Continued from: Bus to Agrigento...
Piazza Armerina and Villa Romana del Casale…
The following morning, I thanked Sandra, and her helper Rina, for their wonderful hospitality and walked down the stairs closing the wooden door behind me.
While waiting in line at the small bus station, I noticed a man standing behind me. He was lugging an enormous brown rolling bag that looked like its zipper was about to burst from being overstuffed.
With ticket in hand, I walked around the big parking lot since I’d been told that the bus didn’t have it’s own platform but would be stopping at the far end of the pavement. The man with the enormous bag kept following me around so I went back to where others were waiting at the benches by the platforms. The man followed me to the benches too. A few minutes before departure, the bus arrived and I loaded my bag onto the hold. I soon realized that this man whom I thought was following me around was loading his huge bag onto the hold and he’d just been waiting for the same bus!
Lesson learned… It’s good to be aware of your surroundings but not everyone who happens to be walking in the same direction is following you.
The (Sais Transporti) bus departed at 10:00 and arrived to Caltanissetta at 11:25.
The scenery on the journey was very beautiful; verdant meadows, vineyards and olive trees perfectly planted in straight rows, and an abundance of colorful wildflowers everywhere.
I was supposed to take the Astra Autolinee Bus to Piazza Armerina at 12:15 but was informed by the bus driver that I’d have to wait for the 14:30 bus due to Giro d’Italia (street closures)
I called Filippo, the B&B owner, who had offered to pick me up at the bus stop, to let him know that I’d be arriving at 15:30 instead of 13:30.
I walked over to a small snack shack next to the bus parking lot where some of the bus drivers were enjoying a panino, so I decided this would be a good place to eat too.
My bus came by at 14:15 and after placing my bag in the hold I waited to make sure someone would close the hold but the driver assured me that he would take care of shutting it. The bus departed promptly at 14:30.
When the bus arrived to Piazza Armerina, Filippo called me to tell me that he was waiting for me at the bus stop.
When we arrived to B&B Dimora del Conte, he helped me with my luggage and introduced me to his wife, Francesca. My room was very large, the largest room I’ve had on any of my travels. It had a nice comfortable king size bed, a large sofa in the wide hallway leading to a small balcony. As I stood on the balcony admiring the view of this ancient city, I took a deep breath and walked down to the small reception lobby to talk with Filippo and Francesca about Zoe.
.
They remembered Zoe as a special woman with a kind heart.
Francesca and I hugged each other and she whispered, “It’s part of life…”
During our conversation, the sun ceased to shine and the dark cloudy sky began to weep. It was as though the sky was also mourning our dear friend, Zoe.
The rain turned into a loud thunderstorm and within seconds, the narrow cobblestone street facing the B&B became a fast flowing river!
The heavy rain continued for about 30-40 minutes and the 3 of us stood in the small reception mesmerized by the river that had been created.
Continued...