Palermo, Italy Monday, April 6, 2015
We awoke to the coolest temps (55 degrees) and our first day
of rain of our trip. How fortunate we have been. Pulling into the dock we saw the
Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship already docked beside us….we have fond memories of
our three week tour of the western Mediterranean aboard her two years ago. The weather did not affect our travels for the day, we were armed
with hats and umbrella, we walked into the city center…. about a mile.
Palermo, located on the northwestern coast in the
Tyrrhenian Sea, is the largest city on the Island of Sicily.
Being over 2700 years old, multiple cultures (Phoenicians, Carthaginians,
Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Romans, French, Spanish and even the Mafia) have
left their influence on the city. In 1861, Sicily became a part of Italy.
Fruit and vegetable market was a bright spot in Palermo today!
We were approached by
many, many tour vendors all along the way….more so than any other city we have
ever visited. We window shopped along
the way…today, the day after Easter is known as the Day of Angels,
a public holiday, so many shops were closed.
We viewed the Palermo Government building and the City Theater.
We enjoyed expresso in a fine pastry shop with all kinds of
delectable delights.
After a few more pictures and a stroll down a few other streets,
we returned to the ship. The grayness of
the day increased the oppressive tall buildings of Palermo. Larry and I knew
that we needed to get out of the city to really appreciate Sicily. From the
ships top deck we could see the incredible outlying hills where green, jagged
mountains ranges reached the clouds. We
wanted to enjoy the natural parts of Sicily; next time.
We watched the Norwegian Jade head out to sea at 5:00pm and
we followed the same route at 6:00pm…both ships will meet again in Naples in
the morning.
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