Our next stop was Palermo where we would catch the ferry to Tunisia. The ferry left at midday but we had to be at the port five hours before sailing which meant we needed to stay in the city the night before. Park4Night found us a parking facility surrounded by high rise flats, offering electricity hook up and sanitation block for €35 a night. There were ten or more vans parked up, mostly German and Italian.
We were aware that Sicily was home of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia. It so happened that we had just read an account in our daily newspaper of a horse’s severed head being discovered in the town of Altofonte near Palermo. The article said that the bloodied head was left on the seat of a digger belonging to a building contractor in an act of intimidation reminiscent of a scene from The Godfather.
Gulp!
Having settled in a parking bay in the car park we were surprised when the guardian came over and asked us to move our vehicle over by a few inches; Tony complied. But the guardian wasn’t satisfied and said we should move it back a bit. Tony drove the truck forward and began reversing back into our spot with the guardian directing us. Suddenly there was an almighty bang as our rear bike rack hit a crumbly wall. All hell broke loose, the panicking guardian screamed that he had shouted “stop” but apparently we weren’t listening. Tony’s retort was we were perfectly parked until the guardian interfered and it was his poor directions that caused the accident.
In the end we agreed to pay for the damage to avoid any unpleasantness – or the appearance of a horse’s severed head in our cab! The next day we had to move the truck to a new spot to give the wall repairers access. Tony had just finished the move when the wretched guardian came over and requested we shift the truck over a few more inches. Tony angrily refused and told the man to f-off. The little guy rolled his eyes, shrugged and effed-off. He didn’t speak to us again!
