Much has been written about Palermo’s beautiful decline, from Guiseppe Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’ through Mary Taylor Simeti’s ‘On Persephone’s Island’ and I’m eager to see if the city, which I haven’t visited since the early 80’s when Simeti wrote her memoir, is still in a state of fetchingly elegant dilapidation.
It’s joyfully easy to get lost here, (well not so joyful when you are toting luggage) and we waste no time doing so on our way to the La Vucciria neighbourhood from the railway station (we arrived here on a glacially slow train from Catania- a fitting metaphor for the patience required to get anything done on this lovely island).
Our hotel BB22 (a former pocket-sized palace- not that that’s in any way unusual) is craftily hidden away in a tangle of tiny alleyways and when we finally find it well past our appointed arrival time, the place is deserted. On the point of making the call we are greeted by two disarmingly jolly ladies, laden with food shopping. “You have the best room” chirps Rodi after introducing herself, and indeed it is quite delightful with a large terrace that looks out over the courtyard’s massive fig tree which shades the silversmith and jewellery workshops below (close neighbours that had especially appealed to Sabrina when we chose this place).
It’s just about warm enough for us to sit out on the cobbles by the restaurant Rodi recommended (Osteria Mangia i Bevi) and we enjoy a late lunch of baked swordfish with fennel and fish scallopina, thinly sliced in a lemony sauce.
Baked Swordfish with Fennel, Lemons and Capers: Serves Four
I love this classic example of Sicily’s “Cucina Povera” and only wish that I could put swordfish on my shopping list more often (sadly it’s so high in mercury these days that’s it’s an occasional treat at best)
4 pieces Swordfish, about 6 oz each
2 large bulbs of Fennel, trimmed and finely sliced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp rosemary
1/2 cup capers
1 cup dry white wine
Heat 2/3 of the oil in a large ovenproof fry pan, add the Fennel, cook until soft. Add the Swordfish, lemon and garlic, scatter the herbs and capers, drizzle the rest of the oil and season to taste. Bake in a preheated 400ºF oven for 10-12 minutes, then add the wine and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Serve the Swordfish with the fennel and lemon slices, with the juices poured over it.
Though it’s the start of Springtime the temperature difference versus Catania where we’ve had the odd day in the low 20s is immediately apparent. As if in confirmation, an attempt to order granita, that Sicilian classic, produces a shrug from our waiter who exclaims “it’s too cold for granita- we don’t serve it until May!”
No matter. Exploring La Vucciria all the way down to the yacht club after stopping by Piazza Marina and the gorgeous Giardini Garibaldi with its elaborate Art Nouveau wrought ironwork, we sneak in a mid afternoon aperitivo with a middle aged, monied crowd who certainly don’t seem to have an office to get back to this Tuesday afternoon. Watching the boats go back and forth in the marina, we toy with the idea of catching one to Mondello beach for dinner, but feel too indolent and relaxed to act on that impulse.
By the time we make it back to our micro palazzo it’s clear that our instincts in selecting this part of central Palermo were sound as it’s away from the main tourist beat being east of the crossroads of Via Roma and Via Vittorio Emmanuelle, and while BB22 itself is in a quiet residential pocket with a few neighbourhood stores and restaurants on the doorstep, it’s close enough to the city’s thrumming nightlife as we discover on our way home through La Vucciria’s Night Market where young Palmeritani were still enjoying their aperitivi well after 10pm.
Stopping for coffee and freshly made pistachio Cannoli after enjoying a delicious Risotto al frutti di mare at Osteria Al Casarrecio, we couldn’t help but think of our old home city of Buenos Aires where weeknight festivities are barely underway at midnight.
We’re loving the warm welcome at BB22 and are already planning our return. After a convivial breakfast hosted by Rodi who had stocked up yesterday with loads of gluten free options for Sabrina (hence the loaded shopping bags when we met), we crossed the ‘dividing line’ at Via Roma to the main shopping streets of Via Ruggero Settimo & Via della Libertà as far as the Giardino Inglese, amongst hordes of Easter Holiday tour groups, most of them from mainland Italy. We’d noticed that the Palmeritani like to make fun of their mainland visitors and their pronunciation of words, never more so than at lunchtime in Ballaro market where the waiters keep pretending to mistake “arancini” orders for “arancia”. This and the equally chaotic Capo market are a tsunami of activity- revving Vespa scooters pushing their way through the crowds, machine workshops cheek by jowl with madly shouting and gesticulating costermongers and cleaver wielding flyblown butchers, hastily improvised drinks stands and street food stalls selling Pani ca’ Meusa (spleen sandwiches), babbaluci (sea snails), panelle e crocché (salty pancakes made with chickpea flour) and a myriad of other appetising and not so appetising options, under a tangled web of guide ropes and tattered crisscrossed awnings of all different shades, are punctuated by balletic wait staff dodging traffic with trays of food and drinks. The whole backdropped by stunningly decrepit palazzi, churches, scaffolding, crumbling masonry and random tracts of wasteland. If Istanbul had a Latin cousin, this would be she.
Throwing her Gluten free diet temporarily to the winds Sabrina enthusiastically orders a huge tray of Fritto Misto.
Continuing east after our joyful repast we walk a couple of hundred yards out of Ballaro market and suddenly find ourselves surrounded by abject poverty amongst row upon row of decrepit low rise 1950s tower blocks. It’s as if we’ve stumbled onto the set of a gritty post war Italian Neo-Realist movie and feels like we have crossed yet another ‘dividing line’. Though we don’t feel threatened we are nonetheless relieved to soon find ourselves at the apex of the old city by the colossal fortified Arab-Norman citadel of the Palazzo dei Normani (something to save for a rainy day) and the equally imposing Arab-Norman cathedral. Swept back down Via Vittorio Emmanuelle by the crowds we are more than happy to be back in La Vucciria where the market is still wearing its fruit and vegetable stall day clothes under the fairy lights.
Rodi had told us about a cocktail bar on the roof of the swanky La Rinascente department store across from the handsome Baroque church on Piazza San Domenico, so leading Sabrina gently up the escalators past the designer labels we find ourselves the early birds on a massive terrace and enjoy a couple of the store’s signature ‘Uomo’ and ‘Donna’ cocktails as the sun sets by the distant waterfront.
One casualty of the Easter crush is that we didn’t manage to visit the Antonio Pasqualino Puppet Museum. This early 19th century tradition lives on in this establishment run by the Bumbello family, who stage daily shows featuring two knights who slay demons, dragons and other foes (with liberal gore and beheadings) and make Punch and Judy’s simplistic storylines look stupidly crude.
It’s our last morning and if we didn’t have a train to catch we would happily have spent hours talking to Rodi, her colleague Emmanuella and the hotel’s owner Patti over endless cappucinos and cornetti in the hotel’s dining room. Patti showed us the other rooms and we really did have “the best one”.
So when you book, ask for ‘Mandarina’.
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There's something very magical about Sicily, which Marco captures beautifully in this short essay. One of our most memorable holidays on the island was in Taormina, recently the star of The White Lotus, and we can't wait to return. The only downside to our holiday was bumping into Silvio Berlusconi, surrounded by gun-toting security guards.
Enjoyed reading this, though it made me more than a little jealous. Sicily was the focus of my last European visit, but I stayed on the eastern "cyclops" coast, and didn't make it to Palermo. Next time!🤞
I'd strongly recommend this doc for anybody interested in that part of the world. No puppets or palozzi, but a fascinating look at at how many locals enjoy their holiday:
https://www.amdoc.org/watch/happywinter/