THE TRIP / IL VIAGGIO
C.O.E.S. - Palermo
September 15 - 29, 2005
Coordinator:
Franco Gucciardo
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The Participants thank the Sicilian Region for this great opportunity: return to the "roots" of their ancestry.
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The journey begins in Montreal with 27 participants including Franco and Anthony Gucciardo as the support team, flying out of Trudeau airport on 2 scheduled flights: 19 travellers with KLM and 8 travellers with Air France. Both groups were to meet in Rome and continue the trip to Sicily together.
A summary of the excursion follows.
August 15 The Group meets at Trudeau Airport as scheduled, checks in and departs from Montreal via KLM and Air France (AF) at 18:00 hours.
16 Arrived in Palermo, onto a bus for the ****star
Astoria Palace
hotel where, accompanied by some collaborators, Dottoressa Emanuela La Rocca
was waiting to greet the Group.
17 In the morning, after breakfast at the Hotel, the Group was bussed to a scheduled meeting with city officials at San Giuseppe Jato. The Group visited a small museum and was greeted at City Hall. Lunch with COES invitees was at a local restaurant.
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The next stops were the visit of a near-by winery and the sampling of local products at a near-by store.
Returned to the Hotel in Palermo for supper: the Group from New York was also there and so were several people invited by Coes.
18 Relax breakfast at the Hotel. Visit of the Cattedrale di Palermo with a guided tour requested by Gucciardo and accepted by COES.
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Much of the history of Sicily was summarized in the tour, the guide was very knowledgeable and eloquent and answered many questions from young and old. The Group returned to the Hotel for lunch.
The Group at Mondello
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Supper was late in the evening at a pizzeria in Palermo. The meal stretched past midnight.
19 Breakfast at the Hotel. 
Visit
to the Castle of Carini where a guided tour was organized by COES with Dott.
Isgrò. The Group returned to the Hotel for lunch. Late afternoon leave Palermo for Agrigento; reach Siculiana Marina
to stay
4 overnights at the ***star
Casa per ferie Don Giustino.
20 An early breakfast for an early start at the Market in Siculiana. The Group enjoyed the small-town outdoor market environment and made good purchases by haggling with the vendors. Lunch was at Don Giustino, followed by relax and beach time. In the afternoon, after visiting the Main Church, the Mayor of Siculiana, Dott. Giuseppe Sinaguglia, led the Group to the Chiaramonte Castle for a guided tour.
Then, a walk through the small streets of
the town
(photo: corner of via Marconi and via Ospizio) led the Group to the rendezvous
with the bus and return to the Hotel for Church service, supper and "passeggio"
by the waterfront.
21 Breakfast at Hotel(s). The Group was invited
to meet with officials of the City
Council of Naro. Organized by Dott. Giovanni Tesè, the Group: toured
(guided by the keeper) the Church of San Francesco; was welcomed by Assessore
Del Monaco in the chambers of City Hall; was escorted to the Castle for a
complete tour.
F1 Drivers "want-to-be" went to a near-by go-kart track to prove themselves. It was a fun time at the races! For others, the beach or just meet friends and relatives.
22 After breakfast at the hotels, the part of the Group that was at Siculiana Marina went to the WWF natural reserve of Torre Salsa.
23 Breakfast at hotels, then leave Siculiana for Taormina.
As planned, the Group met Dr. Hamel from COES who guided a visit in the "Valle dei Templi" of Agrigento.
Also, Luigi, arriving in Sicily on his own, joined the Group.
Traveling East, the Canadian Group crossed path with the U.S.A. Group led by
Josephine Maietta. At the Hamiltom Hotel near Racalmuto the 2 groups stopped for lunch.
The next stop
for the Montreal Group was Piazza Armerina
and a visit to the Villa del Casale of Emperor Massimiliano
. The road
coasted Mt Etna and Catania (no stopping though). By 8 p.m. the Group arrived in Letojanni at the
***star
Hotel
delle Palme where supper was waiting.
24 Breakfast at Hotel. Beach time or free time in the morning.
Lunch at Hotel. In the afternoon
visit Taormina.
Supper at Hotel.
25 Breakfast at Hotel. Leave Taormina for Palermo.
First stop Messina at Piazza del Duomo, the Group visited the area around the Duomo, the waterfront. At 12:00 noon the Clock Tower was the sight to see and hear.
The trip to Palermo continued,
stopping at Cefalù
visiting landmarks.
26 COES organized a visit at the Municipal offices of Palermo and at the Provincial building, Palazzo Comitini.
27 Beach day for the young - they left earlier not
before having an official COES escort requested by Gucciardo. The visit to Monreale
for the adults got on the way much later in the afternoon.
A farewell supper was organized by COES in Bagheria.
28 Early in the morning the Group (except 5 who remained in Sicily) left Palermo by Ferry Boat for Napoli and then by bus to Fiuggi.
After the 6:30 a.m. breakfast, the Group was
dropped off at the Ferry.
Arriving in Naples
after a 9-hour trip, a bus met the Group to take them to the
hotel in Fiuggi.
Arriving around 10 p.m. at the ***star Il Boschetto Hotel, supper was served - it was an excellent meal - or was the Group very hungry? Later the rooms were allocated.
Preparations continued for the next segment of the return trip - Fiuggi - Fiumicino in the early morning.
29 A 5:30 a.m. wake up call and the
KLM part of the Group left Fiuggi
by bus for Rome airport and flight back to Montreal. The others, the Air
France group, had a 15:40 departure. They left by taxi from Fiuggi to Fiumicino.
In retrospect, the trip back to Montreal started at 7 a.m. on the 28th and lasted some 36 hours!
After the trip: 
