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 only at ground level for about 40% of the
ride. Coaches are very comfortable &
the extra height gives one a good view of the countryside. Luckily for us we knew where we were when we
arrived in Palermo at the bus station & we had an hour before the next bus
to Catania so we had a drink & caught up with the emails.

The bus to Catania was pretty full but again it was an
excellent ride, initially along the coast, but then across the hills & down
into a scruffy bus station. In the
distance Mt Etna still with snow on its sides stands out covered in cloud. We didn’t know exactly where the B & B
was so we took a taxi which took us on a very roundabout route, as we later
discovered, to the place which is in an extremely tired looking street near the
cathedral. Vito, the owner arrived soon
after & we are thrilled with the room, the facilities & the breakfasts.

As d*** wasn’t too clever, ie not hungry, so he rested &
in the evening we went down to a small trattoria for a quick meal just on the
edge of the main piazza. We still don’t
know quite how but it ended up being our most expensive so far with little to
see for it. Returned somewhat annoyed at
our gullibility.