Robert Johnson's posts

A chorus of bells jingling adjacent to the main path through Agrigento's Valley of the Temples.

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Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, and in Agrigento Mark and I did little to banish that stereotype.

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I leave Mark in our room and enjoy a morning pre-breakfast swim in a pool with a view of a Greek temple. Could life be better?

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I recap our adventure so far, from the balcony of our room at the Villa San Marco, and Mark pretends that it isn't morning yet.

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We arrive in Palermo spot on time, and promptly leave again.

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Having been shunted aboard the ship on our sleeper train from Milan to Palermo I climb up on deck to take in the view of the Messina Straits.

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The astute amongst my listeners may have noted a potential flaw in my plans to travel from London to Agrigento all the way by train - namely the three miles of water separating Sicily from mainland Italy, uncrossed by bridge or tunnel. Fear not however, your intrepid adventurers were not thwarted by this apparently insurmountable obstacle, owing to the existence of one of Europe's last surviving operational train ferry connections. On leaving the final mainline station our sleeper train was shunted back and forth until it had been split into three pieces and stabled in the vehicle deck of a ferry which then proceeded to cross the straits of Messina.

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Breakfast is finally offered and Mark turns out not to be. Dead after all.

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I awake from an excellent sleep and enjoy the sea views from my private window.

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Some way past Pisa I settle into my berth and enjoy the rhythmical sounds of our sleeper train speeding through the night.

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