Sunday, 5 October, the Train to Palermo
An overcast and rainy day in Napoli as we were headed out to Sicily. Around 8:00 AM, Jim walked up to Piazza del Gesù Nuovo where we knew there to be a taxi stand. Following normal protocol, Jim approached the first-in-line driver, a kindly man who has a brother in San Francisco and who himself plans to visit Nevada in the colder months here. He swung by the apartment, picked up me and our bags and headed to the central train station, Stazione Centrale.
At the station, Jim looked over to check the fare and clearly remembers seeing 42 Euros but concurrently, the driver lowered the flag and told us no charge. Not the first time this has happened to us here in Italy. Try to speak a little of the language, answer any questions (you understand!) and be friendly and respectful. We are always surprised when this happens but we understand how it can and why. Jim still got him to accept 20 Euros by arguing it was for a caffè.
The train was on time as has pretty much always been the case when we have traveled by train here. I wish we were using the trains a little more often though so I’d remember a few little factors like you might want to pay attention to the row where your seats are. The seats in Row 14 on this train face to the rear as we are trucking down through Amalfi and along the coast towards the Messina Strait. Better to see what is coming rather than maybe see what you missed, especially when taking pictures. Also, some of the rows – NOT 14 on this train – have a decent table, much better than these pull-downs we have that are similar to airline tables. The seats in Rows 12 & 13 face each other (could be good, could be bad depending on other riders) and have the nicer table between them. Oh, and you ought to check about food. We opted for 1st Class this trip, thinking comfort and a dining car or at least food cart for what was to be a nine hour ride. Niente – no food, although the seats are more like airline First Class! Hoping that while either transitioning onto the ferry to cross the Messina Straits or while on the ferry itself, we can find food. Oh, and no Wifi on this train although we did have Wifi on the train from Tuscany to Orvieto, in 2ndClass! I know – expectations without checking.
Thus far, two and a half hours into this nine hour train ride, it has been more a “transport to get somewhere” ride and not “see the countryside” adventure. Still overcast and rainy, and lots of tunnels. For those who have been to Positano, the Amalfi Coast or Salerno, you’d be aware that there is the finger or perhaps peninsula the sticks out towards Capri. Well the train ride from Naples to Salerno takes you through a tunnel under that finger on which Positano and Amalfi are located. You don’t see much of the Amalfi Coast and absolutely cannot see Capri off across the water!
We finally arrived in Palermo at 7pm and it was dark so finding our apartment took a bit of work but we managed it. Once we got here, we got settled and thankfully the landlord left fruit in the refrigerator. That was a blessing because we were really tired and the thought of finding a restaurant was not pleasant.
After a good night’s sleep we took a shower which was very interesting to say the least. I turned on the water and was immediately shocked because the hand-held shower head flew off the wall and sprayed me and a lot of the bathroom so I quickly turned it off. After trying multiple configurations of the faucet controls, I realized the ceiling mounted shower head wasn’t working but the hand-held nozzle was. I hopped in the shower and figured out how to wash my hair and shower at the same time – with the hand-held! Jim figured out that the overhead showerhead at the top was not screwed in tight enough. He tightened things up so tomorrow’s shower should be much better. We shall see! Meanwhile, our apartment.
After an adventurous morning (overhead shower heads in both bathrooms were broken,) we walked to the nearest negozio (store) and got a few things we needed to get through breakfast. Later in the morning, we went to the Ballarò market which is the largest outdoor market in Palermo. It has everything imaginable there, music is blasting and the vendors are hawking their wares in loud, shouting voices. It’s just fun to look at and buy what you would like to eat.
Of course, we had to share the space with tour groups from ships that pulled in during the night so it got a little bit crowded. It was fun to hear the vendors selling their “stuff.”
After this we went to lunch at one of the recommendations from our landlord. It was delicious.
Later in the day, we took photos of the ends of the apartment buildings in our complex. The graphics are well recognized but I have no idea who the artists were.
Guess what? We’ve caught up to today so we’ll press ahead. After breakfast, we took what we expected to be a long walk down to our old neighborhood, Borgo Vecchio, the old section of town. We walked along Via Roma (every city in Italy has a Via Roma) for several reasons. Straight shot meaning shortest distance plus lots of good stores along the way. We were familiar with most stores, churches and government buildings, having “lived” in Palermo for a month and half over our visits in 2014 and 2016. The walk was long but comfortable at 10:00 in the morning.
We found the piazza we were looking for and sure enough, there was the vegetable and fruit stand operated by our friend, Salvo. He was there and indeed remembered us.
Unbelievable but we think we have caught up to this present moment Tuesday night. We ate home, chicken, vegetables and bread picked up from the local markets. We may be dormant for the next couple of days as we sort out and plan for other adventures to fill the next month. We will be back soon. Arrivederci.