Palermo, Italy. (January, 2023, Part I).

We finally witnessed a fight on a plane.  Two passengers went at each other in the aisle while disembarking our ITA Airways plane in Palermo.  A few pretty good punches were landed.  The flight crew made, at best, a half-hearted attempt to stop the fight.  Another passenger broke it up.  The police were called, delaying our getting off the plane for a few minutes.

I wish we knew what it was about, but they were yelling in Italian.

Traveling to Europe in winter was inevitable, but that does not necessarily mean subjecting ourselves to freezing cold temperatures.  Southern Italy is our first winter trip to Europe, starting in Palermo.  Our plan is to spend several months in Italy, gradually working our way north.  Ideally we will encounter mild temperatures for the duration of the trip.

Palermo is the capital of Sicily and the fifth largest city in Italy (population of about 1.2 million in the greater area).  It is located on a plain on the northwest coast of Sicily, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, surrounded by mountains.  Palermo is one of the most conquered cities in Europe, having been ruled by the Romans, Arabs, Normans, Habsburgs, French, and Spanish over the centuries.  It joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Our Airbnb is in the Borgo Vecchio neighborhood, north of the historical center and near the harbor.  We seem to be just outside the main tourist area, but there are few tourists in Palermo at this time of year.  As best we can tell, most tourists here are on day trips from cruise ships docked in the harbor.  We have come across very few Americans. 

Palermo has an ingenious Area Pedonale (pedestrian zone) stretching from the harbor to the Palazzo Reale e Cappella Palatina (Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel) in old town.  It essentially funnels tourists from the cruise ships to the center of old town without difficulty. 

Coming from the harbor, Via E. Amari heads west into town.  There are a lot of restaurants on this street. After passing Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, the walking tour turns left onto Via Ruggiero Settimo and into a nice shopping district.  After a few blocks you cross Via Cavour, and the street is renamed Via Maqueda.  Here you find Teatro Massimo, horse carriages, and a large taxi stand.  You are now definitely in the tourist zone.  Continuing south, restaurants, stores, and street sellers are plentiful.

At the Quattro Canti intersection, famous for its four statues representing the seasons (one on each corner), you can go straight to the Piazza Pretoria and Piazza Bellini, or turn right onto Via Vittorio Emanuele to reach the Cattedrale di Palermo and the Palazzo Reale e Cappella Palatina.

It took us a few days to realize the layout of the pedestrian zone, which is really nicely done.

While in the pedestrian zone you probably will not get run over, but you better pay close attention to the scooters, bicycles, electric bicycles, mopeds, and horses that go whizzing by. Signs are posted to inform folks when they are leaving a pedestrian zone.  At that point you are at the mercy of smart cars, Fiats, BWMs, delivery trucks, motorcycles, and busses, in addition to scooters, bicycles, electric bicycles, mopeds, and horses.

Crosswalks indicate one of two things to the local drivers.  If the driver is nice and polite, he or she will lift and coast allowing pedestrians time to walk across the street.  These drivers will keep their cars at least a foot away from you. For the remaining drivers, a crosswalk is an invitation to hit the gas and watch pedestrians try to scramble and run across the street. 

Cattedrale di Palermo (day and night)

The Cattedrale di Palermo (a/k/a Santa Maria Assunta) is a stunning building that dates to 1185 during Norman rule.  Originally construed in the Arab-Norman style, additions and modifications over the centuries illustrate diverse styles including Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque.

The cathedral itself is free to enter, but you will want to visit the Monumental Area (roof, crypt, underground rooms, royal tombs, and treasury) and Diocesan Museum (which is in a separate building across the street).  An all-access ticket costs €15, which is well worth it.  We spent over two hours total exploring the various areas.

Cattedrale di Palermo is one of nine Arab-Norman Palermo area sites designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Palermo Arabo-Normanna e le Cattedrali di Cefalù e Monreale).  The other UNESCO designated sites that we visited are the Palazzo dei Normanni and Cappella Palatina, Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, and Castello della Zisa.  These sites are united by their incorporation of Arab architecture styles.

Just around the corner from the cathedral is the Palazzo Reale e Cappella Palatina (Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel) (a/k/a Palazzo dei Normanni, the Norman Palace), the oldest royal palace in Europe, dating to Arab rule in the 9^th century.  The Palatine Chapel and state rooms are the main reasons to visit the palace.

The Palatine Chapel was constructed in the 1100s.  It is a mix of Norman and Arab architecture styles, covered with Byzantine mosaics.  Without a doubt it is the most interesting church that we visited in Palermo.

Today the palace serves as the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly.  The state rooms are not open to visitors when the assembly is in session (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday).  Be sure to time your visit for a Monday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. 

As this is a functioning government building, you must go through security at the entrance.  Be prepared for metal detectors.

The Palatine Chapel and state rooms are definitely worth a visit, even though the ticket cost of €17.50 is a bit pricey (based on quantity of the open rooms and areas, not quality).  Our visit lasted less than an hour.  The royal gardens out back are worth walking through for a few minutes, but are not particularly special.

Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti (Church of St. John of the Hermits), one of the UNESCO Arab-Norman Palermo sites, is only a few blocks from the palace.  We headed there next.  After paying €6 each to enter, we spent about 15 minutes walking through the somewhat interesting ruins of the monastery and a couple of uninteresting museum rooms. 

Of everything we visited in Palermo, this is easily the one that we could have skipped.

On past trips we frequently purchased advance online tickets to popular monumental sites. One reason was COVID related crowd controlled timed entries. We did not have a choice. Another was more practical, simply to ensure we had a ticket for a set date.

For Palermo we did not buy any advance tickets. We figured it’s February, there won’t be many tourists, and we can pick and choose when and where to go based on weather and what we feel like doing on any given day.

So far that was the right choice. We have not encountered any lines or waiting to either buy tickets or gain entry to any site. This is definitely one of the perks of traveling in the off season.

One sunny day we walked to the waterfront, around the marina, and to Foro Italico (a park).  It is a very popular place as there are large open fields, playgrounds, a wide walkway along the sea, and several food trucks. 

There Stephanie demonstrated her ability to make a group of Italians laugh.  A lady in a group walked up and asked Stephanie a question, obviously speaking Italian.  Stephanie politely waited for her to finish her question before responding: “I don’t speak English”.

Judging by how quickly everyone started laughing, it was clear that the Italians knew exactly what Stephanie said.  We still laugh about it.

Since then she has practiced saying “non parlo Italiano”.

We would be remiss without mentioning one striking fact about Palermo.  There is trash everywhere in the streets and on the sidewalks (at least the areas we frequented).  It takes a bit of getting used to, because in the United States trash ridden areas are often considered unsafe or dangerous.  While Palermo is probably the dirtiest city we have ever visited, we never felt it was unsafe. 

Garrett and Stephanie

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