Rachael got a full night’s sleep last night and awakes refreshed after being awakened only once by the fairly noisy street traffic four floors below. With me though it’s the usual first day of the tour scenario. I fall asleep and wake up after what feels like much later and see that barely an hour has passed. Another few iterations of this takes me to about three when it’s finally lights out for the duration.
I awaken quite groggy and dazed, not looking forward to the main chore of the day; but two cups of coffee and a fine breakfast stiffen the spine so I’m ready to tackle bike reassembly. It has to happen this morning if we’re to get our suitcases down to the UPS store today before it closes for the weekend.
Assembly goes as well as can be hoped for. No problems, no apparent damage to the bikes in shipment. It’s especially appreciated that our hotel room is a perfect location for the work - spacious, with wood floors so there’s no trouble finding a good spot where there’s no risk of leaving a mess behind.
Rachael runs a couple of errands while I’m toiling away - to find an ATM, and to stop in at an optometrist’s shop to see if her glasses can be repaired. Both of the lenses got pushed out of their ultralight frames and neither of us can reinsert them. She comes back beaming, relieved that she won’t have to rely on her backup frames for the whole tour.
We head down to the UPS store right at two, just after they’ve reopened from their lunchtime break. It’s an easy walk - maybe three hundred yards, because this was one of the criteria we used in choosing this hotel. Everything goes perfectly at the store - they have no trouble with accepting them unwrapped, and after weighing and measuring them they quote us €60 for the pair to ship them to our final hotel in Bologna. A great deal, especially it they get delivered successfully this time.
One of the best workspaces ever for assembling the bikes.
This is such a great way to deal with the suitcases, assuming that they don’t get lost this time. We were in and out of the UPS Mail Boxes, etc. shop in five minutes, and they’re being shipped to Bologna for €30 each.
Fifteen minutes later we’re back at the room, taking our bikes downstairs for a test ride to make sure they’re ready to roll. There’s a slight hang-up here, when I’m chagrined to see that my bike is perhaps a half inch too large to fit in the elevator. I sigh and start carrying it down four flights of stairs, not remembering until I’m near the bottom that I’ve got a folding bike that would probably fit fine if folded.
The elevator barely has room for Rachael and her bike. Unfortunately mine is just enough larger so that it doesn’t quite fit.
Ben ParkeI’ve never had the sense to use the folding function of my bike either. Glad it’s not just me that doesn’t think of these things. You could just blame the jet lag! Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Andrea BrownOur hotel in Bangkok had similarly sized elevators, and it never once occurred to us to fold our bikes, ha. But they did fit, jusssssssst barely. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
The test ride goes quickly - a fast dash down the end of the hall in front of the hotel and back is sufficient, just enough to test out the brakes and gears. Really, this tour has started off flawlessly so far as near as we know.
After a very short test ride down the hall in front of our hotel we pronounced both bikes healthy and ready for the road.
After schlepping my bike down three flights of stairs, I remembered it’s a folder. It fits in the elevator fine that way. I’ll keep it folded in our hotel room as a reminder so I don’t forget tomorrow.
Last night and this morning I had low expectations for the day. I didn’t really expect to have enough energy or enthusiasm to do much more than deal with the bikes, but we both feel surprisingly good and decide to explore the town. There’s a lot to see of course, and we just scratch the surface. it’s an excellent walk about, with the mosaic-rich Palatine Palace as the highlight.
On pedestrianized Via Maqueda, walking toward the historical center of the city. It’s not too crowded now, but by later in the day it’s a precarious spot, dense with pedestrians and with bicycles and scooters weaving through unannounced just past your shoulder.
On the Quattro Canti, the historical center of the city. I think every time we’ve passed through it there’s been a different musician or performer drawing a crowd.
The Pretoria Fountain, with the dome of Santa Catarina in the background. I was surprised to learn that the fountain was built in 1544 in Florence, and moved to Palermo in 1574 when the owner fell deeply in debt and had to sell it.
The Palermo Cathedral. We were excited to see the cathedral, Rachael’s top destination for today, but it’s a disappointment when we arrive because it’s unexpected. We’ve forgotten, and mixed it up with mosaic-rich Palatine Palace. We give a cursory look at the cathedral and then keep walking south.
Leaving the palace together, we move on to the Royal Gardens together for awhile until Rachael heads back to the room on her own, planning to explore some shops on the way looking for a replacement for her purse. The strap keeps coming loose and she’s afraid she’s going to lose it at some point if she doesn’t find a replacement.
Surprisingly, ninety minutes later we each get to the room at exactly the same time - I find her hunting through her purse for our one set of keys when I arrive. We compare notes and see that I was more successful - eight shops later she comes home empty handed while I have four new birds to add to the year’s list.
I’m surprised she didn’t snap this one up. It looks like her color scheme.
