07.05.23 Palermo (Sicily)

At 4:00 am, the important message rings out from the on-board speakers that we will reach Palermo in an hour and that breakfast can now be enjoyed one floor below us. We ignore the message and continue sleeping. Only at 5:00 am, when the ferry enters the port, do we raise our tired heads and put on our armor. We freshen up, pack our things, and go down to the 7th floor where we wait in the lounge for our parking deck to be called. We meet a young Frenchman with whom we exchange travel experiences and plans for the next motorcycle tours. Then it's our turn - 7 floors down to the G1 loading deck, where we untie our strapped motorcycle. We quickly stow our overnight luggage and roll out into the still dark Palermo. We both suffer from a significant lack of caffeine, which we can remedy at 6:10 am in the old town with an excellent cappuccino. Long live the Ariston Bar, which is already open so early. We leave Palermo on the west tangent and climb Mount Pelligrino, where we can enjoy a great view of Palermo below us. There is still enough time for a short visit to the Monreale Cathedral. Marita receives a rose from a nice Italian man shortly after 7:00 am - what a nice welcome to Sicily. We drive along the north coast and, thanks to a mistake by our stupid Garmin, end up in a dead end on the lonely sandy beach of Trapetto around 8:00 am. We don't hesitate for long and use this beautiful spot on earth for a "colazione tedesco" - in English: breakfast with bread, sausage, and cheese. But it just sounds nicer in Italian. Then we continue quickly towards Castellammare, where we have negotiated an early check-in at 10:00 am. I am always happy to arrive 10 minutes earlier at such appointments to avoid any stress. But that is not enough today, because we can't find the accommodation. The navigation system finds the street, but can't do anything with the house number 315. Eventually, I discover in an email that the host has also provided coordinates, which lead us to the destination with a 15-minute delay. And once again, we have acquired a dream accommodation. We do our shopping in Castellammare and prepare a delicious dish with fresh artichokes in the evening. We have lost a significant amount of sleep on the ferry, which we want to make up for in our new bedroom. The 3 mosquitoes that were waiting for us are quickly exterminated - and finally it is quiet.