I began to find a bit of the messy, loud, old city on my morning walk up to the beautiful Capodimonte Museum, up the hill from old town. The traffic and scooters are crazy, and I let the crowd start first in crossing the streets here. I don’t want to be the first one out there. Often scooters run the red and dodge the pedestrians. I’ve unwillingly played that game already. This one street was a very lived in neighborhood leading up to the park where the museum is. I was expecting big crowds, but there were none. I had the museum to myself for the first hour. There were so many religious scenes that were basically the same ideas painted over and over. So many naked babies and white Jesus being taken off the cross. Also many quirky stuff. I’m sorry I didn’t get any shots of the park. It was lovely, with paths radiating out through mature forests. Still fighting jet lag a bit, but made it through a big day. I managed to get lost, even with navigation, but it was a nice kind
Goodbye Agrigento. I left the apartment at 10:00. My bus, number 4208 didn’t leave until 11:20 and I had ample time to immerse myself in book two of the Godfather trilogy. Spent some of that time reading in a park and then went to the bus station to read more. One would assume that if you bought a ticket the day before, at the bus station, that the bus would leave from the bus station. I saw bus 4208 drive into town 20 minutes before departure time. Thought nothing of it. Maybe they are getting gas. I saw the bus leave town at 11:23. Fuck! In fact I said “fuck” and a well dressed young Italian man looked at me askance. One would also assume that a ticket seller would alert an obvious dumb ass stupid tourist, that the bus I just bought a ticket for leaves from another location. So, I had to laugh this one off. Days and days on a trail where I was contemplating expectations, assumptions and anticipation all possibly leading to disappointment; here I was. I went over to the
What have I learned on this trip? Maybe I’m not the totally hot shit hiker that I used to be. I really didn’t do all of the Camino, and I am not into suffering for a badge of completion. And, I did most of the trail. Hiked over 90 miles, just in those 11 days. I saw amazing landscapes that most visitors to Sicily wouldn’t see. There are a lot of super nice people, wherever you go, maybe especially in Sicily where the hospitality and friendliness and level of helpfulness permeates the culture. Be aware of how you process the world around you. Expectations, anticipations and assumptions can cloud your awareness. They can bring you disappointments and dissatisfaction. And you can choose to turn that stuff around to appreciation and gratitude. Or by going into the world with an open attitude or positive intentions, you can maybe skip that outcome. I learned so many layers of eras and civilizations have passed through here. It’s beyond my comprehension in some ways. The ocean is so
Buon Viaggio!
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