Jacky walked into the city and eventually found the tourist office (well it was pretty basic - in a kiosk!) having been given a map by a very helpful police lady who spoke good English. Various brochures and information sheets were obtained as well as bus timetables. As the weather was deteriorating rapidly we decided not to leave the boat for any length of time - a Westerly gale was expected - and by the time Jacky got back to the boat with the information it was howling. Just as well Rob had stayed on board as he had been fending off the transom from the wall and with the help of two guys eventually managed to get the boat pulled off the quay a bit more. It was a pretty uncomfortable few hours but by 1900 thankfully it was calm again.

Wednesday saw us up early to catch the tour bus which took us around all the major sights and we were able to get on and off at will. We decided to stay on for the whole hour and just see the city; we then changed onto the tour 2 bus and saw some more areas but did disembark from this to walk through one of the open market areas before reaching the Cathedral which we spent an hour looking round. It was pretty impressive not so much the architecture but its history. The crypt and treasury had some marvellous old tombs and artefacts to see. We felt this city was much more likeable than Catania with some lovely open piazza and parks beautifully green at this time of year.

Today was spent cleaning the boat, topping up with water and getting a large shop done ready for visitors arriving tomorrow. We are planning to visit the Palazzo Reale and the Palatine Chapel tomorrow but have to go early as it is a holiday in the city and the facility closes at 1300. We didn't go to see this before as the local regional government meet in the Royal apartments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week so the they are closed to the public!