January 30,2025
After driving through the countryside for three hours keeping our fingers crossed for a gas station or service area as they are called here (usually a cafe, small store and restrooms along with the gas).
We were so lucky to find the EuropAuto car return without much trouble. The airport is quite a way from Palermo as all the hills make it impossible to build runways closer.
Rented an Airbnb in the historic center of Palermo. The cab ride from the airport was 65 Euros, a splurge. The building has an old elevator, which our attic room in Caltagiorne didn’t have. We have two stories, plus two terraces and a washing machine. Life just doesn’t get any better..
January 31, 2025
As you probably know most European homes don’t have dryers, just washing machines. So, drying involves drying racks, lines or going to a laundromat with dryers. we are thinking of dragging the rack to the upper terrace tomorrow for more sun.
We walked last night to get a meal and to find a bank with an ATM. You have to be especially careful here about ATM’s having been tampered with to steal your information. Banks and Post Office ATM’s are the way to go.
From a website by the City of Palermo- The Four Canti Vigliena were named after the Spanish viceroy in 1620. The street crossing was created between Via Maqueda and Vittorio Emanuele. This crossing divided the city into four parts called “Mandamenti”. The construction of the cantons began in 1608 under the guidance of Mariano Smiriglio and were completed in 1621.
Our little apartment has a real kitchen, so we were off to the farmers market this morning to pick up food for an American breakfast for lunch. We found eggs, cheese, olives, onion, pepper, bread, avocado and tomatoes. Scrambled eggs with tomato, onion, cheese and pepper. Bread and avocado sides, we thought we’d gone to heaven. Our landlord furnished the white wine. Food here from the market is very inexpensive. We used up most of our coins and were unable to break a 20 Euro bill. The fresh baked bread was 1.70 Euros, 6 eggs 1.60, olives 1.20. We have enough food for our 3 day stay.
We spent part of the afternoon on the upper terrace. Here is a panorama of our view. Lots of roof top terraces throughout the neighborhood.
The Praetorian Fountain was created in 1554 by the Tuscan sculptor Francesco Camilliani as a decoration for a Florentine villa. It was subsequently purchased by the Palermo Senate for 20 or 30.000 scudi, and reached Palermo in 644 pieces and then was reconstructed differently from the original design.
The gold scudo was nominally 3.5g equal to the florin and the Venetian ducat. Very difficult to compare to today’s currencies and economies.
February 1, 2025
We were supposed to be in Cadiz, Spain today but were unable to get flights until tomorrow. We decided to go exploring and see more of Palermo.
We were lured by the Picasso exhibit to the Palazzo Reale. It also has a chapel, royal chambers, ruins and a royal garden with a small cafe.
After the Picasso exhibit an adjoining staircase lead down to the ruins under the foundations of the palace.
Made between the late 12th and the early 13th century, the manuscript is the only known copy of a guide with geographical maps and astronomical diagrams, compiled between 1020 and 1050.
With failing energy, Pete and I stopped in the Royal Gardens cafe for a quick snack.
There is a lot more to the palace including opulent royal chambers and chapel. We were overwhelmed at all we had seen and had a 4:15 am wake up call to catch a taxi to the airport. So we opted to just make the walk back to our little apartment.
It’s going to be a big, big day tomorrow flying to Seville Spain and then busing to Cadiz.
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