Coming into Palermo, Italy, you could make out the sicilian mountains before you could make out the actual city. The city rose up the side of the mountain at a gentle slope. As we made our way into the harbour, the many cruise ships seemed almost mountainous themselves.

The first day was spent exploring the city. We went to a few restaurants that had authentic Italian pizza and gelato.

For our port program we went to a small town just outside of the city to go on a bicycle ride up Mount Pellegrino. The view from the side was amazing. You could see the whole city and the countryside after it. The water was really blue and clear. After a long trip up the side we stopped at a little church on the top named Santa Rosalia. It was built into the side of the mountain and it had a grotto with the only statue of Santa Rosalia that ever existed. We ate paninis for lunch at the top and then went down the other side. We didn't have to stop and rest because it was downhill the whole way.

After the bike ride, we all separated in small groups. In my group, after we got off of the bus on our way back we realized, too late, that Paul was sleeping on the bus and nobody saw him get off. We ran after the bus and caught him just a minute later. Good thing the bus depot was only a block away! The next morning everyone was sore from all of the biking but it was really worth it. At night we went to view the "Promenade" up one of the main streets to watch all of the people and eat gelato.

Two of the watches planned overnight trips to other parts of Sicily. One of them went to Syracuse and the other went to Taormina. A third watch went to Agrigento on a day trip. The other watches had dinners in Palermo. My watch went to a classy restaurant and had typical Italian meals complete with pasta, steak and a lot of cheese.

Sicilian culture is very different from North American culture. Despite the hot temperature the locals always wore pants and were never seen in shorts. The streets were dirty and full of garbage but the people and the culture were so rich and inviting that you almost didn't notice the mess.

We spent the last day running around trying to stock up on groceries and food for the 12 day sail. It was the first time we would be on a sail longer than a week and we were wondering what to expect. It turns out that it was one of the best sails we have had yet.

We were sad to only be able to spend a few days in Palermo, but we had to set out for a new port... one that was outside of Europe this time, and completely different. We all wanted to stay longer, but the though of camels awaiting us in the Moroccan desert was too much to keep us staying longer.