Upon our visit to La Zisa, I was struck by the palace’s intricate fountain system. I particularly liked the open room with a part of the fountain pictured above, for its beautiful wall decorations and varied use of tile. Above the fountain is a great feature of Islamic decoration — a gorgeous niche sculpted with a complex honeycomb pattern.

On the evening of the 1st day, we went to a traditional Sicilian puppet show (opera dei Pupi) in Palermo. The show was so loud that it scared some small children, who ended up having to leave! The show was a humorous take on the adventures of Orlando that was very well performed by the puppet masters!

Straordinario – Chiara (Un giorno di sole straordinario, 2015)

11 Marzo 2018

“Andiamo insieme fino in capo al mondo… questo viaggio avrà un finale straordinario se viaggi con me”

Today was our first day in Palermo and due to jet-lag, I woke up just in time to catch part of the sunrise from the balcony of our hotel room, which by the way was very beautiful inside. Our day started off with a walk to the nearby pharmacy with Professoressa Gavioli and Giovanni.

One of our first stops of the day was the Chiesa di San Cataldo, which was one of the nicest churches I had ever seen, mainly because it was simple and yet very intricate in a certain way. Its Arabic-Norman structure makes it one of Sicily’s well known chiese.  This church is one of Sicily’s many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, that was recently included on the list very recently! Another site to check off of my list of Italy’s UNESCO sites to visit.

Soon after our trip to San Cataldo and a coffee break at the cafe next to the chiesa, we walked to Santa Maria dello Spasimo, a building that was meant to be a church as can be seen by the high ceiling of what was the altar of the church, but was never finished. [Not pictured: The missing ceiling of the church] The space is now used as an open-air venue for musical and theatrical events, such as the moment captured on the Polaroid picture above: Promo poster for Dino and Frankie’s collaborative track, predicted to be the summer’s hottest track since ‘Despacito’.

We concluded our busy first day in Palermo by taking a tour with a member of Palermo’s Addiopizzo group, a group of activists dedicated to fighting against the mafia in a very interesting and effective manner while also protecting Sicilian shop owners from becoming victims of the mafia’s corrupt economic model. A ‘pizzo’ is a kind of tax that the mafia collects from shop owners all around Sicily, however this group is making sure that most shops are protected from the mafia after refusing the corrupt terms and conditions proposed by the mafia. Palermo’s main cathedral is another UNESCO World Heritage site that we got to check off of our list, #GoTeam! We also saw an Opera dei Pupi and once again… no puppies :(

Fotografia – Nicolò Carnesi (Bellissima Noia, 2016)

12 Marzo 2018

“E do un altro sguardo al futuro che anche se non mi sorride mi permette di rinascere ancora… io che mi sento una fotografia”

Our second day in Palermo began with a visit to the Palazzo dei Normanni and the Capella Palatina. On our way to the Palazzo, we passed a special set of houses, that were said to be the aftermath of bombings during the Second World War. After seeing this sight, I questioned myself, wondering if they remained untouched because of negligence to rebuild or to remind people of what happened in Palermo during WWII. We then proceeded to the Palazzo dei Normanni and the Cappella Palatina, where we saw some beautiful mosaics and shared a bible story from the book of Genesis that was depicted on the chapel ceiling. This site is also, once again, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the list keeps growing! I took videos of the palace and the chapel, but I also caught a cool Polaroid of Professoressa Gavioli and Frankie sitting on the steps of the palace.

Our next stop was the home of author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which is also currently home to the Duke and Duchess di Lampedusa. We were luckily able to get a tour of the house and see original manuscripts of Il Gattopardo. We were surprised by a lovely rain shower as we left Lampedusa’s home. We ended up soaked but happy! I also witnessed one of the best sights my own two little eyes ever saw, as the rain paused and we were getting ready to head back to the hotel, Professoressa Gavioli stopped to tell us about a street that once served as a place for widowed women, excluded from social events during their period of mourning, would watch these events take place while remaining secluded from the public eye. As Prof.ssa Gavioli was telling us about how the gates that led to this street were always closed, she noticed the gates were open. Her face immediately lit up despite being soaked by the unexpected showers, ended her sentence mid sentence and took off towards the Passegiata delle Cattive saying “Follow me!”  From this street, we were also able to see the front side of the Albergo Trinacria, where Don Fabrizio passed away in Part VII of Il Gattopardo.

Via Vittorio Emanuele was a street full of surprises all throughout the trip. I saw this cool little wheel barrel full of flowers outside of a flower shop!

Our final tour was of La Zisa palace, another Arabic-Norman styled structured that remains in tact in Palermo. On our way to the actual palace, we walked through a neighborhood located outside of the city center, which was an interesting change in atmosphere. I didn’t get pictures of the Zisa, because I took videos instead, but it too was another UNESCO site! I was sweating nervously at this point in the trip, as I felt the need to see ALL of the sites in Palermo before leaving the city! Below is also an interesting image of an abandoned house, I am still unsure if the structure was once again a remnant of the WWII bombings, or if it was just an old palazzo in need of being reconstructed.

 

Che sia benedetta – Fiorella Mannoia (Combattente, 2017)

13 Marzo 2018

“Quante volte condanniamo questa vita, illudendoci di averla già capita?”

Today we left Palermo and headed to the city of Monreale, a town located at the top of a hill on the outside of Palermo. While here we visited the Duomo of Monreale, which is another UNESCO World Heritage site, and saw the beautiful mosaics located on the ceiling and higher portions of the cathedral. Once again we saw different depictions of the same stories we studied from the book of Genesis. After walking around the Duomo, we headed over to the Chiostro dei Benedettini, a monastery for the monks of Monreale. The pillars all around the courtyard were decorated with colorful mosaics, and the top of each pillar had a biblical and historical scene depicted on it. Below is an image of the main tower that connects the monastery to the cathedral as seen from one of the openings made by the pillars.

While at the monastery, I had a very pleasant interaction with one of the gift shop workers. I also bought a Commissario Montalbano book and a couple of postcards. After visiting Monreale, we headed over to Segesta to see an archaeological site full of flowers, an ancient temple and an ancient theater.

I didn’t get many pictures of the temple, the theater, or the hike up to the top of the mountain where the theater was located (most of these sites were captured on video), but I did get this cool photo that Frankie walked into (and I’m glad he did). The trip to Segesta was amazing, and it has been one of my favorites so far, as well as the trip to Monreale. After lunch in Segesta, we headed higher up to the city of Erice, located at the very top of what appeared to be a mountain. The clouds in high above made the city a foggy and eerie sight once we got there, and it was kinda creepy but I loved it!

Here are a couple of pictures to show how cool of a sight the afternoon in Erice was, one of them featuring Emilia! To end the day, we had cooking classes where we learned how to make sweet treats out of Almond flour and tons of sugar. We were also gifted some pretty neat aprons for our future cooking endeavors! We topped the night off with some delicious Sicilian/Italian ‘snacks’ for dinner, which ended up being a full blown Sicilian meal.

“Che sia benedetta, per quanto assurda e complessa ci sembri la vita è perfetta”