Finding My Footsteps

The Ryanair flight to Marseille didn’t cost much but it was very “no frills” with their cheap tightly packed seats bolted to the floor.  It actually felt more like a flying bus.    Still, in just three hours I had flown from Italy to France.  Once we landed in Marseille, I bought a €10 ticket to get to the city centre.  Once there, it was a good 20 minute walk with the still too heavy backpack on my back to my centrally located hotel.  During this walk I had decided I needed to discard at least 2 kg of pack contents and wondered what would go first.  The room in the hotel was in a little attic room on the 5th floor.  It had a lift to the fourth, then some stairs to the small door that was my room.  I had met the cleaner on my way out to get some food and she asked if I liked the room.   Yes.  Sì, oh, wee…no, how is it even spelt?  Oui.  My French was almost non-existent I realised. When I first went to Lond...

As soon as the bus found the City of Palermo, I was immediately captivated by the vibrancy in its busy streets.  My hotel was very close to the central train and bus station and my room was ready by the time I arrived at midday.  It was large, beautifully decorated with 17th century exposed beams on the ceiling, and a balcony looking out to the stazione.  I put down my backpack and got changed into some dressier shorts to go out and explore.   For the first time in decades I had two men whistle at me just as I was walked  out on to the street, and I thought happily that I must be looking good! So Many Churches As I turned the corner I felt a cool breeze above my undie-line and when I looked down, noticed I had forgotten to do up my fly.  It was wide open!  I had to giggle at myself; those men, my ego!  Ha.   I walked through the narrow busy streets until I came across the Piatto Conte Federico, a palace othat was built on t...