Today we explored Palermo on our own. It's been very hot and today was no exception. However, Palermo is a decent size city (approx 700,000) so it was a good chance to get out and stretch our legs in the shade of the city buildings. The architecture here is lovely with beautiful theaters, churches and government buildings around every corner.
Palermo Theater (Mary Curry)
Markets also dominate Old Town and we had a chance to pick up some local handicrafts and spices.
Spices at Sicilian Market (Mary Curry)
Mom is a huge fan of carriage rides so we also decided to catch a carriage back to the ship. Our enthusiastic driver insisted that he show us the sites en-route and we'd already negotiated the cost for the ride so we took him up on his offer.
Carriage ride in Palermo (Mary Curry)
Palermo's port is probably the largest in Sicily and the only one we've visited that the large cruise ships can access. Next to us was a massive ship holding 3,500 people that looked completely overwhelming. I can't imagine traveling with so many! Walking past, I was grateful to be returning to our cozy vessel for lunch out on the deck.
After lunch, we visited the Marionette Museum, home to over 4,000 marionettes! They put on a puppet show for our group and had set out 'refreshments' which ended up being a 20 foot buffet spread with all kinds of traditional Sicilian dishes, wine and a strong drink.
Marionette Museum Palermo (Mary Curry)Marionette Museum Palermo (Mary Curry)
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.