Going to Palermo

We are leaving the relative tranquility of Trapani for what we are told is the hustle and bustle of Palermo. Palermo is the Capitol of Sicily and has been known for being very busy, crazy drivers, crime, and probably exaggerated mafioso. We will find out for ourselves today.

From the Bus

Michele wanted us to knock on his door for a proper good bye. We have enjoyed talking with him on many subjects. He is very educated and well read and we now have the name of a Paul Theroux book that he says we must read. He is a very nice young man and we wish him success and happiness in his life. We walk around the corner to the bus stop and the travel agency that sells tickets. They are not the friendliest of people there but I get our tickets with no problems. We only have about a 15 mute wait for the bus. It arrives, we stow our luggage underneath, and board for our no worries, non stop bus to Palermo. Well, maybe a few stops which are of no concern to us. It is touted as a two hour ride and it takes us about 25 minutes to go through the streets of Trapani before we hit the autostrada. We get a nice view up the hill to Erice and some nice coastline and Sicilian hills along the way. It is a very scenic ride and we hit the outskirts of Palermo with about 45 minutes to go. That is when we find out why it is a two hour trip. The traffic here is pretty bad along the route we take. We just focus on absorbing the outer edge of the city and then the main part. We pass quite a few old buildings and beautiful gardens which kind of surprises us. Then we go along the port and harbor front area before turning in toward the center of town and eventually pulling in to the main bus station.
We grab our packs, find a quiet spot and I put my day pack inside the big pack. We never put the day pack into the main pack when we stow them on the buses. The day pack contains our passports, money, licenses, and other important items, so we keep it with us all the time on our travel days. We find the uscita or exit out of the bus terminal and into the main train station. Then out through the train station onto the street and play the game of find the road to our hotel. My directions are slightly different then what the hotel sent us and we decide to follow mine since it looks shorter and I think the other may be for getting there by car. We act as human froggers and maneuver across the large traffic circle finding the first street on the map. From there it is quite easy as the street names are displayed on the building corners.

Beer in the Lounge

We make it to Harmony Hotel BNB in about 15 minutes and ring the bell. Giuseppe welcomes us inside with a great big smile that melts away the language barrier. His English is very limited but he gets all the important points across. He invites us into the lounge and offers us a beer or soda, or coffee. He then explains the hours of the lounge, breakfast, and shows us a big map on the wall with the location of all the sights. You push a button next to a sight and it lights up on the map. It is a very cool idea with the BNB location lit up with a green light. It corresponds to the paper map he gives us. He explains that the lounge is open from 0730 until 1400, then 1400 to 1600 is siesta time and then it is open from 1600 to 2100. As he puts it, you can have wine, cappuccino, soda, liqueur, water all free, all inclusive. Then he tells us that for the notte, the mini bar in the room is stocked and also included. This place may be dangerous. He also tells us that the room will be ready in about twenty minutes and gives us another beer while we are waiting. I find it funny that the beer he has is Becks and not an Italian beer, not that we are complaining.
We relax until the room is ready and then he jokes with us as our packs are no longer in the lobby, maybe stolen. The room is nice and clean and almost perfect as he has to go get a bath mat for the floor. That taken care of it is now perfect. Giuseppe leaves us and we get our things in order so we can go out and sightsee a little. It is only 1330 when we head out the door.

More Street Food

As we are walking toward the main street of Vittorio Emmanuel, we see a place selling some arrancini and other street food so we go in. I immediately notice that they are selling Meuse sandwiches and even more immediately avoid them. They are the local Palermo specialty which is spleen sliced and cooked in a broth like roast beef and served on a bun. I have tried a lot of different things but spleen will not be one of them. We instead get a panino which looks like two pizza slices stuffed with ingredients and an arrancini. As we bite into our pizza sandwich, we realize it has sardines in it. We are not huge sardine fans but it is still pretty tasty.
Having satisfied our hunger, we walk out and see that the Church of St Francis across the street is open so we take a look inside. They are setting up for a wedding and we get to look around in the meantime. Then we head out to the Main Street and towards our destination of the Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel. The Normans landed here in 1060 and were able to take control of Sicily from the Arabs. This leads to an interesting mix of Norman-Arabic architecture throughout the city. As we walk toward the palace, we pass the Quanttro Canti, an intersection dating back to the 1600s when the city was divided into four quarters. Each corner is decorated with patron saints of the seasons and of Spanish kings. Just another conqueror adding their touch.

First look at the Cathedral

Soon thereafter we pass the main cathedral and it’s interesting exterior. We will stop here on the way back. We go by some nice gardens and then arrive at the Norman Palace. They use it today for the Sicilian Parliament and we seemed to have approached it on the wrong side. We walk around a long street getting a different perspective of the building and find the entrance. Today we are only allowed to visit the Palatine Chapel and not the palace.
We take advantage of the free rest rooms and then buy our tickets to go in.

In Palatine Chapel

The Palatine Chapel was founded in 1132 by King Roger II and has two side aisles and three apses. The walls are decorated with Biblical scenes. The image of Christ Pantocrater surrounded by angels covers the cupola. Christ blessing the faithful dominates the middle apse and there is also a unique wooden ceiling, which is a masterpiece of Muslim art. What really makes it all stand out is that the wall decorations are all mosaics. It is truly beautiful and unique with the Arab influence in the arches and the ceiling combined with the Christian mosaic scenes. As we leave the chapel, there is an exhibit that is included in the ticket. It is scenes from the crucifixion of Christ by some artist named Botero. We go in to check it out and it is very strange and seems slightly irreverent. Jesus is a very heavy set fellow and painted in almost a comic book style.

Hulk Jesus

I have included two examples so you can judge for yourselves, one of which I call Hulk Jesus. We are not sure what to think of the exhibit.
We move on and return a different way to the cathedral. We go through one of the old gates, called Porta Nuova, into town. The Arabic influence is viable her in the form of the turban wearing sultan looking statues on each side of the gate. We arrive at the cathedral with its varied and interesting architecture. The cathedral was built in 1179-1185 over the site of an early Christian basilica which later was a mosque. It was altered many times over the years. The inside was changed in the 18th century and lost most of its ancient historical appeal. The imperial tombs are located here in a chapel on the right side and includes the tomb of Roger II, the first king of Sicily ( crowned in 1130), who died in 1154.

Santa Rosalia

The remains of Santa Rosalia is in another chapel which has a beautiful silver altarpiece. She is the patron saint of Palermo. On one part of the church floor a line connects different tiles which depicts all the signs of the zodiac. I am not sure the significance of this or when it was added but it is different.
On the exterior, the cupolas with majolica tile, were added in the late 1700’s. The towers and their gothic windows were added to the 12th century Norman clock tower in the 14th and 15th century. We also find a passage from the Koran inscribed on a column of one of the porticos. The front Portico is from 1430. All this leads to a unique and strange mix of a building which includes Greek, Roman, Norman, Arabic, and Islamic influences.
We are now happy with the amount of sightseeing we accomplished today and head back towards our stocked mini bar. Along the way we look at a couple of restaurants and decide to try one that is a short walk from the hotel. Only other decision to make is when to go down for happy hour. It is a tough life.
We relax in the room for an hour or so and head downstairs around 1630. Local white wine is on the agenda for today and it is very good. Giuseppe tells us it has no preservatives or sulfates and is natural and organic. It tastes very good and he does not stop filling our glasses for three hours before we say uncle and decide to go eat. Le Delizie di Cagliostro is pretty full when we arrive and we are lucky to get the last table available. The menu looks good and we order mussels as an antipasto, a pasta that has mushrooms and a walnut sauce, and a calzone with spicy ham and arugula. For the first time since leaving the Scandinavian lands of overpriced alcohol, we do not order wine or beer with our meal. Our extended happy hour has us both feeling pretty good so we break down and order water. For those who have not been to Italy, they make a fortune selling bottled water in the restaurants. They won’t give you tap water and somewhere along the line, the buying of water started and is just excepted by the local population. Most people get water and wine with us being the exception of usually just getting wine and no water.
We start in with the mussels and they are very good. Then the pasta comes and it is incredible.

Mushroom and Walnut Sauce

Very unique and flavorful, creamy and delicious, leaving you wanting more when you are finished. Then the calzone comes and it is about two feet long with fresh arugula on the side. Last trip to Italy, I fell in love with arugula and its peppery flavor. It is hard to come by in the U.S., especially out in the west, although once in a while I have found it. At any rate we finish up the whole calzone and think we will just return here tomorrow as we were extremely pleased with everything. We stop at the corner for a gelato making for a perfect ending for our day. Our initial impression of Palermo is surprising as we were expecting a much more high paced, busy place similar to Naples. It is a city and maybe compared to the other towns here, more hectic, but we really enjoyed its ambience and exploring it today. We will see what tomorrow brings us.
Expenses
Bus From Trapani to Palermo 17.2E
Focaccia and Arrancini at Foccacieria di San Francesco 5.5E
Palatine Chapel 20E
Dinner at Le Delizie di Cagliostro 31.5E
Gelato 4E
Harmony Hotel BNB 95E