Our first port of call (if you don't include Barcelona) on our 10-day Mediterranean Cruise was Palermo, in Sicily. The excursion we selected for the day was Erice (ay-ree-say) and Segesta (say-jest-ah).

I managed to wake up early (again) and took pictures of the sunrise and a few shots around the ship before we pulled into the port of Palermo.

We started off on a bus ride to Segesta, an ancient Greek town replete with an unfinished temple and theater.


We next took a cable car (funiculare-- the Italians pronounce every syllable) up a mountain to Erice, a medieval town which now thrives with tourism. In particular an Italian pastry shop, a medieval church, and scenic views caught our interest before having lunch on the mountainside at a restaurant.

After lunch, we were bussed back to the boat. Given about 45 minutes before the boat left, we immediately trekked into downtown Palermo to find a gelato shop. Therein, I found my first (but not last) foot operated sink, and had to snap a picture. I chose hazelnut and Christine chose pistachio. In the five minute walk back to the ship, we managed to make short work of our cones before they made too big a mess on our hands.

The ship took off shortly after we returned to our room. I snapped a few pictures of Palermo as we departed for Naples, and took pictures of the seagulls that followed our ship.