Today we headed in the opposite direction from the area we have already explored, and saw one of the ancient city gates, complete with gargoyles, intended to scare any bad guests away.
Apparently the ancient bad guys were more easily scared than the current ones. Which reminds me, I haven’t mentioned the topic of safety in Sicily. We have felt absolutely safe everywhere we have been, even in the little back lanes where tourists probably shouldn’t have wandered (but we did anyway). There is poverty in the back lanes for sure, but nothing half as scary as the DTES of Vancouver on its best day.
We definitely spotted more pick pockets in Florence (and haven’t actually identified any here in Sicily) and are returning home with all of our valuables in tact.
Puppets are big here on Sicily and our balcony is just across from a popular venue for puppet shows. We can hear the Punch and Judy style voices, drumming and music as we sit here watching the world go by.
Just enough time to squeeze in one last church, Gesu di Casa Professa. All Baroque, all the time.
And not all cherubs are cute, just sayin’
So that’s it for churches on this trip. We have seen some doozies!
Time to fortify myself for some cannoli and an affogato, because Don sent me out to shop all by myself.
Here is what I didn’t get for the boys. You’re welcome guys.
All shopping accomplished, we are now getting ready to head to our anniversary dinner at a famous roof top terrace here called 7. This time, we actually have a reservation, so no repeats of last night. Here is the view during daylight:
This is how it looked when the sun set:
You can never go wrong when you start with a Cosmopolitan.
Palermo is a beautiful city – on the way home we stopped to listen to a street performer and our photo was taken for the local newspaper (not really).
We have spent the day reflecting on the last forty years – on balance, they have all been pretty good. Ups and downs of course, but when times are tough, we are each other’s person and that is worth a lot. How many more years do we have? Who knows? But we intend to spend all the time we have seeking the beauty in life and enjoying our growing family. Not to mention any favourites (Kaiden) – we love them all and can’t wait to get home to them.
xx
Jan and Don
Jan and Don Travel the World 