Above: Palermo Cathedral.
Laundry day
After a really bad night sleep (4 hours) of going to the loo with some diarrhoea, I thought it would be good to take another loperamide capsule (in addition to the one through the night). I was less bloated after 6 days but confidence was down, not knowing when I might need to go to the loo again.
We left the B&B at 0930 and found a laundry at 1015. There was a backlog of customers so the lady offered to do it for us for a small premium. We had a drive, drink and another drive to kill the hour but find that our clothes hadn’t made it into the dryer yet. Many places do have a mismatch in capacity between the washer and dryer.
We killed 20 mins in the car before getting our laundry. A few pieces weren’t fully dried so we laid them out to dry out during the 2h journey to Catania airport. First stop was a small car collection or museum outside Palermo but there was no one home; the dogs were roaming the premises and the doors were open but the gate was locked. Next was lunch at Autogrill for lunch.
Flying to Berlin
We arrived at the airport at 1445 for an 1750 Ryanair departure. There was the usual delay for the car return and bagdrop but security was quick. The lounge available to us was “closed” (said the lady staffing it) when we went. That meant about an hour waiting in the warm public area, paying for our own water.
Our Ryanair flight departed on time for Berlin from a remote gate. Leaving Sicily I thought about how Sicilians were a little like Asians in less-developed countries:
- The driving was chaotic and aggressive. Despite their apparent impression, other drivers will tolerate you doing the same. Inconsiderate but Tolerant is how I described some cultures and one could say the same here.
- There was a lot of litter especially on motorways.
- The grass on the side of the motorways were bad too.
- Men roll up their shirts or singlets to expose their tummies in hot weather.
We arrived at Berlin’s Schonefeld airport at 2030 at a walk-in stand. The train to the city was 6 minutes walk from the terminal. The monitors showing the platform and time were at the ticket hall (some frozen on to the 0400 screen) and none were found on the platform. As a result, we hopped on the wrong train going in the wrong direction but were saved by a vigilant conductor after about two stations.
What would have been a 35 minute train ride to our hotel’s station took about 40 minutes longer with the extra ride and waiting for the correct train. Considering the state of my tummy this morning, I should have been glad this was the only hiccup in our travels.
We arrived at the Ibis opposite Berlin’s Central Station around 1045 ready for a sleep. I had been surprised how my tummy held up for the whole day after such a bad night.
Edit: Today, terrorists drove a vehicle into Las Ramblas and killed several people. This is a little more than a week after my time in Barcelona and Las Ramblas. 🙁