We make it into the city with only a couple little hiccups. Alice again – how many times can she make us turn when we don’t have to really turn? At any rate, we make it to the parking lot we wanted at the foot of Piazza Palazzo and even find a space right on the first floor. I had seen the elevator for the old town right outside the garage, so we walked out there instead of using the elevator in the garage.
This elevator takes us up halfway – and we find the garage elevator (which requires a passcode that is printed on your parking ticket to enter- tips and hints – always keep your parking ticket with you when you leave any garage in Europe – it may come in handy and you will probably need it to pay before you go back to your car!) on an elevated walkway as we head to the 2nd elevator to go all the way up. The next elevator is wild! From the outside it looks almost like a construction site elevator – all open and exposed.
From the inside, you get great views (if you can avoid the graffiti scratched into the windows) of the new city below. Cool!
Once we’re up in the city, we start taking pictures so we can remember where we get the elevator – we are not going to get confused up here – same as Aix en Provence! But also as we arrive at the Piazza, we find platoons of police officers, all dressed in riot gear, reading to ride into some battle. That’s a little scary. They are all milling around, apparently waiting or their orders? Ok….we’ll just quietly walk out of the square and away from the guns, thank you.
Down the street a bit, as we are getting our bearings, we find a cute little café with tables in the sun. Since we are starving (and have to really, really go to the bathroom) we plunk ourselves down in the sunlight and order a beer and wine. We tell the waitress we just want drinks and a snack, thinking we’ll get a menu – but instead we get lunch for the price of drinks! A huge bowl of snack mix and little grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches. Very nice.
After our snacks, we just wander through the old town, which is wonderful with the close, little streets, fabulous historic buildings and the laundry hanging from the windows.
We find the Bastion of St. Remy at the end of the town – this is a lovely, huge park now, but you can see how it was once an awesome fortress over looking the city and the port. The views are spectacular, and the arched stairway makes for an impressive entrance into the city.
We walk down the stairs to the lower “new” city, and spend a few moments wandering around, but not much is going on, we are guessing because it is Saturday. Whatever the reason, we find another café, right across from the city entrance to spend our remaining time, and to grab another quick snack of pulpo salad (the octopus salad tour!). Couldn’t ask for a better location or meal.
We hoof it back up to the parking garage on the city streets, straight up the hill, but on lovely wide sidewalks, and a huge promenade area. Then off to find gas, fight with the gas pumps (it’s a pain doing self service here – you have to pay at a machine, hope you guestimate the right amount and payment, then pump…most times the credit card doesn’t work….annoying), then back to Hertz where we drop off the car and head for the shuttle bus.
The line is crazy long, and we just miss the first bus. We’ve got time, no big deal. We are at the head of a line of about 100 people, standing and waiting, watching this other couple who has just walked up, and is standing next to us, sort of not facing the bus, but looking around. We just KNOW what’s going to happen. They ignore us and the line, until the bus comes, then they turn and expectantly try to get on the bus in front of us – oh no, no, no, no – not happening as we explain to them in no uncertain terms. Of course the woman acts all surprised and says, oh no, of course we weren’t getting on this bus. Not now you’re not, that’s right!
Jumping the line just drives us crazy – we’re not too happy standing there either, but that’s what lines are for!!! and don’t get me started on the Asian who almost knocked me over on the bus because he was bound and determined to get off the bus first from 2 rows behind me! Somehow we get safely back aboard, take some neat shots from the balcony as we sail and get ready for our bogus day at seas (bogus because we are just sailing around in circles, we are that close to Palermo). Unfortunately when they canceled Tunis as a stop on this leg due to an ugly political situation with an earlier visit, there simply was nowhere else to go in the area so thus an added sea day.
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