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Palermo and a touch of Florence

Monday, January 15th, 2007

Well, guess what? We are now in Florence after two and a half days in Palermo.

Okay, on to what we did there.
The first night we got there we wandered around for awhile. The city has an energy level like Naples…meaning there is lots of noisy traffic and alot of people. There are many neat buildings to look at, not to mention, if we are by the sea, cool cliffs and neat rock formations. We saw Palermo’s Cathedral. It has a very different “look” to it. It is “Arabic” looking. I am not an expert on what “Arabic” buildings look like or anything so take my comment with a grain of salt and look at the Flickr site to see if we have posted a picture of it (I think it will make it in there). After more wandering, we called it a day and went back to the hostel. We went out that night. We didn’t party up a storm in anyway because there is a midnight curfew at the place we were staying. We only had one beer after wandering around night-time Palermo a bit. Next day, we went to the water front. There wasn’t a beach there but it had some good cliff views. We, then, went to the (in my mind) “biggy”. There is a church with some catacombs that have over 8000 viewable dead bodies. Oh Yea! You can’t even picture how macabre and creepy this was. They weren’t all laid out in graves for the most part…Oh no. They were hung up and stood upright in thier niches. Babies, old people, young people, recognizable facial characteristics, unrecognizable skulls, all done up in their sunday best! Okay, I will stop. It was quite a sight though. After that, we did a bit more walking but called it a night.
The next day was the last day we were in Palermo, we were catching a night train to Florence at 7pm. We went to Mondello beach. This beach is about half an hour north by bus. It was gorgeous. Tim was walking along the water line bare-foot and I ended up doing it as well since a wave caught my right shoe and sock in a wet embrace (how do you like those word choices ;)).
This morning, myself a little bleary eyed, we wandered Florence a bit. We saw the Cathedral and went to a market. We saw a fun bridge somewhat like the Rialto bridge in Venice (there are shops on it) but better.

Well, that’s it for now.
Write later,
Dan

Sicily

Thursday, January 11th, 2007

OK, we’re on pay internet again, so this will be quick.

The train and ferry trip to Sicily went fine. We spent two nights in Taormina and spent the day hiking in the hills above Taormina and the Mediterranean Sea.

We arrived in Agrigento, Sicily yesterday and toured the Valley of Temples today. Tomorrow, we move on to Palermo, Sicily for a couple nights.

More later,
Tim and Dan

We Leave Naples Tomorrow

Sunday, January 7th, 2007
When Dan and I were trying to figure out where to stay to kill some time before activating our final two-month rail pass, we knew we would be coming from Rome and wanted to head to southern Italy.  So, the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Map Updated

Friday, January 5th, 2007
The map functionality provided with our site was fixed, so I was able to update our map -- YEA!!

A Naples New Year

Thursday, January 4th, 2007
Dear readers, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Rome to Naples

Saturday, December 30th, 2006
OK, I'll pick up where Dan left off with Midnight Mass. Yes, St. Peter's Basilica IS huge, beautiful and very impressive, but the mass left me feeling a bit cold -- both literally and figuratively. We were able ... [Continue reading this entry]

Rome

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
Where do I begin?  Trevi Fountain?  Pantheon? Colosseum? St. Peter's Basilica or Square, the Forum, Palatine Hill, Capital Hill, Monument of Vittorio Emanuele 2nd, Arch of Constantine, Spanish Steps, Area Sacra, National Museum of Rome, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Contents of Package: Hat

Saturday, December 23rd, 2006
"Roses are red, Violets are blue. You guys are in Europe, And now the hat is there, too!" With this little poem, Dan and I are now -- again -- the proud, temporary owners of a fuzzy, white and green, tassle ... [Continue reading this entry]

Siena to Rome

Friday, December 22nd, 2006
We spent the last three nights in Siena, and had a fun and relaxing time.  Well, it was relaxing AFTER we found the guest house we booked with.  Yes, it took us a while to find this place, too.  We ... [Continue reading this entry]

Lost in Venice

Thursday, December 21st, 2006
We had decided to walk to our hotel in Venice once we arrived at the train station.  It is dark outside but well lit.  Putting our hands in our pockets to avoid any hassles with pick-pockets, we set off.  The ... [Continue reading this entry]