KarenWoo

Love your very interesting comments and your gorgeous photos! Sicily is on our bucket list. It looks gorgeous and so interesting, and the food is to die for! Do a lot of cruise ships come to Sicily? I can’t get over that obnoxiously humongous cruise ship UGH!!!

ms_go

Thanks, all! HappyTrvlr, there's more Palermo coming! KarenWoo, the food is to die for. I haven't even really gotten there yet--but it's coming. Yes, I think cruise ships do dock around Sicily. We only saw one day in Palermo with a lot of cruise tour groups. We were trying to calculate how many balconies there were on that particular ship.

While I’m thinking of it, opening and closing hours are definitely a thing—in Palermo and around Sicily. Some sites close for a few hours in the afternoon. Other sites do not. Hours can be different by season and days of the week. We found it best to check several sources, including the official website where possible. Google, we learned, is not always up-to-date—and sometimes not even close. More on that later.

I mentioned earlier that our Airbnb host provided some self-guided walking tours. One was for La Kalsa, which is just to the east of where we stayed. The area was originally one of the first planned Arab settlements in Europe, dating to the 900s, and there is evidence of this history throughout. Several of the previously mentioned sites (Pretoria fountain, La Martorana, etc.) are on the edge of this area.

Our host’s primary suggestion was Palazzo Abatellis, a Gothic-Catalan palace designed in the 14thcentury as the residence of the port master of the Kingdom of Sicily. It is home to the gallery of art for the Sicilian region. Most works date from the 12thto 18thcenturies. There are any number of historic palaces around Palermo that today serve as art galleries, museums or other exhibitions. This one happened to be a short walk from our apartment—and open when we had a break in our schedule. We quite enjoyed our visit and walk around the area.


Courtyard of Palazzo Abatellis


A few artifacts on display


One of the primary attractions is the wall-sized “Plague and the Medieval Triumph of Death”








Nearby is Giardino Garibaldi, with giant ficus trees


On the street by Giardino Garibaldi


Via Divisi, or “bicycle street” due to the abundance of bike shops








At night, La Kalsa has a lively restaurant and bar scene

zebec

Dig that Giardino Garibaldi shot, lovely artistic approach!
I am done. the jetla.....................................

TDudette

Seeing the Arab settlement sounds fascinating, ms-go. You are getting an awesome view of Palermo. Thank you for posting it.

margo_oz

Checking in.

Sicily is likely on my list for end September. I'm particularly interested in Ortigia.

Your pics are great.

Adelaidean

I never thought I’d get to southern Italy, as it seems a bit less convenient without a car, but every time I read a Sicily or Puglia trip report, I reconsider.
Lovely photos of a fascinating area.

ms_go

Thanks, all! Glad you're enjoying the photos. I have no shortage of them...

margo_oz, I will get to Ortigia eventually--few more posts on Palermo first, then we'll hit the road.

Adelaidean, it is possible to see much of Sicily without a car. We had one for five days, but a couple of those it was just parked. The "must" on our agenda that may have been difficult without a car was Villa Romana del Casale near Piazza Armerina--but I haven't researched that for sure, and I expect there are day tours that one can use from other cities.

ms_go

Palermo

The Palermo Cathedral is the central church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The chapel is named for the city’s patron saint, Santa Rosalia, whose bones were said to have ended the plague in the 1600s. A couple notable things about the cathedral: It is huge. It was built by the Normans in 1184 on the site of a mosque. The structure and architecture have evolved over the years, but the cathedral still very much reflects the city’s Arab-Norman history—especially when approaching it from the back side, like we did twice. We found it as interesting from the outside as the inside, and our Culinary Backstreets guide (who is also an art historian specializing in the Middle Ages) said as much as we walked by it during our tour.


Arab-Norman history is evident in the architecture, particularly at the east end


Entrance into the cathedral grounds from the east


Now you begin to see how big it is. You can buy tickets to climb up and walk on the roof--we did not because the line was too long.


The west end


Inside


Street art depicting Santa Rosalia, the city's patron saint

Chiesa di San Domenico is a Baroque style church built in the 1600s—and just a stone’s throw from our apartment via the Vucciria market.


The column of the Immaculate Virgin Mary in front of the San Domenico is from the 1720s


Inside San Domenico


Part of the Baroque altarpiece by Filippo Paladini

ms_go

Palermo

Ten last random photos from our wanderings around the city. Next up: a day trip to Cefalu.


This quirky little bar was just down the street


So many interesting building facades


And interesting doors (I could do a whole album of doors)


This was over the trash collection area down our street - Our Lady of the Recycling




Our downstairs neighbor


Always look up, there's usually something interesting


Teatro Massimo - where Sophia Coppola met her demise in The Godfather III (there was an official event on this day, so the steps were covered with reception booths and such)


Somewhere in the "newer" (1800s) part of the city


Bank doorway, relic of the Mussolini era

zebec

What a pairing - your first cathedral shot then that quirky bar. You've chosen excellent facades to convey the realities of Palermo.
Btw, about a dozen years ago, we sent both Sophia plus her famed dad each a copy of our Harriet Tubman biopic script. He actually read it.
Your downstairs neighbor:
"You can take my foto if you want. I won't give you nothin' for it."

I am done. the Sicilian TR

ms_go

Amazing story!

Palermo/ Cefalú
On our last full day in Palermo, we took a day trip to Cefalú. We bought train tickets online and were at the station for our 9:30-something train, surprised to find it packed and standing room only for the almost one-hour ride. This wasn’t just a tourist crowd. It was Sunday—a nice day for getting outdoors and to the beach, and it was Mother’s Day to boot. Everyone was headed to Cefalú!

Hundreds of people got off and headed en masse towards the center of town. We decided to peel off and climb up to the remains of the ancient castle before it got too hot—a nice climb with good views. The first part of the path is fairly smooth, even paved. The upper portions are rocky and require proper footwear. After that, we had a very nice lunch, visited the Duomo and then returned to Palermo. Cefalú is a beautiful town with a nice setting. In hindsight, though, Sunday was probably not the ideal day for this excursion.


Judging by the people taking photos up this street, I'm guessing it is an Instagram favorite.


Wildflower on the way up to La Rocca.


Fantastic views all around


View from the top


Look closely and you'll see a man in a yellow shirt climbing the rocks


We had lunch at a nice, quiet restaurant - La Terme Ristorante - which is built over an ancient Roman spa. The outdoor terrace wasn't bad, either.


The dishes were beautiful, like this pasta filled with pork. We also had a nice pasta with lemon and red prawn crudo.


The Cefalu waterfront


Duomo di Cefalu


Mosaics - this duomo is part of the UNESCO site with others around Palermo


Other interesting detail, including these tiled steps


A quiet corner


Many were there for the beach

zebec

The colors and tones on your first foto in this latest bunch are really appealing. Btw, the initial duomo shot: the building on the far right contained our Cefalu rental. It had a fantastic communal terrace with fantastic views but was smack dab above the square's political rallies during a noisy municipal election.
I am done. the Sicilia

kelsey22

I am so enjoying this report! Thank you for adding the photos. Do you happen to have the Airbnb contact for walking tours? If you added it, sorry I did check .

Adelaidean

Cefalu looks like a great day out. The hike looks high 😬

ANUJ

Enjoying your report, and all the wonderful photos.

ms_go

zebec, that looks like a great place to stay. We were 3 for 3 with great terraces on this trip. More to come.

kelsey22, glad you're enjoying the report and photos. The self-guided walking tours I mentioned were just packets of paper provided by our Airbnb host, in a folder in the apartment. So, nothing that I am able to link, unfortunately. For the most part, they included things you will find on other lists of sites for Palermo--she had just grouped them by areas and provided some personal commentary.

Adelaidean, the climb is supposedly about 280 meters. We definitely got some exercise. I'd call that the only hiking we did on this trip, though--so back to Alta Badia in September.

Thanks, ANUJ! There's more to come.

Palermo restaurants
Can’t move on from Palermo without mentioning our dinners. We do put some work into planning our meals and go armed with a list of possibilities, but we generally don’t book anything until a day or so before so as to go with what we’re feeling like at the time—and sometimes that’s fairly low key (e.g., pizza) in the evenings. In Palermo, we didn’t walk more than 10 minutes for dinner any of the four nights—two of them, mere steps.

Il Vizietto, Via Argenteria
Here’s an article about it

This was our first night of the trip. The restaurant didn’t have a table for two at our reservation time, so we were seated with a couple from Italy/Greece and had a lovely conversation. With jetlag setting in, I wasn’t back in the habit that has become known as “camera eats first”-- but I can assure you the polpette di sarde (sardine balls) were every bit as memorable as the article indicates. This restaurant also had an interesting take on caponata, made with apples.

Anciova, Piazza Fonderia—which we could practically see from our apartment
Seafood, and not to confused with another restaurant called L’Anciova.

Maison Bocum, Via dei Cassari
Known for wine and cocktails, it also has small plates—great for a small dinner after a big culinary tour.

A’nica, via Alloro
Pizza in a nice outdoor square in La Kalsa

A few visual highlights...


Prawn crudo crostini, Anciova


Pistachio crusted tuna tataki, Anciova


Palermo-style grilled swordfish (spada), Anciova


Yet another take on caponata--this with artichoke, Maison Bocum


These crispy veal meatballs were a hit, Maison Bocum

ms_go

Destination: Agrigento

It’s taken me a long time to get through Palermo. Hopefully you can tell how much I enjoyed our time there. We left a lot on the table: Monreale of course, Catacombe dei Cappuccini, Stanza al Genio (tile museum), to name a few. There will have to be another trip.

We said goodbye to our fabulous apartment and headed to pick up our car from the Avis office about a mile away on Via Francesco Crispi, near the cruise terminal. We considered calling a taxi (Uber is available but not widely used, we’re told), but it was a nice day, we were traveling light, and so we walked.

We had planned to head east out of Palermo and then straight south, via SS121 and SS189. When we realized that our only option was to turn right out of the Avis lot headed west, we rerouted and took the slightly longer SS624 route via Poggioreale (now a ghost town due to the 1968 earthquake). Siri guided us through Palermo (thank goodness not in the old city center) and to the highway, and within about a half hour, the scenery began to change from urban to green hills. It was a pretty drive through the center of Sicily.


shot through the window of our car (at highway speed)



Eventually, we were hungry and started thinking about lunch. That’s when things got fun. Sciacca looked like an interesting place to stop, but we deemed it “too big” to navigate after just an hour or so on the road. But several smaller towns a little further down the road seemed promising, and Apple maps indicated that there were restaurants “open.”

First up, Lumia. We exited the highway and headed down what quickly became a dirt road toward the beach. Our target restaurant had a chain link fence around it and had probably not been open for months or years. We were barely able to turn the car around.

Next, we tried Seccagrande, which had multiple restaurants with decent reviews—every one of them "chiuso."

Finally, we headed to Porto Empedocle, where there had to be something—and there was. Mediterraneo Ristorante Pizzeria turned out to be just what we needed, with nice beach views as an added bonus.


Lunch on the beach at Porto Empedocle



After lunch, we stopped for views of the Scala dei Turchi before checking into our Agrigento B&B around 3 pm.

KarenWoo

I am so enjoying your trip around Sicily! Palermo looks amazing! Love all your photos. The "instagram favorite" of the street/steps with the flower pots is gorgeous! And love all the photos of food. Did someone recommend the Palermo restaurants to you? Or did you find them on your own?

We do want to visit Sicily in the hopefully near future. Would you say 2 weeks should be a minimum amount of time? We would most likely combine Sicily with the Amalfi Coast, Naples, and Pompeii. So a month long trip in total is what I am thinking.

ms_go

Thanks, KarenWoo. We found Il Vizietto from the Culinary Backstreets website. The site includes blogs for all of the cities where they have tours, with some interesting articles. Since we were in Marseille last year, I've read several of the articles on that site that have me wanting to go back there ASAP! Otherwise, we found the other restaurants through our own research.

Re: amount of time, our trip was a full two weeks. While we hit some of the highlights, we also missed a lot (no Catania, Taormina, or any of the locations to the west). I'd say two weeks is a bare minimum, but others may have better opinions. We have also visited the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii and Capri, but that was almost 20 years ago! I think that trip was close to two weeks, also.

Agrigento

We’re not big fans of one-night stays. Originally, we were going to spend two nights in Agrigento and then visit Villa Romana del Casale on the way to Modica. A couple months ago, we decided to split up the stay with one night in Agrigento and one in Piazza Armerina—for the express purpose of being able to visit both sites late in day, after the peak crowds (and temperatures). In conjunction with that decision, we changed our accommodation from a B&B in the center of Agrigento to one that is on the southern edge—down the hill and within easy walking distance of the park entrances and archaeological museum.

I Segreti della Valle was perfect! It’s a small, five-room B&B that is about a 10- to 15-minute walk to the east entrance of the Valley of the Temples. Nice, modern room with a terrace overlooking the park, including a view of the Temple of Concordia (illuminated at night, but the photos did not come out as well). Lovely hospitality—including a couple of mini-bottles of wine in the room for us, a delicious breakfast spread, and a parting gift of olive oil (that actually made it back home in my liquids bag without being confiscated by security). Bonus: there’s a large parking lot right outside the front door. Highly recommended.


View of the Temple of Concordia from our terrace

geetika

Karen, Sicily is unbelievably stunning. We spent 13 days there and then flew to Naples and the Amalfi Coast for another 8 days. We had previously been to north eastern Sicily, but there was still much we couldn’t cover. Palermo was an unexpected delight, it was our first stop and we had five days there. Didn’t regret it at all.