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.