Palermo

How happy we were to take  the car back to the airport and take the bus into Palermo, especially as we arrived at rush hour. Although I think most of the day the traffic is much the same. Our bed and breakfast was easy to find, well located , and our host Romina was very friendly and spoke Italian clearly and not too quickly. It was fantastic and boosted our confidence re our Italian.

In Palermo One of my favourite places was the Capo market. It was a mixture of areas which seemed to be selling very dated things

 

And , of course, delicious-looking food stalls, so cheap! What a pity I could not buy anything. I am really trying not to increase my luggage!

 

I also liked the little booths you can see everywhere, some used as tobacconists and others, as in the picture below, as small cafes. Very cute.

 

The cathedral is huge and extremely impressive, especially from outside. I could not believethe crowds of people there. High season must be impossible.

 

The Cathedral paled into insignificance once we visited the Royal Palace with its unbelievably ornate mosaic-clad chapel. I have never seen such fantastic mosaics in my life. Having recently watched someone doing some mosaic work, I cannot believe how many months, or even years of work this chapel must have taken. It is now 900 years old - fabulous.

 

We had a very good lunch in the heart of the Ballaro market. Food was delicious with local specialities, the waiter was hilarious and it was fascinating watching the people passing by both on foot and on their mopeds, weaving their way through the stalls and the pedestrians. Fascinating.

As we left this very old, rather run down area I saw these wonderful street paintings. They reminded me of the beautiful street art in Christchurch.

 

The Fountain of Shame was really interesting with some great statues. I loved this one, the expression on the serpents' face, in particular😀.

 

It was an exhausting day because we walked a huge amount, and on top of that, it was hot and muggy. However, in the evening we found the most fantastic restaurant by the marina. The ambiance, service, views and food were perfect - a brilliant end to our really unforgettable trip around the western part of Sicily. There is so much to see here.  We saw so much but there is plenty more for next time 😄