Today we took our hired car to Trapani.

(Our normal car is not allowed outside Palermo - more about her later i'm sure...she's a REAL charactor!)

We were on a mission to pick up things you just cant buy in Palermo and along the way we did a bit of exploring.

WOW what a contrast!!!!!

A little research is needed because the inevitable question swung into our minds...Why oh why can Trapani be so clean and so well looked after when Palermo is literally one big rubbish heap with buildings falling apart etc

A few solutions we came up with were:

a) The people in Trapani respect their town more and so look after it more themselves... (The Palermatin penchant for throwing anything they dont need anymore into the streets has resulted in a walk through Palermo resembling a wade through a rubbish dumb...no kidding...They eat a pastry that came in a wrapper...vooooops the wrapper is floating in the breeze...old scooter that needs scrapping...well rust away right where you are... Bins overflow to the point that 3 lane roads are reduced to 2...and thats just the rubbish that made it to the bins...)

b) Palermo being the capitol etc has attracted more people and the city just cant cope

c) The buildings are older in Palermo and so more difficult / expensive to repair (The style does seem similar. Trapani buildings just seem to have plastered fronts and less crumbling...)

d) The Palermatins want to 'preserve' the buildings in the EXACT style in which they were built

e) Dare I say it: the mafia has gone into the construction industry in a BIG way.... and has a well felt presence in Palermo...

um ok i'll do research but in the mean time, you decide