Palermo

Palermo

From Cefalu we drove along the north coast to Palermo, the capital of Sicily. There we booked into our next bed and breakfast - Antadia - quite close to the main bus / rail station.

The girl at reception recommended that we try the local street food and apparently the best was to be found at the kiosk at the end of her road. All I can say is, the Italians have a very strange idea of what is delicious !! We dutifully tried the said "Pani ca meusa" but soon regretted it, especially when we found out what it really was! A street food exclusive to Palermo it is actually beef spleen boiled in lard! Can you think of anything more revolting?

Moving on ......we went to explore Palermo on foot, once parked we had no intention of moving the car again. Traffic comes at you from all angles, cars stop whenever and wherever they feel like it and finding a parking space was almost impossible.

 The Theatre Massimo

A very elegant opera house in the centre of the city, it is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe, renowned for its perfect acoustics.

 Look back from the stage to the Royal box.

 The beautifully decorated dome. Each of these panels open to provide ventilation. Apparently the air conditioning is not good for the opera singers' voices so it has to be switched off during performances and the ceiling is opened instead.

 David and Dave checking out the view from the royal box.

 One of the curved facades of the Quattro Canti, the crossroads of two of the main streets.
The piazza is octagonal, four sides being the streets; the remaining four sides are Baroque buildings, the near-identical facades of which contain fountains with statues of the four seasons, the four Spanish kings of Sicily. The facades onto the interchange are curved, and rise to four floors; the fountains rise to the height of the second floor, the third and fourth floors contain the statues in niches.

The Palatine Chapel at the palace 

We were not able to go into the royal apartments but we did get to see this chapel which was just stunning!! Completely decorated with gold mosaics completed in the 1100s.

 The Cathedral

Here we stopped for a sit down to rest and admire the beautiful interior but soon a special service started involving the Bishop and other clergy. As is the norm at these services, people come and go all the time so we were able to sneak out after a while. It was obviously going to be a very long service. From where I sat I noticed several people entering the cathedral, disappearing behind one of the huge monuments down the side of the nave, reappearing after a short time and leaving the building. Only when we went back to have a further look around the next day did we discover it was the toilet!

We also walked out to the Catacombs of Cappucini
One of the strangest places we have ever been. There are 8,000 dead bodies hanging on the walls or lying on benches dating from the 18th century. Some were remarkably well preserved, still with hair and skin. Their clothes provided a fascinating insight into their lives, status and occupation.

Road Trip Around Western Sicily part 1

Road Trip Around Western Sicily

Starting from Licata we headed north to the hill town of Enna in the centre of Sicily.

 One of the few remaining towers of the 20 erected by Fredric at the castle of Lombardia. The castle was used by Romans, then Byzantines and then Normans. In the 20th & 21st century it has been used as a theatre - known as Teatro più vicino alle Stelle ("The Nearest Theatre to the Stars") Quite appropriate considering how high it is compared to the surrounded landscape.

 From the tower we could look across to a snow capped Mount Etna - 67kms away as the crow flies! We were lucky the earlier cloud cleared to reveal this amazing view.

 There are a number of these hilltop towns which rise very steeply from the plains (and involve some fairly hairy driving!)

 A beautiful statue in the Church of St Salvatore in Enna

Cefalu

From Enna we continued north to the coastal town of Cefalu and booked into the Bohemia bed and breakfast.

 In the evening we went for a wander around town and came across the old laundry.

It was the African conquerors who built so much of Sicily’s first hygienic plumbing, in early Medieval times. They constructed public laundries all around Sicily, and many of them were used until the 1950’s, when Sicilians started to have running water in their houses.

The medieval laundry sits in the very centre of town, built over the river which was corralled into channels which filled a series of rectangular basins. The women would begin downstream, soaping up their clothes, then move to a sink upstream to rinse them.  

 The Cathedral in Cefalu 

Apparently this was built by King Roger II in 1131 as a thank you to God for saving him from a storm at sea. He was washed up onto the town beach here.

 As with most churches we visited, the interior is beautifully decorated.

 Storage jars for olive oil, spotted through a window as we walked around.

 Rough seas breaking over the rocks by the harbour.

 David goes for a closer view! You'll get wet!!

 The rock towering over the town. After much debate we decided we really didn't have time to walk to the top!

 Leaving Cefalu, we stopped along the coast road to look back at the "Rocca" above the town.

Villa Romana del Casale

Villa Romana del Casale

A day trip back to the Roman villa to see the amazing mosaics

 Beautiful designs in every room of the villa, even the utility rooms where the apprentices learnt the art.

 In 1959-60, Gentili excavated a mosaic on the floor of the room dubbed the "Chamber of the Ten Maidens". Informally called "the bikini girls", the maidens appear in a mosaic artwork which scholars named Coronation of the Winner. The young women perform sports including weight-lifting, discus throwing, running and ball-games. In the top left hand corner you can see another lower mosaic which this one covered.

 Built in the middle of the 4th Century AD as a hunting lodge by a Roman patrician (it is not known for sure who the owner was) the Villa is home to some of the best preserved and extensive examples of Roman mosaics in the world. They are spread over  3500m2.

These extraordinarily vivid mosaics, probably produced by North African artisans, deal with numerous subjects, ranging from Homeric escapades and mythological scenes to portrayals of daily life

David sampling another Sicilian speciality - a canolo. Cannoli consist of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta. The ends are often dipped in nuts - this had chopped pistachio nuts on it.  They are not usually quite as big as this - the second half was taken home in my handbag!

Sicily 2016

After a wonderful couple of months back in the UK visiting family and friends, we are now back in Licata. Thank you so much to everyone!!!

On February 3rd we flew back to Sicily with David who joined us for a great two weeks. We took the opportunity to hire a car and explore parts of the island we hadn't yet visited, mainly the western half.

The Valley of the Temples, Agrigento 

We revisited the ruins near Agrigento that we had been to with Katy. An amazing place which is actually a ridge of temples, not a valley!

 The old and the new! The temple in the foreground is about 2,500 years old. I wonder if the buildings in the background will last that long!

 A beautiful spring day, almond blossom and fields of yellow flowers.

The remains of the huge capitals from the pillars at the Temple of Zeus.
 

 

Walking up towards the Temple of Concordia, the most complete temple on the ridge.

A modern bronze of Icarus in front of the Temple of Concordia. 

David trying "arancina", a local speciality of rice, cheese, meat and peas coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried - a good lunch!