June 1, 2024
I was anxious to explore the city in the early morning so I headed out towards the ocean and was treated to a spectacular sunrise1.
As I walked along the main road on the coast I encountered a line of cars with belonging strapped to the roof and people sleeping in the cars. Homeless is an issue in this city even with lots of shelters and support. One young mother has three little ones in the car. I abandoned my search for the ocean and headed to the pasty shop I had seen and bought a bag of treats and took them back to the young family!!! The kids were soooo excited.
Back at the hotel it was time to meet the group and do our tour overview.. The map is where we will be going! Interesting that one of the group rules is “No, US politics”!!
We headed out for a walking tour of the city. It is Saturday and both locals and tourists are out enjoying the city creating a joyful vibe!
Our first stop was the opera house which is the 5th largest in the world. Our local guide was an Opera singer and she shared her experience in this beautiful building. The front steps of the Opera house was used in the Godfather 2 movie!
The puppet craftsman was the 6th generation of his family who have created these wonderful toys. Hmmmm can you think of a Disney movie???
Of course we had to go into a church! The marble carved pillars were so detailed and made of 8 different colors of marble.
The residence who lived in the narrow lined streets have a basket that they can drop over the balcony when a vendor comes through selling vegetables.
The picture of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus is where you can pray to be forgiven of you sin and for each prayer you can reduce your time in purgatory by 100 days!!!
The fountain of shame is outside the church and was considered quite scandalous when it was created in the 1500’s. The Church found recipes from the nun’s from the 1600’s and created a bakery based on those to generate revenue. Jaka our tour guide treated us to tome “holy cannoli’s”.
Our next stop was a puppet theater! This is a dying art in Palermo with only three theater remaining and the current generation not wanting to carry on the family tradition. We were treated to an explanation of how puppets are created and how they tell stories with them. It is truly an art!!
We went to the market to sample street food! It was so much fun going from stall to stall and trying different foods. My favorite was a rice ball that is fried. Most of the food was fried!!
In my free time I went back to the church and climbed to the top for the incredible views of the city.
Our evening activities include a lecture on a “controversial topic”. The topic was the Sicilian Mafia and the two speakers were two men who were directly impacted by the Mafia. The first man’s uncle was killed by the Mafia and the second man’s father was one of the most famous mafia bosses. Very different perspectives and they chose not to be in the room at the same time.
The group dinner involved lots of great conversations and yummy food!
What a fun Saturday exploring this lively city, learning about the Mafia and getting to know my fellow travelers.
