Palermo, Sicily

What a difference 10 days makes. I've come away with parkrun buddies again.  It's come around very quickly and some very welcome light relief for me, after this last tricky month.
Early bus to Stansted contained an inebriated stag group, with the Groom dressed as Jimmy Saville....in what universe is that ever going to be funny?
In the coffee shop first and waited for the rest of the group to join me. Some members of the bigger group were already there and loving icecream, arancine and aeporol spritzes. Shuttle bus from airport was easy after a smooth flight. Checked into hotel, a lovely room with no view. A glorious day, perfect for an open top bus tour around the city. So much wonderful architecture and buzzy outside atmosphere. We did two separate routes, then got off in the square in the heart of things, to soak up some atmosphere and check out the Quattro Canti a Baroque, octagonal public plaza featuring 4 fountains topped by ornate statues in niches. Then onto the Fontana Pretoria which is a fountain known for its ornate, tiered design & nude statues of mythological figures. Some were a bit saucy,  which made giggle like children. The street back to the square was full of wonderful eateries and cafes and we stopped for cannoli and aeporol Spritz and Hugo spritz, my new favourite drink!
Back at the hotel, pretty shattered for a quick turnaround for dinner with the rest of the group. We walked back from whence we'd come for a lovely meal together and a very strong limoncello spritz! Fell into bed shattered after making an executive decision to book a shared Taxi for 8 of us to Uditore parkrun in the morning. Great tiring day.