3/12/18

Today, was another well packed day. Our group headed to the Capella Palatina and the Palazzo dei Normani (royal apartments) first, in which we found very detailed and beautiful mosaics made hundreds of years ago under the reign of William I–apparently it took approximately 15 years to produce! I enjoyed the intricate biblical depictions of the mosaics, as well as the unique shapes and colors of the marble floor in the Capella. After quickly browsing through the Royal Apartments, we made our way to the Palazzo di Lampedusa, a royal palace, in which one of the authors, Lampedusa who wrote the Gattopardo, lived with his family. One of my favorite parts of the tour was a visit to the Dutchess’s kitchen, pictured in this post, where the Dutchess hosts cooking classes for about 4 hours for 150 euros… When we left the palace, we unfortunately got caught in a torrential rain storm — thankfully, I brought my umbrella. When it finally passed, we finished off the day to a brief trip the the Zisa, a series of gardens and a building with Arabic-style architecture, and briefly stepped inside the central Cathedral before returning home to rest.

3/11/18

Today marks the first full day in Sicily, specifically in the city of Palermo. We arrived pretty late the night before after a full day of traveling, so we all were overcome with tiredness and “pigrezza”, as one would say here. Nonetheless, we had a day packed with activity. To start off, we walked through the narrow streets of the warm city, filled with bustling crowds, and the sounds and smells of the morning. After stopping by at various notable piazza’s along the way, we made our way to Palazzo Steri, a French-inspired prison and palace. The prison housed 20 men and women, and one of the most remarkable aspects of the place was the rooms covered with beautiful charcoal and colored powder drawings of various biblical references and figures. My favorite drawing, pictured in this post, was the “not-so-accurate” map of Sicily that juxtaposed a very detailed map in the adjacent room. The rest of our day was filled with an anti-mafia tour, or “addiopizzo”, a trip to a puppet show, and a dinner of traditional Sicilian street food at the Focacceria di San Francesco.