Got up early at Jane's command to catch the 9.30 bus (Dick’s memory) to Trapani, had breakfast & set off early as Jane thought the bus went at 9.00. You guessed it, Jane was right again!! Caught the bus & in great style we went via an interesting route including the port below Agrigento, Sciacca, Marsala & the Trapani (Birga) airport. The countryside is very beautiful, rolling & occasionally rugged but covered in olive groves & vineyar...

Had a late breakfast at 8.30 & after discussing with Luca, our host decided to go to Trapani on the north west coast tomorrow. Walked down to the bus station & enquired about buses to Trapani & then caught a bus down to the Valley of the Temples where there are a string of Greek temple ruins dating back to the mid 500s BC. They include the ruins of the largest Temple ever found of Greek origin, that of Zeus, which took 70 years but was never complet...

We walked down to the Central Station to catch a 10.30 bus to Agrigento & as we were early sat down & had a mineral water in a cafe. Much to our consternation very few people & no buses were waiting in the area. At about 10.20 we saw a bus but were told that it was an airport shuttle & that no buses went to Agrigento today as it is May Day, a public holiday. Luckily for us we knew that there was a train due to leave in about 10 minutes so off we w...

Today we set out to go to Monreal a famous cathedral 9k inland from Palermo. We took a bus as instructed to catch another one out there only to be told that this one took us to another spot to catch yet another shuttle bus. It took us nearly 2hrs to do the 9k & it was quite warm & humid so patience wore a little thin on both sides. Luckily it was worth the wait, as although the exterior is pretty ordinary if somewhat strange, the interior is again a true ...

Had a late start & an excellent continental breakfast & then walked down to a small Norman church of St Catalda next to a very fancy fountain surrounded by nude statues. The church was quite austere in a Romanesque/Norman style & was excellent. From here we went to the huge Palermo cathedral which is an extraordinary mixture of styles externally but is not so impressive internally except in its size. It was strange to have to decide for ourselves w...