Notes & Travel photos

View from Casa Panoramica Blu by Sinikka Huttunen (http://alpakko.blogspot.com/) December 2009

Paradis 3 by Helga Bu (Norway) November 2009

by bertil knudsen november 2009

by bertil knudsen november 2009

Palermo is known for bad public transport. I had the opposite experience: On a beautiful day in January 08, I decided that a lunch in Mondello would be grand. I checked out which bus number I had to take from Politeama, and waited.

Then, I saw that number coming from Mondello, and I asked the driver whether I could jump in already, to which he said 'yes'. Probably my very bad Italian (I'm taking lessons now) and his very bad English resulted in some miscommunication, because he wasn't going to Mondello again, he was going for his lunch... We found this out a minute later at the bus stop behind Politeama, when just when we arrived, the bus to Mondello left...

And then the great hospitality of the Palermitans as I experienced it showed! He immediately told the supervisor. Then both of them decided that they would be having their lunch a bit later anyway, and that my lunch was important as well. So the driver got back on the bus, and drove me (only I was in the bus), through the back streets, to a point where he would be sure he would have passed the bus to Mondello, so I could jump on again! This was a crazy drive at high speed through the small streets, but with success!

This all passed on with a laugh and mutual understanding of the importance of a good and relaxed lunch.

So when anybody ever would ask me about public transport in Palermo, I would score them maximum points! Lunch was great by the way: pasta con ricci and a great grilled dorade, accompanied by a nice bottle of grillo.

Later on a nice cup of cafè at the beach, and when the sun downed the only thing lightened was the distant Etna...

Posted by Willem (Holland) January 08

Magaggiari Beach - Cinisi (Palermo) - by Ali (France) August 08

Ice cream and cannoli in Palermo - by Philippe (France) August 08

San Cataldo Church in Palermo- by Philippe (France) August 08

Piazza Garibaldi Tree - Tomita Chizuka (Japan) Oct 08

Piazza Vigliena - Tomita Chizuka (Japan) Oct 08

The Spasimo Church - Tomita Chizuka (Japan) Oct 08

Quattro Canti - Tomita Chizuka (Japan) Oct 08

"Palermo, and Sicily generally, was simply an AMAZING experience!

The first thing that grabbed me was the WARMTH of the people... everyone I encountered in Palermo was frank and friendly, as well as very helpful. And so I ended up making many Sicilians friends!

Palermo is indeed an exotic, bustling city, however not overcrowded - and personally i didn´t find the traffic to be THAT bad.....! Different quarters of the city offered a unique experience; all immersed in their specific set of architecture and history!

I really enjoyed the Capuchin catacombs and the area around it, as it seemed very "ethnically Sicilian" (not to suggest that macabre catacombs and the Sicilian way of life are interlinked somehow!)

The common tourist, pumped with preconceived notions of the omnipresent mafia, might be a little let down when s/he visits Palermo! They are not so visibly or dramatically present.

Loved Palermo... and loved Sicily! Tanti baci palermo! (strangely put, I know:))"

 Posted by Qandeel - Pakistan - January 2009

Pascale a beaucoup aimé la ville, moi aussi!
Mais j'ai surtout aimé les marchés avec des produits... d'une qualité
inconnue à Paris. Et les gens de Palerme... très gentils
Ainsi que les "petites villes" comme Monreale qui allient le passé et
le présent. Mais TRES CALMES! C'est le gros reproche que je fais à Palerme. Heureusement que nous étions au calme (Casa Regina Margherita)!

Posted by Jean Christophe et Pascale (France) - April 2009

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Palermo in the Media

> nytimes.com - In Palermo, Life Vibrates in a Fading Market
> nytimes.com - An Abundance Of Markets; PALERMO
> guardian.co.uk - De-mob happy
> guardian.co.uk - A history lesson on a plate
> Iht.com - In Palermo, a renaissance for art and architecture
> elpais.com - El encanto del desorden
> elpais.com - Instrucciones para leer una isla
> elpais.com - Fervor playero en Sicilia
> FlyOne Magazine - Cuore Cosmopolita/Cosmopolitan heart
> Aftenposten - De døde i katakombene
> Aftenposten - På opera med Gudfaren
> The Indipendent - Palermo: Tracking the Leopard
> The New York Times - Palermo Privata

VisitPalermo.it here