lead to some questionable crossings at areas without sidewalks, so my suggestion would be to follow Via Roma to Via Mariano Stabile or one of the parallel streets and cross Via Francesco Crispi by the gas station near the port entrance. From there it is pretty easy walking to the roundabout at the trailhead.

    The trail itself is paved with the same stones found throughout Palermo, is steep in areas and does not afford a lot of shade aside from the occasional tree here and there. I took the opportunity to stop and enjoy the views on the way up, and came across several other hikers and mountain bikers, but it was not a heavily traveled trail.  There is a small market at the top where you could get a drink and bite to eat.  

    I found one of the offshoot trails to offer dramatic panoramic views from the top of a near vertical cliff to the white sand beaches and blue waters of Mondello below.  

    This hike is definitely worth fitting in as part of your trip to Palermo and don’t be afraid to walk from the City center.  Bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water.  Round trip it was about 11 miles from my hotel. 

    I have been pleasantly surprised by Palermo and realize now that 3 days really wasn’t enough time to see it all.  Off to pick up my rental car at the Avis near the Port and then to Segesta or Erice to start experiencing Sicily from behind the driver’s seat.  

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  • Scratching the surface

    I spent the better part of the day yesterday at the UNESCO World Heritage Norman Palace, Palatine Chapel Royal Gardens and The Palermo Cathedral. The basement excavations exhibit in the Norman Palace was particularly interesting, and the view from the rooftop of the Cathedral captivating. Tickets to the Palace and Chapel were 15,50 Euro, and the line at the ticket booth grew quickly and is located in the sun, so a better idea would have been to buy the tickets online. The Palace itself is enormous and only certain areas are open to the public, but there was a lot of restoration work underway, so it seems more areas will be coming available to the public soon. The enormity and detail of these sites is overwhelming. The craftsmanship and attention to detail exceptional.  Be prepared to pay 50 cents to use the restroom at the Norman Palace or hold it.  Off to try hiking Monte Pellegrino this morning

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  • The contrasts of Palermo

    As the plane dropped through the clouds and the rugged, mountainous coastline of Sicily came into view, a strange feeling came over me. Months of planning were about to be put to the test. This place looks different than anywhere I have ever been, and certainly different from where I had just been, no sleek electric trolleys here. I took the Prestia e Comande bus from the airport to the Via Roma stop which took about 45 minutes, plus an additional 10 minute walk to my hotel. The hotel staff were welcoming and helped me by mapping out some places to explore, and made a reservation for dinner this evening. I spent several hours walking around amazed by the architecture, but also at the speed of traffic meandering through pedestrian packed streets. There do not seem to be any rules while driving. I like it.

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  • 15 Hours in Zurich

    Arrived in Zurich yesterday- and was immediately impressed with the cleanliness of the airport and surrounding area, so I decided to drop my things at the hotel and take the surface trolley to the City’s center (about 45 minutes).  Even the trolley was clean.  I attempted to get seated at several restaurants, but it was a busy Friday evening and most required reservations. I should have done more research and made a reservation.  Mildly frustrated, and developing a hunger headache, I decided on Rheinfelder Bieraus, where I tried their Pork Schnitzel with cream sauce and their in-house lager.  It didn’t look like much, but hit the spot.   On to Palermo today to really start the trip.  

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