On the way

We left Albury this morning to drive to Melbourne. The countryside really is a picture at the moment - emerald green with lush Spring growth after the rain we have had; and interspersed with bright yellow canola crops. Everything looks so fresh!

We had a coffee with Alison before going out to the airport. We all have colds, alas!

The departure from Melbourne was ahead (!) of time. Etihad seems very efficient. Lovely flight over the centre of Australia, over the McDonnell Ranges like a painting by Robert Juniper (the famous WA landscape artist); then past Ayres Rock. Four hours out of Melbourne we passed NW of Port Hedland and popped out into the Indian Ocean enroute to Abu Dhabi via Jakarta & Colombo.

We arrived into our transit port of Abu Dhabi into 35 deg C at 10:30 at night! But we only experienced this temperature for a short time between the plane and the terminal which was well air-conditioned.





5 or so hours later ....

We have arrived into airport at Rome - greeted by a sunrise as we came in. Now a long wait for our flight to Palermo in Sicily but we have had our first cappuccini - 2 for €3.20 !!! And very nice - molto bene!

Not so good is news from Bill that there is a train strike today - un scopiero - and that apparently Autumn is a common time for these to occur. Arrgh. We won't be affected today although there could be delays when we get into Palermo because there is usually an option of bus and train so the bus could be busy! But we do have a train booked to return from Sicily to Rome in 2 weeks so THAT could be interesting!

The wait became protracted as departure gates got changed from B12 then B14 then B16. B14 was not adjacent to B12 as you may think & it required a scurry back through the terminal and then off along a side corridor and downstairs to locate it. And in fact B16 which WAS near B14 stated the plane was going to Naples for quite some time until it was updated so we had some anxious moments wondering which gate was in fact the right one. 

I was bemused as we waited to board, to note that our plane was named after Leonardo Sciascia, a famous Italian writer - one of the first to write a novel about the mafia, his most famous book being "The Day of the Owl" (Il giorno della civetta) - and who I have been reading about in Peter Robb's engaging and immensely dense book about the mafia "Midnight in Sicily". A GREAT read.

And an hour later we arrive into Palermo - and 28 deg C.