We left France and crossed over into Italy, a most interesting trip with lovely scenery and a huge tunnel, which due to our registration as a truck, not a camper, cost us €200 Euros!!!!! We were somewhat stunned but paid up. The hardest part was that the lady in the toll booth kept demanding different registration papers. Turns out that she was desperately searching for any document that would allow her to charge the lower rate. We, on the other hand, were panicking that we would not be able to cross. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fréjus_Road_Tunnel) Once though the 13 km of tunnel, we headed for an agricampeggio, or campsite at a small farm, way up the mountain above Asti.  (Another first gear grind on a one lane road.) We did not make it into the town of Asti, as we had a number of maintenance issues to accomplish. We de-limed the boiler of the Webasto heating system, which took a while!  We also cleaned and checked the bicycles so as to be able to use them, if the opportunity presented.

We left about 3 PM on the third day and headed for Genoa where we were booked on the evening ferry to Palermo.  It proved to be a pleasant drive.

The descent into Genoa involved a thousand tunnels, bridges, and bewildering on and off ramps. But Miss Neverlost (TomTom GPS) was spot on and the boarding process was actually very easy. 

One of the marshalers was actually a West Cameroonian! We were loading about 100 – 150 vehicles this evening; easy. In high summer it would be 800 and much more chaotic. As always, the actual parking inside the ship is traumatic as they want you closer to the bulkhead, closer to the vehicle in front of you, and there are a thousand people shouting “Faster, faster!” But we survived.

Our cabin was small but adequate for sleeping. It was, however, freezing and, as we had brought the wrong clothes, we ended up sleeping in our coats!

The ferry was quite empty, so finding a seat to view the sea while drinking a cappuccino was easy.  The restaurant served excellent pizza also!  The Mediterranean Sea was calm and we arrived in Palermo a little early.  We had booked a downtown sosta, which had been recommended to us with the proviso that it totally lacked charm but was practical for sightseeing.  The drive was the usual challenge, unexpected one way streets, double parked cars, bus lanes, traffic, and darkness, but we made it. Our space was tight but we did manage to get our ladder down.  And once in, we did not move the truck until we left!

Palermo was interesting and we enjoyed our visit except for the constant rain.  We managed to miss some of it by ducking into a coffee shop for morning coffee and a restaurant for an excellent meal at lunch time.  We started at the Quattro Canti, the four corners.  This is officially known as Piazza Vigliena, and is a Baroque square.  It is considered the center of the Historic District and is the intersection of the two major streets in Palermo.  

We never pass up a cathedral.

Lunch was at a very nice little restaurant on a side street, leading to the theatre.

We visited the amazing Norman Palace with its Palatine Chapel, famous for detailed mosaics telling various Bible stories.  Unfortunately the State rooms were closed as they are used by the Senate of Sicily.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_dei_Normanni#:~:text=The%20Palazzo%20dei%20Normanni%20(%22Norman,the%20subsequent%20rulers%20of%20Sicily.)

We then got absolutely soaked walking back to the camper as it thundered, it hailed, and it poured. 

We had planned to stay another day to visit Monreale but a similar weather forecast inspired us to head south where it looked to be a bit drier.

So we headed to Agrigento, where we hoped to see the Valley of the Temples.  It was pouring, so we had to stay an extra day there in order to get a dry day for visiting the temples, and what a day it was. Cloudless skies gave us a real appreciation for what it must be like to visit in July. It was actually warm enough to enjoy a gelato. The Greek temple ruins were amazing and stretched out over two miles or so. So walking both ways was a healthy four miles. We enjoyed the exercise! (Not!)

The local bus took us up the hill to the temples but we cheated and took a taxi back. expensive, but worth every penny!

Other than the visit, we did two loads of laundry on “dry” afternoons that poured with rain so we ended up with the camper full of damp clothes!