It’s still warm and sunny so pounding the streets to get to know this city is a hot and sweaty business. Not complaining mind you, particularly as the weather seems set to change and then I will be complaining…keeping in mind that I expect Melbourne to do the right thing and warm up for me.
Yesterday when we got going we spent the first hour or so tramping around looking for the goddam tourist office to get out maps! Ham and Ariane would have it that I got them lost but as with all things this is open to interpretation. Then it was time to have lunch which we did in a rather posh and old cafe which was rather nice, sitting outside and watching the world go by, including the refugee kids looking for a handout. One of them got roped into sitting down so a couple of sophisticated young women could buy him something to eat. But he looked so uncomfortable it was more like they had decided to extract a tooth. Poor kid, my heart went out to him.
After lunch we walked through the Capo district, through the extended street market selling fish, fruit and veggies etc. and finally ended up at the most unusual and beautiful Arab-Norman Cathedral with it’s Moorish looking facade including tiling. Hammy is particularly interested in the Kingdom of Aragon that settled this are back in the 10th and 11th centuries, so we went into the treasury part to see the crown jewels of Constance of Aragon…most interesting. Also their tombs down in the crypt…fascinating. There were also the Royal Tombs of the Norman Kings including Federico (there’s that name again!!…great name for a baby I reckon!!)
We then walked back down Via Vittorio Emanuel II…way, way down!! Past the Quattro Canti with the statues on each corner of a Spanish king…most impressive. By the time I got back to the apartment I was pooped and poor dear Hammy went off by himself to find me a bottle of vino. We then had downtime…so much downtime in fact that when we finally got out after 9pm we found it a bit hard to find a table where we wanted to go and had to move on to another place. Nonetheless I nice dinner and then home to bed with the much beloved aircon!!!
Today we again set off rather late and had a day grazing on all the different types of street food. However none of us were brave enough to try the Panini con Milzo (spleen) which is Palermo’s specialty. We have enough time to pluck up the courage. We had arancini, panel, croquets etc..all delicious…but lets not pretend this is healthy eating. After a number of stops and a bit of a sit down lunch break we walked the long way around via ruins of Gothic churches and down to the harbour, stopped for a gelato (of course) and then along the harbour to work out which yacht to buy and back up home. Ham and Az went to the supermarket, giving me a bit of a reprieve again. We’re now rested up once again and ready to hit this town for dinner…earlier this time!!
Loving Palermo, it is so alive and interesting with a mix of chaos and great food, amazing buildings, twisting and turning streets, waterfront, fantastic coffee etc,etc.
Qantas tells me 22 days before I fly home…I don’t believe them but they insist. Ang and Kirst are now in the air, their adventure is over and I’m not far behind.