Arrivederci Palermo

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Today we leave Palermo for the next stop on our Sicilian journey. Palermo is a somewhat gritty city, loud, chaotic, crumbling in places, a feast for the senses, full of color, with all of the tourist-focused bling that screams, "you have to take me home with you!" 
For the most part, I loved it. Paul and I are city people so we enjoy the energy of people just going about their daily lives.
We visited Palermo during  Settimana Santa (Holy Week) so we saw some of the processions leading up to Easter. 

On Sunday morning , the city was quiet except for the sound of the church bells ringing. 
Generally though, traffic, both motorized and pedestrian, is heavy in the city.  We expected to see a lot of motorcycles but one thing that surprised us was people riding these scooters in traffic without helmets. 
Our Italian teacher lives near Cefalù and rides her scooter every workday to the train, takes it onboard with her, then rides it to the school. It's an economical means of transportation, if not the safest.

Another thing that surprised us was the number of people smoking cigarettes, men and women. We just aren't used to it from our time in Mexico, Costa Rica, and even back in the U.S. 

We saw a lot of magnificent buildings in Palermo, including the two opera houses, the Teatro Massimo which I wrote about previously, and the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi which is home to the city's symphony orchestra.
The Cathedral of Palermo is spectacular from the outside, made even more majestic by the statue of Saint Rosalía, the city's patron saint, at its side. 
Perhaps the most magnificent building was the Palatine Chapel at the Palazzo dei Normanni and its intricate mosaics. 
We also went on a hop on hop off city tour which allowed us to see some parts of the city beyond where we could walk. The port of Palermo was especially impressive. 

Of course, one of our favorite activities was eating! These were some of our best bites and sips in Palermo:
Morning cappuccino for me and hot chocolate so thick you almost had to eat it with a spoon for Paul (not in this photo), plus a cornetto filled with cream to share.

Paul's favorite meal was this Pizza Diavola, with spicy salami, olives, onions, cheese, and tomato sauce. 
One of my favorite meals was this Spaghetti alle Vongole (with clams).
Coincidentally, they were at the same restaurant which was also our most expensive meal, 45 euros, which also included one glass of wine for me, and a salad and one cannolo which we shared. The host treated us to some limoncello to finish our meal.

Other noteworthy bites and sips:
As good as they look sandwiches
Chocolate gelato
Pistachio gelato 
A simple but perfect cannolo
Cassata

And what better way to finish my Palermo post than a few photos that show the city's quirky character:

Comments

ToniMahj said…
Love traveling with you through your blog💗
April 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
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