Day 53: Early Morning Arrival in Palermo

April 9, 2023

A full day

“Come back in one or two hours,” says the owner of Hotel Cortese. It’s now 7am and we made our way to the hotel that is “bike friendly”. Patrick has been in contact with the owner about us arriving on the 5am ferry from Sardinia and that we could store our bikes if the room is not ready yet. He shows us a storage room downstairs for the bike and there is an elevator to the reception and rooms.

We get the early announcement on the ferry that breakfast is being served at around 430am. We can see the lights of Palermo and soon the ferry is docked. We make our way down two decks and to our bikes, reload and are off. It’s still dark. We say goodbye to the German cyclist, he will not stay in Palermo.

Because we are in no hurry and it is dark, we walk our bikes. Slowly the city is waking up and we find a shop for a cappuccino. As we sit at the sidewalk table, two guys walk into the café for a chat with the bar tender. “They look like they are going around collecting ‘protection’ money,” Rachel says since the mafia is known to be affiliated with Sicily. As we walk slowly, it’s interesting to see the streets so quiet and we see more detail and easily stop for pictures.

The main pedestrian street, later in the evening filled with people.

When we arrive at Hotel Cortese it is only 7am. We debate whether to ring the bell. In the booking, Patrick had communicated that we would be arriving on the early ferry. This hotel advertises as “bike friendly” and the owner had said there is a place to leave the bikes until the room is ready, or if a room is available, we could check in early. Patrick decides to ring the bell and wakes the owner up; he is friendly and shows us where to store the bikes until we can check in. Great service, certainly after the experience in Barcelona.

We walk around looking for another cup of coffee and find the morning market, part food and part flea market. We find another spot for cappuccino and pastry, we walk some of the same streets and at 9am return to the hotel. The hotel must have been full last night and there is no room available just yet. “Come back in a couple of hours,” he says again.

Around the corner from the hotel, evidence of a great party last night. Around the corner to the left we find the markets.

Scooters and rental bikes are left anywhere and everywhere. We've not seen where the docking station for the bikes might be located. Notice the pay phone on the right.

We decide to use the time to find the Blue Bubble and do our laundry. This is a great system same as we first found in Barcelona. There we did laundry that was really a café with food and coffee. The ceiling had lines strung with single socks, probably left behind. What is it about socks in laundry? The machines include the soap and the instructions are in English easy to follow. There is also free Wi-Fi. As Rachel watches the laundry, Patrick goes back to the cathedral that is nearby to take pictures. When we dry and fold the clothes, we discover a single black sock that is not ours.

The pedestrian street is slowly getting more busy

At noon, we return to the hotel and now can check into the room. We quickly go back out for lunch. This is an adventure, looking for a Chinese Restaurant. We finally find one but it is closed. Eventually, behind construction in front of the door we find the other one. It is disappointing. Returning to the room Patrick watches the Paris-Roubaix bike race and the Dutchman Mathieu van de Poel wins!

At dinnertime, we go out again. The promenade is now full of people walking, there are many street side tables and restaurants. We don’t last very long; it’s been a long day and we are tired. Tomorrow we will do more sightseeing in Palermo.

The same street we walked early morning to our hotel and now later in the day

Today's ride: 4 km (2 miles)
Total: 1,761 km (1,094 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesIt is hard to fill the day with so much hurry up and waiting.
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