Who's Been Sleeping In Our Bed? Edward?

Like Edward we well plleased with our visit to Agrigento. We had booked on the train to Palermo and although AgriCentro was only several hundred metres from the station, walking would involve negotiating  the imposing set of steps. Our hostess Erika proved to be as considerate as she is comely, offering to pick us and drive us there.

This involved a slightly more circuitous route which found us on the station forecourt in a few minutes where we bought tickets for 9.90euros each. This was our first trip by train and it is more comfortable than bus, with larger seats and a little table for four at each setting. Train tickets can vary significantly in price with some fares for the same route being up to 4 times more expensive than others. It seems to depend mostly on the speed of the train and the time of day with high speed express trains being at peak times being the most expensive. Given that we were sightseeing, cheaper milk runs were fine by us.

We experienced the first real evidence of the reality of Covid19 on the train today, with PA announcements in Italian and English at regular intervals, exhorting us to follow the government guidelines for avoiding "coronavirus and other seasonal viruses" and assuring us that railway staff were all doing likewise. On this train we had a particularly assiduous conductor. A rumpled, monkey-like little fellow, he checked the ticket of every new arrival at each station. This, we were to discover on later train journeys, was unusual practice because on nearly every other train we traveled on, while there were conductors who occasionally walked the aisles, looking very smart in their stylish uniforms, they virtually never looked at tickets. It seems to me that you could travel the length and breadth of Italy by train, without ever buying a ticket, if you were brazen enough.

The countryside of Sicily is indeed spectacular, especially to West Australian eyes, accustomed to wide, flat landscapes. Sicily is a series of rolling hills and massive, steep limestone peaks, dotted with little villages. Agriculture consisted of the usual oranges, olives and artichokes with cropping and grazing in the wider valleys. In the highlands there were even prickly pear farms with irrigated plants. I saw posters for prickly pear juice and wine so I guess there is a market. The internet suggests they can also be used in medicines, including as an anti-viral so maybe they contain the solution to Covid19. Only time will tell.

Albergo Trinacria is the white building.  The entry to our apartment was via the arched door in the wall at Foro Italio Umberto 17 while the  hotel itself fronted onto Via  Butera to the rear. On the internet you can find old photos of Trinacria showing almost exactly the same view as this. There are also a number of interior shots from the turn of the 20th Century. 

Edward took 4 days and 3 nights to cover what took us just a couple of hours. He spent his first night in Caltanisetta, where we changed buses on the way to Agrigento. He wouldn't recognise it today because like much of Sicily it is now a mass of modern apartment blocks. As a farmer he took note of Sicilian agriculture but found much of it primitive by Australian standards. Reaching Palermo at noon on the fourth day, Edward stayed at the Trinacria, a spacious, handsome hotel, finely situated near the water and commanding a beautiful view of the port and bay. Here we found most excellent quarters. 

This is the Trinacria from the rear. Trish is on the top left hand balcony. the grey plaque above the door commemorates Garibaldi's visit and the circular brown one identifies the building as "Ex Albergo Trinacria.

When I was looking for accommodation in Palermo I discovered that the Trinacria was opened in 1844 and is believed to be the first purpose built hotel in Palermo. It has featured in literature and Italian history with Garibaldi staying here in 1862 while preparing his campaign for the unification of Italy. It ceased trading as a hotel in 1911 and was divided into apartments and I located an apartment trading under the name of Trinacria. The owner was unsure if it was located in the original building or an adjoining one, because like many many Italian buildings it is a labyrinthine structure with entrances on different sides with corridors and stairs wandering around inside.

Trish in our apartment with some of the old furniture. Most of the places we stayed provided a complimentary treat on arrival, like a bottle of wine or soft drinks. Here the host gave us a selection of Sicilian cakes which Trish is holding. They were delicious. 

However, once settled inside,  to my delight I was able to establish that our apartment was part of the original building by going around to the rear street while Trish stood on our balcony, which was clearly part of the original building with a plaque on the wall, recording Garibaldi's visit. The apartment was plesant but can no longer be described as luxurious. It was furnished with a variety of old furniture pieces and  when the building was divided into apartments, much of the hotel furniture remained so I would like to think that some of what was in our apartment was utilised by Edward. This is the first time on my reconstruction of Edward's trip that we have stayed in exactly the same place as him.