All long-distance buses seem to have termini fairly near the Central Station [trains]. Outside this there is a massive square where most local buses start and from the other side there are roads into the centre, of which the Via Roma is the widest. The place where I stayed is just to the left of the Via Roma [third turn] and is visible from it. This is the Rosalia Conco d’Oro, completely unprepossessing from outside but secure, snug, clean, comfortable and friendly inside and with a lift to the third floor reception and rooms. Toilets and showers are shared but I never had to wait.
A small but useful tip for the first time visitor is to buy a ticket valid for twenty-four hours on local buses from the bookshop on the station before you leave that area, as a lot of tobacconists only have one hour tickets. Another is not to think of travelling without a ticket; three times while I was there a pack of three inspectors got into a bus I was on and all doors are locked until they have done their business.
The Museo Archeologico Regionale is not a purpose built edifice like the national museum in Agrigento but the building itself has an interesting history, first as a convent and then as an almost ruined bombing target of the second world war. It is the Greek remains, again, which provide the main interest and for anyone who has come from or is going on to Selinunte, the sala de Selinunte is a must with its collection of stone carvings from the numerous temples there. The top floor has a very fine mosaic, Roman from the third century AD, of Orpheus playing a lyre and surrounded by animals.
Two places in Palermo disappointed me a little, one because it does not live up to the hype and the other because Italian and mock Italian furniture and artefacts are so common in Europe generally. This second was the Palazzo Mirto, an eighteenth century building which has much original furniture.. The other is La Zisa, built in the twelfth century along North African lines. It now contains a good collection of Muslim art. If I had simply expected this, I should have been far more impressed than I was. Local attempts to liken it to the Moorish remains in Andalucia are absurd.
The next place described could present a dilemma for those with children. It could really excite and fascinate or it could frighten and cause bad dreams for years to come. If you are uncertain, please give it a miss! This is the Convento dei Cappucchini, reached by bus from the Piazza del’ Indepenza. This is an abode of Skeletons, many of which are clothed and standing. Right up to the late nineteenth century, wealthy people would make bequests or their relatives would pay for them to be placed there. Division is by sex, status and occupation. There are numerous skeletons of little children and one which can really shock. This is an amazing figure of a two-year old who looks almost as though she could wake up at any time, except that she does not breathe. She died in the 1920’s and was treated with a special embalming process by a doctor whose secret died with him I am not particularly given to fantasy but the skeletons’ appearance of grinning seems to increase as you stay longer. I was not sorry to leave; a strange experience.
A last expedition at Palermo involved a bus trip from quite near the prestigious national theatre. This was to Monte Pellegrino and the ride is stupendous, twisting up through forest with outstanding views to sea and a fine view of a beach to the west of the mountain. The bus stops near the top in a huge car park where there were various stalls set out, mostly selling the most revolting tat. The shrine, the supposed magnet for the trip had no appeal to me at all. Twenty minutes spent waiting for the bus to return, however, was but a small price to pay for the ride up and down.
After two nights, and visits to the archaeology museum and a market on the morning after, I used the train for the first time in Sicily to reach Cefalù.
David was a keen walker, particularly on mountains before he developed serious heart problems in 1995. He has now adapted his holidays to what he is able to do and we are presenting his account of 12 days in Sicily over this and the coming months. Next two episodes: Palermo.
Next episode – Cefalù, Castelbuono and Milazzo
The ringing of metal hitting metal in the early evening sunshine rang across the stillness of the Fiord as we moored for the first night on our Norwegian sailing trip. Driving a steel stake into the rock that had a ring attached allowed one to pass a warp through the ring and back to a cleat on the boat – Thus enabling any one to explore the shore easily by just jumping on to the rocks from the bow or stern, have a BBQ or merely to stretch their legs in the evening after a day at sea. The locals used this way of mooring up for the afternoon or night, and this was only possible because of the lack of tides in this part of the world. This was a very pleasant surprise after the difficulties with tides and mooring in the UK. 
We had set out in ‘Turid’ a 35 ft Halberg Sailing sloop, from Kragero in the south of the country to enjoy a few days break from tackling the stresses and strains of life in London. The Norwegian Skipper had an old 1780’s house overlooking his mooring and was just back from sailing round Greece. David and I have been friends since way back when we were nearly young. He has a wooden Folk boat on the south coast of England and I once had a four berth sailing cruiser moored in Conway. The second piece of luck was that as we boarded the sun came out and for the rest of the trip we had sunshine until about 2130 hours at night with a temperature of 26 degrees Centigrade at sea during the day. People expect it to be cold but in the summer this place can be extremely warm, in fact the week after we left the temperature rose another five degrees.
We started our trip around this wonderful coast with fir trees on the rocks and the houses right on the waterside. Rocks and inlets all around the place, so be careful if you’re not with a local skipper who has a good knowledge of the area. It seemed that everyone in Norway had some sort of boat and they were all making the most of the summer either in their holiday homes right by the sea or on the water.
We only docked to take on provisions, but we still had time to visit some of the excellent little ports – Risor, Arendal, Grimstad to name but three. Grimstad was my favourite with some of its wooden houses, in the old town, going back to 1729. I even encountered two Dutch cycle campers that were on a cycle way that took in six north European countries.
Seeing the Boma, (see photo by the Beetle,) now a fully restored small hotel is even more amazing than any of the photos I had seen, such a dramatic transformation from the derelict building here on my arrival, which was only just nearing completion when I returned for the millennium festivities. It now stands in grounds surrounded by all manner of vibrant vegetation, attracting varied animal life – from butterflies to lizards to the occasional monkey.
We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of Mac reminiscences about some of his travels around India in 1992.