A little slice of Sicily

May 23, 2019

A little slice of Sicily

Just two weeks after we landed in Amsterdam, our friend Annie and her rad son Rio stopped to spend time with us on their way to Palermo, Sicily. It was during their visit when we decided we’d join them on the island before they headed home to Oakland-which is how we ended up with tickets to Palermo on my birthday.

Our hair raising cab ride into town from the teeny Palermo airport definitely made us feel like we landed in another world. Where Amsterdam is tightly organized and law-abiding, Palermo is humming along with barely contained chaos.

I usually take the time to make very detailed travel plans. I never want to feel like we missed the magic of destination simply because we didn’t know where to be. But this time was different. I decided we could rely on the sightseeing advice of Annie and Rio and let them be our guides in their new hometown.

The historical center of Palermo has classic Italian “attractions” - there is a grand cathedral, piazzas, grandiose sculptures and fountains. But it is Sicily’s strategic location at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea that makes it especially unique. Sicily gives its occupants a good vantage point for controlling the sea lanes running in and out of the Mediterranean and, as such, it has been occupied many times. Most notably, in my mind, is the Arab occupation around the 10th century.

I know y'all aren’t here for a history lesson but this set-up led to something I think is so interesting about Palermo: the Islamic-influenced architecture.

The incredible fusion of Christian and Muslim motifs makes for some pretty magnificent art. And food. And people.

Experiencing Palermo with Annie and Rio, who’ve been calling the city home for the last three months meant we got to meet and greet more folks than we ever could have on our own.

English isn’t prolific and my Italian is an embarrassing mash-up of English, Spanish, and fantasy.

A major highlight was the family dinner we got to join in on, as Annie cultivated her culinary expertise with her neighbor friend, Pena.

Roasted pepper anti pasta. Also known as heaven.

Anelletti: a classic Sicilian pasta (and the inspiration behind Spaghetti-O's)

Panelle: chickpea fritters on fresh bread

Cassata: a classic Sicilian cake you see everywhere

Pena and fam.

Eating out wasn’t our favorite thing to do in Palermo, but eating in was.

We found the sweets a bit too sugary and the street food a bit too greasy, but the Capo market was a great place to buy produce and Alder went bananas for the delicate wild strawberries.