We arrived in Palermo early afternoon Friday, 2 September, and after settling into the apartment, took off walking to orient Simon and Michele to the neighborhood. We checked a few stores, did a little shopping and stocked up the apartment with food — and wine. We then had a nice leisurely supper on our patio terrace right off from the kitchen.
Michele, Jim and Simon enjoy a little antipasti for supper the evening we arrived
It was Friday night and the piazza below began to fill. It was quiet during the night though.
The next day, we jumped in our rental car and drove to Piazza Armerina where the Villa Romana del Casale is located. This is an historic 3rd-century Roman villa featuring more than 40 beautiful mosaic floors. It is a wonderful site that provides a real insight to the capabilities and tastes of the Romans so many years ago. Simon was again in heaven, totally absorbed in the history and architecture of the villa.
Simon, our historian and expert on all things Roman, with Michele and me
Jim, Michele and me at the Villa Romana del Casale
Fires were stoked in the structures and water was routed through the tubes in the sides to heat up the baths and steam rooms.
Mosaic floor depicting a hunt — a favorite pastime of the Romans, followed by eating!
Who said bikinis were not invented until 1975. This mosaic was created in 200-300 AD. The women participated in Olympic-types games.
Something more than hunting, eating and bathing took place here. Our real interest though was in the restoration of the tiles, seen in the darker center of this photo.
My leg needed a rest after all the walking and climbing steps.
After spending several hours touring the site and listening to Simon’s description of just about everything there, to include the origins and his educated assessment of the kind of family that built the facility, we drove across country to San Giovanni Gemini, the home town of my father’s family. I am half Siciliana and half Abruzzese after all!
We made it to the town after some long, winding roads. We immediately headed up to the restaurant where Jim, Connie, Brett and I had eaten back in 2014 when we visited. Seemed the staff remembered us as they offered up a full meal as before — antipasto, primi, secondo, dolce and two pitchers of wine! The price was actually 10 Euros less now two years later.
Michele and Fran standing on the piazza in San Giovanni Gemini.
One half of the antipasti we had at Ristorante Campagna in San Giovanni Gemini.
And to finish the meal, la dolce — the sweets, complete with cannoli.
Michele and Simon highlight the countryside around San Giovanni Gemini.
After eating for two hours, we headed back to Palermo and our apartment for a leisurely night.
The next day was Sunday so we went to the Palermo Cathedral to attend mass. As are most churches in Italy, this one was beautiful. Our photos begin with one of a model inside the cathedral since it best captured the full elegance of the cathedral and its courtyard.
A model of the Cathedral of Palermo.
Exterior view of the cathedral from the courtyard.
This particular Sunday was a festival day — this one honoring Santa Rosalia. As a young woman, she retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died alone in 1166. In 1624, a plague beset Palermo. During this hardship, Saint Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter, to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city.
The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave as described. He did what she had asked in the apparition. After her remains were carried around the city three times, the plague ceased. After this, Saint Rosalia was venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.
After mass, a band marched by, part of the celebration of Santa Rosalia.
These Italian towns really do up their festivals big time, from processions and bands to marvelous decorations. You can see Santa Rosalia’s name at the top of this lighted structure. Also note that these fixtures extend the entire length of this boulevard.
That afternoon, we jumped on the Palermo Hop-on, Hop-off bus, toured a little of the town, and then went up to Monreale, location of one of the most beautiful Duomo’s in all of Italy. Once again, Simon was awed and Jim and I were reminded of the beautiful results of the artists who contributed to building these beautiful churches well before computers and sophisticated equipment and tools.
The Duomo at Monreale, built high above the town of Palermo.
On Monday, we cut Simon loose to venture out on his own to see more of the city and its historic structures. Meanwhile, Jim, Michele and I headed downtown and over to the shore. Michele had wanted all along to get her feet wet in one of the seas or bays along the coast while here in Italy and as you can see, we were finally successful.
Michele and I in Garibaldi Park, standing in front of a Palermo Tree, or giant ficus.
Michele finally has the opportunity to dip her feet into coastal Italian waters.
Later that afternoon, three of us returned to the apartment — Simon we learned was in the museum of the Palermo Cathedral, and in the cathedral treasury, both loaded with remarkable treasures of the past. After a little rest, Michele and I headed out to do some shopping but lo and behold, it was pisolino (nap) time so we had to take a little break until the stores re-opened.
Break time for Michele and me at a little bar, waiting for the stores to re-open.
That evening we ate in the apartment. I fixed some borlotti beans and some green beans (fragolini) which with some pane, cheese, prosciutto and wine, constituted our supper! We then packed up as we were flying over to Rome the next day.
We had a great time in Palermo with Michele and Simon and only wish that both would have had more time off to see more of Italy. But then, Jim and I will be back for nearly three weeks after they fly home to Atlanta on the 1oth.