Our first overseas trip since COVID struck and we’re so excited! We’ve decided to spend a full 7 weeks in Italy and Tèa has joined us, so I’m sure she’ll be bringing a new perspective to our experience of the country.
Our first port of call is Sicily, since it’s the end of June and we figured it could only get hotter from here. We decided to start with the capital, Palermo, and wanted to explore as much as we could of the city, focusing most of our attention of the historic centre. Jet lag and heat were always going to be our enemies – and in fact, they turned out to be just that especially towards the end of our stay – but we still managed to taste and feel something of the character of the city in the two and half days that we had.
We were very lucky with our apartment as it faced directly onto the Cathedral of Palermo in a grand but crumbling old palazzo belonging to the now 90 year-old Prince Gaetano Starrabba, who as it turns out was a Formula One driver earlier in life, and friend of the last king of Italy, Umberto.
Without doubt the best feature of the apartment is the view to the Cathedral which is easily is the most beautiful building in town. We took full advantage of the view enjoying dinner by the balcony on a couple of nights.
After arriving around midday on our first day, we decided on a walk down the main street towards the Quattro Canti. This is an intersection at which four pedestrianised streets meet and it’s grandly decorated with sculptural facades. It’s very difficult to pick up in a single photo, but this is one of the quarters that surrounds the central intersection.
The whole of Palermo seems to be walking these four streets throughout day and night converging in one massive melee at the intersection, made even more hectic by cyclists shooting by on their electric scooters (hair-raising!) and horses and carts ferrying tourists around the town. Plus the odd bride or too.
There were plenty of quiet lanes to wander as well.
At night, the streets get even narrower as the cafe owners pull out their tables and a horde descends to enjoy their warm summer evenings feasting on Sicilian dishes and delectable sweets, pastries, ices and ice creams. Yum!
After a quick pasta dinner, we visited the Teatro Massimo – Italy’s grandest Opera House and the location of a famous assassination scene in Godfather III.
We couldn’t help shooting some selfies on the famous steps.
And Tea-Anna took a nice one of the old couple:
We had read that the interior was not to be missed so we had decided to buy some tickets to that night’s performance – in fact, the only performance that was happening throughout our stay.
It happened to be a youth orchestra, which turned out to be an entertaining experience, though it became evident that their repertoire was pretty limited as the endless, repeated encores finished off what could have been a much shorter programme! Still, we got to see the very impressive opera house, which was sumptuous and grand (with 5 levels!). A nightime performance is a great way to really experience the space.
It would have been nice to also attend a performance of Palermo’s puppet theatre whilst we were visiting the city. This is located in a small street just off the opera house – but sadly, its only open on Saturdays and Sundays.
The next day, we visited some of Palermo’s churches. the first and most humble was La Martorana – an exquisite little medieval church near the Quattro Canti, which was originally planned as a mosque. It was the most unadorned of the churches that we would visit throughout our stay, but quite beautiful and intimate.
The little red domes on its roof and palm trees around its border evoke more Islamic influences than Christian ones. Joyous!
Close by we were to discover another hidden little treasure – I Segreti del Chiostro. Through a door adjacent to the Church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria and up two unassuming flights of stairs, we found ourselves in a sweet little cloister ringed by orange trees and dominated by a pretty fountain.
At the end of the corridor, was a large shop from which you could buy Sicilian desserts and pastries created by the nuns of Palermo’s 21 closed convents. It was like Aladdin’s cave! We bought some to take home plus more to eat in the pretty little garden outside. We had fun watching the pigeons courting around the fountain whilst we hoed into our sweets.
Next on the agenda was a visit to the Palermo cathedral. I have to admit that it’s not that interesting on the inside. But its exterior is glorious! It’s a hotch potch of different architectural styles, ranging from Arab to Norman to Cataln Gothic. But, somehow this medley of mad influences comes together to create something truly inspired.
It’s like something from a fractured fairytale. Beautiful and bizarre. We were a little too early for the rooftop visit, but managed to return in the late afternoon. It was a great spot to get a bird’s eye view of the whole city (wheezing and sputtering, in my case, after the steep spiral staircase!).
Unfortunately, the guide hurried us along the rooftop and we didn’t get a long time to linger. Shame! The Cathedral continued to give over the course of our stay with its ringing of the Ave Maria morning and night – a lovely sound to wake up to!
I mentioned that the Cathedral’s interior was a disappointment, but this was more than made up for at our next sight – the Cappella Palatina in the Palazzo Normanno. The Palace Apartments were closed on the day we visited, so we focused our attention on the Chapel which was breathtaking and one of the most beautiful church interiors we’ve ever visited. It’s said to be the best example of the Arab-Norman- Byzantine style of 12th century Sicily.
The upper walls glitter with intricate gold and coloured glass mosaics depicting religious scenes, the floors and lower walls are covered in precise geometric marble inlays, the ceiling is a profusion of “stalactites” – of the type you might see in the Allhambra – but unusually made of wood, and even more strange in the context of a christian church.
The Cappella Palatina was breathtaking but there was more to come. Its bigger brother was next on our itinerary though we had to take a short bus ride to Monreale, just outside of Palermo. Having been built shortly after the Cappella, the Cathedral’s interior decoration is very similar to that of the Cappella but on a much grander scale. It’s a celebration of excess.
The stonework beggars belief. I mean how can you carve and then inlay stonework like this without it shattering? These were truly master craftsmen.
With the full entry ticket, we also visited the lovely cloister, took a walk along the Cathedral rooftop and stopped at the various small museum exhibits available along the way.
Teaster was enlightening us on the finer points of Norman architecture, whilst sporting the latest in demure shorts-hiding fashion.
A morning was enough, but we lingered a little longer to have an antipasto style lunch, and enjoyed a cool granita in the sizzling summer heat while we waited for the return bus back to Palermo.
A last little gem of a Church that we visited was the Oratorio di Santa Cita. It’s a crazy exercise in Baroque excess in white plaster – the back wall depicts a famous battle and the sides incorporate all manner of putti being mischievous and marvellous.
A final thing not to be missed in Palermo is a visit to one of the markets – of which there are a few! Good for a wander..
And finally we had to sample a Palermo Market specialty (no, not the grilled spleen!). Foccaccia with crushed tomato, garlic and some olive fried in copiuous oil and then sliced into bite size pieces. Yum!
Those are pretty much the highlights of our Palermo stay. Its a frantic place, loud and dirty, friendly and gruff. It truly is like a city you might find in a story from the Arabian nights.
