Palermo Days

One can't help but love Palermo. It changes - almost completely - from street to street. You go from really run down places to really up market places in the turn of a corner and everywhere you look it is littered with layers and layers of history from the Greeks and Romans to the Moors, to the Spanish/Aragonese - often jumbled together. It seems like the whole thing is one giant market (every other street is a market of some sort) held together by a handful of main roads.

The last few days we've been exploring and having a look at the endless array of sites the city is covered with.

Although the first thing that needs mention is the street food. I seem to be fairly steadily grazing for days. In particular I'm loving the Pane Panelle. Panelle is a deep fried chickpea fritter that they are gracious enough to put into a bread role for you. Reminds me of a flashy foreign version of the potato cake roles I used to get in high school. Also, Pane Gelato which is exactly what it sounds like - a massive slab of Gelato in a brioche bun. GET IN MY BELLY!!!

Sorry, got a bit carried away there. We've seen a lot of Churches (Chiesa) - but such is the way with a Grand Tour.

The first day since I last wrote (pleased to say I'm already losing track of what day it is) was spent wandering around the Kalsa district and the docks. It's an area that was so dilapidated that Mother Teresa set up shop there saying it was as bad as the slums of Kolkata [citation needed]. That spurred the Italian government into action to clean the place up. Our host was at pains to explain that the area is now perfectly safe but it wasn't that long ago that people from the surrounding suburbs wouldn't go there at all.

There we saw Santa Maria dello Spasimo which is noteworthy because it's the only Northern Gothic church in Sicily. It has no roof, has been a monastery, a hospital and an art storage facility during the Second World War and is now a Jazz club/artist space. See, layers of history.

The next day we saw what has been the most outstanding Chiesa: the Capella Palatine in the Palazzo Reale (aka Palazzo dei Normanni). It was the the royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily and just shimmered with gold. Strongly influenced by Arabic styling, there wasn't a surface which wasn't ornately detailed with biblical stories, gilded roof and so on. For me it rivaled Aachen - definitely a top five place of worship.

At the Palace there was also an exhibition of work by Botero which was a pretty fantastic modern interpretation of 'The Crucifixion' done by someone who doesn't believe in God.

We also had a look at Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St John the Hermit) which was interesting because it was a church built on a mosque, built on a church but otherwise fairly unremarkable. Then there was Baroque Chiesa del Gesu but there was a wedding in progress so only mum ventured past the entrance and Chiesa di San Cataldo which is a tiny eleventh century Norman church and quite uniquely austere. It reminded me of a tiny castle in a way. Next to Chiesa di San Cataldo was another pretty stunning church, but again a wedding was in progress so only Mum ventured in.

Yesterday we got a real treat when we went to Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri which houses an 'Inquisition Museum'. Essentially you're taken through a bunch of gaol cells that were used to house prisoners of the Inquisition from from 1600 to 1782. The walls are covered in 17th Century graffiti which was a mixture of subtle mocking of their captors, reinterpretations of biblical stories to reflect their current situation, protector saints and poetry. All in a variety of languages (including English as there were some English captives). A pretty remarkable historical snapshot all in all.

I feel like my writings are the card that comes with the birthday present that you politely read first. Here are Ariane's photos...