Day 1: Palermo

We arrived in Palermo Thursday afternoon. What a crazy, crazy place.
Crazy but beautiful. We got off the plane and right in front of us
was a huge rocky mountain, Monte Pellegrino. Our 20-minute bus ride to
the hotel was beautiful; to our right was a stretch of rugged hills
and valleys, and to our left was the sea. Palermo itself fulfills many
of my preconceptions. It's busy, hectic, and driving (or crossing the
street) is a nightmare. Vespas are everywhere. Its architecture is a
mix of everything, including Byzantine (from the period of Arab rule)
and Baroque (from the period of Spanish rule). There are stray dogs
all over. Many buildings are run-down and crumbling. But there are
gorgeous buildings too, covered in statues and vines and cast-iron
balconies.

This morning we took a short tour of Palermo. We saw Palazzo Bonocore
(the city commune building, right across from our hotel), Quattro
Canti (an intersection with four Baroque fountains based on Bernini's
quattro fontane in Rome), Palermo's Cathedral, Teatro Massismo (the
largest opera house in Italy and third largest in Europe), Santa Maria
dell'Ammiraglio (a Greek Byzantine church from the 12th century), and
Palazzo Comitini (the Palermo regional province building).
This afternoon we went to Monreale, a town on a hill about 8km outside
Palermo. We visited the cathedral, another Greek Byzantine church from
the 12th century, where there was a wedding going on, as well as the
cloisters next door. The view from the hill was breathtaking.
Culinary highlights so far have included delicious cheeses (mozzarella
and ricotta), caponata (a typical Sicilian eggplant antipasto), sweet
cherry tomatoes, calamari, seafood pasta, grilled swordfish (some of
the freshest fish I've ever tasted), and a Sicilian Chardonnay called
Leone d'Almerita. (That's for you, Nicole.) And last but not least,
granita di caffe con crema (something like a creamy coffee slushie;
delicious but nothing compared to the one at Tazza d'Oro in Rome), an
almond gelato cake (really just gelato served in the form of a slice
on a plate) and a cannoli with the lightest, smoothest ricotta filling
imaginable. Seafood is pretty much all we've eaten, which is great,
but I'm definitely going to want a break from it soon.

We've lucked out with logistics so far; on the plane ride over Mom and
I had an empty seat next to us in our center aisle of three seats.
While it wasn't nearly as easy to stretch out comfortably across two
seats as I'd hoped, the extra pillow and blanket were nice to have.
And our hotel room happens to be a suite or a handicapped room (or
maybe both) - it's HUGE. There's even a pull-out couch. Apparently we
got bumped up because we joined the group late. Suffice it to say my
aunt and uncle's room is about one-third the size of ours...
One thing about traveling in a group - it's tiresome. Like I'd
predicted, it's an older crowd. There's one woman in her late 20s
traveling with her mother, and two women who might be in their late
40s, but otherwise everyone is in their 60s or 70s, even 80s. But
everyone's friendly and it's convenient to have everything logistical
taken care of. That said, I love to just walk around and explore a
place, and there isn't much time for that. And okay, I'll say it -
they move slow. I'm not saying all older people move slow - my aunt
who's 50 years my senior zooms around faster than I do, so at least I
have her to keep up with - but by and large, it's a slow-moving bunch.
Also, all of our dinners are with the group and they're fixed menus,
which can be both good and bad. And they HAVE been both good and bad.
And there is just no excuse for a bad meal in Italy, in my opinion!
But this evening Mom and I went out after dinner with the girl in her
late 20s and her mother. It was nice to get out and walk around, and
we found a cute little bar with outdoor seating and jazz music and got
drinks. I ordered limoncello, local liqueur of Southern Italy.

Hopefully we'll have more time to explore on our own in the coming
days. I really wanted to try to go to the small town outside Palermo
where my grandparents are from, but we won't have free time until the
late afternoon tomorrow, and municipal buildings are closed on
Saturdays anyway, so I wouldn't be able to search for family
documents. And then we're leaving Palermo Sunday morning. So I was
pretty disappointed about that. But i guess I'll just have to save it
for another trip and come back again!