Our first few minutes in Sicily were spent navigating the streets of Messina, after having arrived on a ferry from the Italian mainland. Honking cars, crazy motorbikes and messy urban lawlessness, it was an immediate taste of the chaos which would accompany our 91 days in Palermo; an antipasto to the capital’s main course of noisy pandemonium. By the time we had gotten through Messina and onto the highway, my nerves were frayed and patience spent, but the wonder and excitement of finally being in Sicily remained intact.

This mixture of positivity and negativity was a sensation I would soon become accustomed to. Over the course of our months here, Palermo revealed itself to be equal parts fascinating and obnoxious. Gratifying and infuriating. Gorgeous and revolting. It’s destabilizing; for months, my mood has been on a pendulum swinging between outrage and joy, happiness and frustration. Without much effort, this could be one of Europe’s great cities. But instead of addressing its problems, Palermo seems to have accepted them as an immutable part of its fabric. The Mafia? That’s our thing. Rubbish on the streets? Shrug. Ridiculous gridlock? That’s life.

Palermo’s problems are real, and there’s no denying the damage they cause to the experience of visiting, and to the everyday lives of its citizens. But Palermo has so much to offer that you can look past the negatives, even if you can’t wholly forgive them. There’s so much history here, and so much culture. The food is so incredible, the markets so lively, the people so welcoming. There are so many incredible churches and palaces. So much art. Great shopping. Fun bars and cozy trattorias. No, to concentrate on the negative aspects of this city would be to completely miss the picture.

We had a blast in Palermo. From the day we arrived until now, we’ve hardly rested. It’s not easy for a city to entertain a newcomer for three full months, but Palermo never ran out of ideas. The first month was spent running from church to church, museum to museum, like tourists on crack. During the next, we settled down into the rhythm in the city, and discovered the richness and diversity of the Palermitano lifestyle. And in these final weeks, we’ve been exploring both the regions around Palermo, and those further afield. For an island about the size of Vermont, there is an astonishing amount to see in Sicily. Overwhelming.

So, as we shut the door on another chapter of our lives, it’s not surprising that I find myself with mixed emotions. I’m excited to be rid of the insane traffic, for example, but I don’t know how I’ll be able to say “farewell” to the arancini. That might break me. In any case… Palermo, our experiences in Sicily, the new friends we’ve made here, the vespas we’ve dodged, the amazing food we’ve eaten and the things we’ve seen… I don’t think we’ll be forgetting any of it, any time soon.

-Our Published Travel Books

Great Hotels in Palermo

Food, fire, trash, art and architecture — you get a little of everything on a random walk through Palermo. This city is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them!

-Car Rental in Palermo

It wasn’t us!

The Albergheria is the oldest neighborhood in Palermo. This is where the Phoenicians founded the city, and it hosts the royal palace which all the city’s rulers have called home. Despite this rich history, today’s Albergheria is one of the most run-down sections of Palermo. Nowhere else is the juxtaposition of dilapidated housing and exquisite historic buildings quite so jarring.

The Albergheria occupies the southwest quadrant delineated by the Quattro Canti, and has more than its share of artistic treasures. The Palazzo Normanni, the Casa Professa, the churches of San Giovanni degli Eremiti and San Giuseppe dei Teatini, and the Palazzo Sclafani are just some of the architectural highlights. In the past, it was home to Palermo’s Jewish population, before they were kicked off the island in 1492.

The neighborhood was heavily damaged during Allied air raids in World War II, and has never fully recovered. Cheap housing went up around the tiny alleys and a large immigrant population moved in to take advantage of the low rents. Today, a visit to the Albergheria almost feels like a trip to another continent. Sri Lankans and Africans dominate sections of the neighborhood, and have set up shops and restaurants which are decidedly non-Italian in flavor.

One place in the Albergheria that definitely has Italian credentials is the Ballaró Market, which competes with Il Capo’s as the best in town. Stretched out between the churches of San Nicolò and Carmine, this market has everything you could possibly need for the kitchen. And on the corner of Via Nunzio Nasi is a guy selling the best street food we’ve had in Palermo — panelle, rascature and crocchè, packed into paninis.

The Albergheria is one of those rare neighborhoods which changes its face every time you turn a corner. Will you find a gorgeous church, an African hair salon selling weaves, a market stand hawking six-foot zucchini, or a Bollywood movie store? Despite the urban decay, and in some ways because of it, the Albergheria is an exciting place to spend some time.

Location on our Palermo Map
-Download our blogs to your iPad

Hailed as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, the tiny hamlet of Sávoca has a spectacular mountain setting just four kilometers inland from Sicily’s eastern coast. Among the legions of people it’s charmed is Francis Ford Coppola, who filmed the Sicilian scenes of The Godfather here.

We took a detour into Sávoca while returning home to Palermo from Taormina. Up in the mountains, the weather had taken a turn for the worse — we got soaked with freezing sleet, but it made for more dramatic views over the surrounding landscape. Totally worth it.

Most people who live in Savoca work in nearby Taormina, so it felt like a ghost town during our visit. We had wanted to stop in for a drink at Bar Vitelli, which is where the wedding party of Michael Corleone and Appollonia was held. Apparently, the bar has become a sort of shrine to all things related to The Godfather. But it was closed.

We stayed just long enough to get a few pictures of this gorgeous town. It’s easy enough to reach, and definitely worth the effort to see one of the island’s most picturesque towns.

Location on our Sicily Map
-5 Buenos Aires Videos

Hotels in Taormina

On the last day of our final road-trip through Sicily, we drove a few kilometers up the coast from Catania to Taormina, the island’s most popular beach resort. Word of its charm had reached our ears from just about everyone we’d come in contact with — friends, strangers in bars, neighbors, Twitter acquaintances. Even my grandmother called to say that we absolutely couldn’t miss Taormina. She’s never even been to Sicily and she’s been dead for ten years! Phone calls from beyond the grave are pretty persuasive: we had to go.

Taormina has a history which stretches back to pre-Greek times, but truly came of age during the Roman occupation. Almost immediately after entering the town, we encountered a Roman Odeon: a small theater dating from 21 AD. It’s partially covered by the church of Santa Caterina, while across the street is the magnificent Palazzo Corvaja, home to the tourist office. In the first 30 seconds of exploring, we were provided with a good idea of what to expect from Taormina. History piled on top of history, on top of history.

The street leading away from the Palazzo Corvaja was named “Via Teatro Greco”, which I supposed might lead to an Arabic Bathhouse. Nope — it was a Teatro Greco. A marvelously preserved theater in the most spectacular setting imaginable, with a view over the bay and Mount Etna rising grandly in the background. This is one of Sicily’s most celebrated sights, and for good reason. Though it was probably built by the Greeks in the 7th century BC, the Romans almost completely reworked it. Since then, it’s been left untouched. Entrance to the theater was a bit steep at €8 per head, especially considering that they didn’t provide any information, but still well worth it.

We now turned into the lovely Parco Duca di Cesarò, a public garden which was commissioned by the Lady Florence Trevelyan during her self-imposed exile from England (she had indulged in an ill-advised affair with the future King Edward VII). The garden has a wooden pavilion, views over the bay, and memorials to Sicily’s fallen war heroes.

Rejoining the city on its main street, Corso Umberto I, we came in touch with Taormina’s modern edge. This is a fabulously wealthy resort town, with the mission of catering to fabulously wealthy people. Shop after shop of designer apparel, jewelry and yachting gear. I saw a nice sweater in a storefront window, with a big 50% OFF! sign next to it. Now reduced to €280. Oooh, daddy likes a bargain! Prices in the bars at Taormina’s main plaza, the Piazza IX Aprile, were likewise ludicrous. Though the views in this lovely plaza almost convinced us to sit down, €10 for a beer is really too much.

We could easily have spent a weekend in Taormina; it must be especially nice in the spring, when there are more people and swimming is possible. A privileged, beautiful town with one of the island’s most privileged, beautiful locations. Grandma was right, Toarmina is a must-see.

Location on our Sicily Map

Hotels in Caltagirone

About forty-five minutes southeast of Villa Romana del Casale is Caltagirone — one of the island’s oldest cities, renowned for its ceramics and pottery. It was the second stop on our final road trip through Sicily.

Still a healthy city of about 40,000 people, Caltagirone has been home to human activity since prehistoric days. The name comes from the Arabic “qal’at-al-ghiran”, or “Hill of Vases”, which serves as an indication of how tightly connected to pottery the town has always been. Caltagirone was completely destroyed in the 1693 earthquake that leveled much of eatern Sicily. But like Noto, it was rebuilt in grand style, with a heavy emphasis on Baroque architecture.

The most famous sight in Caltagirone is La Scala: a long, wide staircase of 142 steps found smack in the middle of town. Each step is decorated with a different set of ceramic tiles, from pastoral scenes to complicated patterns. We hiked up to the top of the stairs for an incredible view over the town and the plains below.

Built atop three hills, Caltagirone is one of the more picturesque cities we’ve seen in Sicily. Just the entrance, over the ancient, ceramic-decorated Bridge of San Francisco, was breathtaking. A number of gorgeous churches and palaces adorn the historic center, among which the Church of the Gesù and the Palazzo Senatorio are highlights.

Though we only had a few hours in town, it was enough time to appreciate Caltagirone’s sense of living history. And a few hours of hiking up and down the inclines and stairs of this hilly town were more than enough of a workout for me. But it’s a beautiful place, and definitely worth a stop-over if you’re in the region.

Location on our Sicily Map
-Book Your Sicily Car Renal Here

Top Travel Gear

A sense of faded grandeur permeates Palermo. The stately old palaces which occupy nearly every corner are usually shuttered up, damaged beyond repair, or have been converted for use as art galleries. The Palermitano aristocracy must surely have resided in splendor, but they’ve long since left the scene, removing all trace of their easy wealth. Today, in this chaotic and messy city, it’s almost impossible to imagine how the upper crust must have once lived.

We had no idea what to expect when we toured the Palazzo Mirto, near the Garibaldi Gardens in the Kalsa neighborhood. And actually, we only visited Mirto as a consolation, after finding the nearby Palazzo Steri closed for renovation. But luck was on our side. Here, finally, was a real Palermo palace, fully outfitted with all the furniture, wallpaper, paintings, and ornaments one would expect. We were all alone — there were no other tourists nor even a guard — and were able to roam at leisure through the giant three-floor palace.

The Palazzo Mirto was home to the Filangeri: one of Sicily’s most important families, whose presence on the island dates from the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century. In 1982, the last surviving member of the clan, resigned to a modernity in which aristocrats no longer live in palaces nor receive kisses on their hands from fawning peasants, donated the palace to the city so that future generations might remember how his ancestors had lived. From the looks of things, they didn’t live bad.

Lavish ballrooms, sitting rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms. Handsome wooden furniture and intricately detailed chiffoniers. Little make-up rooms for young princesses and grand libraries for studious princes. Three floors of unimaginable wealth, preserved almost as though the family had suddenly disappeared.

We loved our visit to Palazzo Mirto, especially since we had just watched Visconti’s The Leopard, starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon. If you haven’t watched the film, about the final years of the aristocratic regime in Sicily, try and do so before visiting the Palazzo Mirto. It’s not the same palace as portrayed in the movie, but the spirit is the same, and you’ll have a better appreciation for what life for the privileged few must have been like.

Location on our Palermo Map
-We are #2 of all Georgia Travel Books on Amazon

We order our mini business cards here!

Only in an ancient city like Palermo could a construction known as the “New Gate” date from 1583. Found adjacent to the Norman Palace, the Porta Nuova is still the main entrance to the city center from the west.

In general, Palermo isn’t the the most pedestrian-friendly city, but walking through the Porta Nuova is absurd. The sidewalks disappear inside the gate, and two lanes of traffic are squeezed together, making drivers even more irritable than normal. As a walker, you have to peer around the side of the cement and make a run for it, at the slightest gap.

Once safely through the gate, you’ll likely want to run into the nearest bar and do a shot of whiskey, but take the time to turn around and admire the facade it presents to voyagers on their way into Palermo. Underneath a pyramid-shaped roof, four Moorish atlases support the gate. These represent the Moors defeated by Charles V in his war on the Ottoman Empire.

Despite the mortal danger of passing through it, the Porta Nuova is one of our favorite bits of architecture in Palermo.

Location on our Palermo Map
-We are going to stay in this Hotel when touring Etna

Hotels in Sicily

Set in the mountains just ten miles east of Palermo, the town of Carini enjoys a privileged view towards the sea. With a population of only 35,000 and a world-famous castle as its main attraction, it sounded like a nice, easy escape from city life, and we chose a Wednesday morning to explore it.

Getting to Carini wasn’t as simple as we expected. It sounds impossible, but the bus from Palermo takes an hour and a half. For a town ten miles away! Palermo’s terrible traffic was a major reason for the delay, and then there were frequent stops and windy mountains roads. We left at 9:30 and didn’t arrive in Carini until 11.

When we finally got off the bus, it was much later in the day than we had anticipated, and so we made a bee-line for Carini’s castle. Set on the city’s northern bluff, the castle was built in the 11th century in the Arab-Norman style. Throughout its long life, it’s been spared most of the ravages of war and conquest, and is still in remarkable condition. We were the only visitors, and had fun running around with no one to monitor us. There are a lot of rooms, some of which conserve their ancient paintings, and the chapel is pretty impressive.

The castle is perhaps most well-known for the crime of passion which occurred here in 1563. The Baroness of Carini was caught in flagrante with her lover Ludovico Vernagallo. Her father murdered the couple, and readily confessed to the crime. There were immediately whispers, though, that the Baroness’ husband was the true assassin, and was less concerned with being a cuckold than eliminating a wealthy rival in Vernagallo. The father took the blame because Italian society, at the time, had a certain respect for honor killings.

After we were done in the castle, we set out to discover the rest of Carini. The town is centered around the Piazza del Duomo, and we liked both the plaza and the cathedral. Unfortunately, Carini suffers from the same traffic problems as Palermo. There was no tranquility on the streets, no rest to be had. Downtown is clogged with honking cars and, besides the cathedral and the castle, we didn’t encounter much of interest. After an hour of walking around, we gave up exploring and went to eat. Our lunch at New Miramare was terrible. The pasta was awful, and it turned out to be the type of establishment which brazenly rips off tourists. (We asked for the house wine, and they brought out a €25 bottle, remaining quiet about the price until the bill arrived.) Avoid it at all costs.

Carini was a mixed bag for us. The castle is cool, but the rest of the town wasn’t all that compelling, and definitely not worth the three hours we were trapped in a bus. If you have a car, it’s worth the trip, but otherwise take a pass.

Location of Carini on our Sicily Map
-What we ate in Bolivia

A Visit To Palermo’s Puppet Museum

The art of puppetry has a long history in Sicily. Since the Middle Ages, puppet shows have been one of the island’s most popular forms of entertainment. Thanks to the advent of television and radio, the shows are less important than they once were, but Palermo still boasts a few places to catch a performance. We visited the Teatro Ippogrifo, near the Quattro Canti, and had a blast with a story that was loud, funny and surprisingly violent.

Most Sicilian puppet shows are based on the medieval legends of knights and princesses. Our story began with a knight sleeping under a tree. Awoken by the cries of his beloved, who has been snatched away by an evil maharajah, he undertakes a mission to free her, which will bring him to India through the decimated corpses of his foes. It was all in Italian, but the plot wasn’t exactly difficult to follow.

The show was performed by two puppeteers. Each marionette was attached to a long wooden stick, which the performers held out over the stage. After the show, I had a chance to hold one of the puppets; they’re made of wood, wearing armor, and are really heavy! I can’t imagine holding that stick for a half-hour, let alone doing the voice work. No, my puppet show would be a boring affair. “Alas, I cannot go on!” would say my noble prince, laying on the floor three minutes into the story. “To sleep, perchance to dream!” The End.

Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of the show we watched. Our knight was involved in numerous battles, which were my favorite sequences. Because they were hilarious. The opponents would fling themselves at each other, over and over, with swords rattling and clanking, and the boots of the puppeteers stomping on the wooden stage. Sometimes, a head would fly off. One puppet was carved in two by the hero’s vicious blade. It was great.

If you’re in town, definitely try and make it to a show. And while walking around, keep your eyes open for the workshops of puppet makers, especially in the alleys just east of Teatro Massimo. Whether they’re carving new puppets or hammering out their armor, they usually don’t mind if you stop and watch for a bit.

Location of Teatro Ippogrifo on our Palermo Map
-The Masks of Bolivia