Calrose

Here are some photos of Palermo.

This is the view from the rooftop garden (Hotel Ambasciatori) where we enjoyed breakfast every morning.


This is one of the corners of the Quattro Canti (Four Corners). This is where two major streets of Palermo meet, Corso Vittorio Emanuel and Via Maqueda. It's called Quattro Canti because it is where the four parts of the old city meet. Each corner has a fountain, representing the four seasons, a statue of a Spanish king, a patron saint of the city, and imperial and royal crests. A lot of the buildings and sites in Palermo need some serious cleaning. At this point, it just isn't a priority for them.


Here are some glimpses of the Mercato Ballaro (one of the food markets in Palermo).

Formaggio, uove, e pane (cheese, eggs, and bread)


Vegetables galore!


Another vegetable vendor was showing off his garlic. Gorgeous garlic, eh?


Here is a butcher (left) slicing off a chunk of tuna for a customer (right). I have never seen fresh tuna like this.


Pretty awesome, huh? Everything in the market was incredibly fresh (fish didn't smell and it looked like it was just caught).

Well, we pigged out in Italy...


but we loved it!!


In Palermo, I would highly recommend Al Cove dei Beati Paoli (pizzeria), located in the Piazza Marina. In Taormina, Trocadero (a trattoria mentioned in the Sicily Lonely Planet book) was consistently good; it is located at the Porta Messina entrance to Corso Umberto, on Via Pirandello. Also on Via Pirandello, right next to our hotel Villa Fiorita (a great mid-range hotel I would recommend) is Cucina Casalinga - Trattoria da Nino (great homestyle Sicilian cooking). Lots of locals in all of these places. A visit to one of the local mercati (markets) is a feast for the senses.

I hope I didn't bore you with my vacation photos, but I get so excited about new (and old) places that I want to share them with everyone!

mshissy

Thanks so much for sharing your Pre-Summer vacation with us. I loved all of your pictures. The piggies are cute, but that picture of the couple arguing at the vegetable stand is priceless! Care to translate their conversation? That picture definitely tells a story!

kathyn2

All of your pictures are fantastic. Not only is everything lovely you take really good pictures. What a photographer!

Did you get to see that odd place in Palermo that has all the catacombs and mummies? I forget the name of it. I always wish when I was there that I had seen it. I find it a fascinating place. There is one mummy of a little girl where she looks just like she is alive. Her name was Rosalita or something like that. The mummies of Palermo....a very interesting place.

jogirl5

Thanks Calrose! What wonderful pictures!!!

texasmesquite

Thanks for this adventure! Beautiful pictures what memories.

Calrose

Thanks, Kathy (and everyone else!). No, we didn't visit the Cripta dei Cappuccini (the Cappuccine Crypts); just a little too creepy for me! I don't even like seeing relics. Relics are body parts of saints that were required when you built a church. The relics are stored in ornate reliquaries and are usually part of a church's treasure. It's very uncomfortable being able to recognize body parts, such as fingers and (yes) a forearm! The biggest relic I've seen is the head of Santa Caterina in Siena .

Foodgoddess

Yes Kathy you took the words out of my mouth. Calrose you take great photograghs. Your pictures look like postcards---very professional.

billyswife

Calrose,
What Great Pictures, I feel like I'm there!!
:P Thank you

gypsy1

Fantastic photos, Calrose, and thanks for sharing them with us all. Someday I'd like to make that trip myself, I still have family over there!

My grandfather came from Naples and I have several cousins who periodically write to one of my aunts. My two aunts and my grandparents went back to Italy in the late 1970s to revisit my grandfather's hometown and see what remained of his family (my grandmother was of German descent, cooked and understood Hungarian, and the part of Europe she came to the USA from in the early 1900s is today known as Transylvania.....) They loved their visit also, and still talk about it, even though both my grandparents are no longer with us.

I also have a girlfriend living in Calabria with her husband, her son who is a policeman, his wife and their two children. I should have had you look them up!!