Stories

You get used to Palermo’s rhythm pretty quickly: I try to get anything important done in the morning or after 4 pm, because in the afternoon, we rest. Banks, small shops, museums, churches and restaurants follow much the same rhythm, and on Sundays many places may be closed.

One of the most impressive things about Palermo’s giant ficus trees is their aerial roots. They grow down from the side branches towards the ground and gradually become new supports, allowing the heavy branches to keep growing.

There used to be a bakery at Capo market called Panificio Morello, decorated with a golden mosaic of Demeter that locals called Pupa du Capo — “the girl of Capo.” One version of how it came to be begins with the love story of a young woman from a noble family and a simple baker, Salvatore Morello.

In tourist cities, big supermarkets often seem to be deliberately hidden away from the main streets, and Palermo is no exception. Near most tourist areas, the main ones to look for are Lidl and Famila. Close to Teatro Massimo, there’s Prezzemolo & Vitale, while Conad can be useful if you’re staying near Piazza Indipendenza.

The phrase “there are no beaches in Palermo” surprises many of my guests. Palermo is right on the coast, but it’s a port city, so there really is no city beach. Most tourist guides send you to Mondello, but it’s definitely not my choice: the sea is beautiful, but for me it’s too noisy and there are too many bars around. So over time, I started looking for my own place to spend a couple of hours by the sea, not too far from the city.

Palermo, like Sicily itself, has two very different sides for me. It can be incredibly loud and completely quiet at the same time. Markets wake up with music, singing vendors and the old abbanniate, while just a few streets away you can escape all the noise. Sicily knows how to be quiet, and it knows how to sing loudly. In Palermo, there’s always room for both.

Fontana della Vergogna wasn’t originally created for Palermo. For around twenty years, it stood in Florence before being sold to Palermo. The enormous fountain was dismantled into hundreds of pieces, transported to Sicily and reassembled in Piazza Pretoria.

Traffic in Palermo can make even Italians nervous. Cars, scooters, bikes, e-scooters and horses all seem to be moving in the same direction, but each follows its own path and speed. In my first weeks living here, I learned the most important rule for crossing the street: find a friendly driver, look them in the eye with a smile, wait for a little sign that you can go — and cross. Quickly. And always with a smile.