Friday 10th May Set off for the station at about 7.30 & went to buy a ticket to Naples. Only 1st class was available at E140 so we took it, much to Dick's disgust. The train trip was Ok but it was delayed in a tunnel for 25 mins before Taormina which was frustrating. We did get our best views of Mt Etna from the train as it was a beautiful day. The countryside of eastern Sicily is so fertile that everywhere vegetables or fruit are grown. As the track ran a...

A day of frustrations. We had an early breakfast & walked to the bus station to catch an 8am bus to Syracuse (Siracusa) & waited until a bus turned up at 8.45. d*** had misinterpreted instructions re bus times a couple of days before. It was an interesting ride and at one stage we passed a huge petrochemical complex which ran for several kms with a long set of breakwaters for the tankers etc. We arrived in Syracuse in a very scruffy street but found our ...

Monday 6th May Had a later start today & looked out over a street of market stalls selling meat & fruit & vegetables so had breakfast & went walkabout using a local guidebook in Russian but with well labelled maps of the area including well defined walking routes. First we visited the Castello Ursino, a square moated fortress originally built by the Swabians on the coast but now inland. This was quite a gem as it is also a museum & art galler...

Woke early & set out to get the bus for Palermo outside the railway station, glad to see the back of our tiny apartment (bed-sit) but when it arrived late the driver told us it had to be replaced. Finally got away at 8.30 & had a good run into Palermo on an autostrada which was quite an engineering feat. The Italians don't go around anything on these roads, they either go across them on elevated roadways or through tunnels consequently we probably were ...

Had to find somewhere for breakfast on the waterfront & then set off for the bus station to find out how to get to Erice & to buy tickets. This done we tried to find out how to get to Palermo tomorrow on our way to Catania, a difficult exercise. We were told to get a bus from the nearby train station but eventually due to the help of a kindly lady we found the agent for the bus & were told that they run every 2 hours starting at 8am. Moving on we visi...