Visiting a Big City: Day Trip to Palermo

Palermo was a little rough. By this time, stressors had been piling up: the heat, humidity, lack of toddler-specific routine, broody teenage princess, and rather bizarre driving conditions were beginning to take a toll. Maybe that's my own memories, but I'm the one writing this, so...

Palermo is the capital of the autonomous region of Sicily, and has been an important city for maybe five thousand years. To say that we could, in a blazingly hot afternoon with cranky kids in tow, begin to wrap our heads around everything would be silly.

We did our best with the few hours we had.

Around the spot where I parked was this mural. I don't know what it means, but after two weeks of looking at ancient rock buildings, sometimes the figurative stuff from the '90s is cool:

Like much of Sicily, many religious buildings started out as temples, were converted into churches, then were converted into mosques, and then converted back into churches. Sometimes a circular dome is all you get to signify that history:

Some buildings in Palermo were started by the Arabs, but finished by the Normans:

And jsut so we're all clear, as I've been mentioning the Normans on occasion in these Sicily posts: the Normans were the descendants of the Vikings and French inhabitants on the northern coast of France who invaded and conquered England. They brought a certain visual cue that we associate with England, but really is the Norman deal: the suit of armor.

Those guys got down here and pushed out the Arab conquerors.

Here's a statue of what must be Roger I, the Norman savior, surrounded by his subjugated subjects, in chains and occasionally hand-less:

The main cathedral in Palermo is an ancient one with ties to both Islam and Catholicism. Behind the palm trees on the left below is a Greek temple looking opening, the dome and basic shape is very basilica-like, and on the side facing the right-side of the frame, there is a wide array of black volcanic glass inlaid in the work done in the Muslim manner:

The black volcanic design of the former Muslim leaders

One famous intersection has, on each of the four corners dividing the streets, a similar facade with statues and a fountain, each one telling a different historical story, but I've included only one picture:

On the right below is one of the oldest churches still standing. It was converted into a school for imams back when the Arabs ruled, and then abck into some kind of chapel. It's very basic, and if not for Cass's need to chase pigeons, I would have explored the inside, the "door" being a thick blanket:

He really got to chase the birds here, as he and I just stayed outside.

It surely looked cool on the approach, as do many site-lines in places like this:

By this time of the day Cass was fully asleep and I was growing weary and soaking wet with sweat carrying him around. I took one picture of this cool building, a theater or educational building for a university maybe, but I missed the front that's hidden behind trees in this picture. I saw the building on a bus a few minutes after I took the picture, realizing I hadn't gotten a picture of the ancient Greek-looking facade:

Palermo was nice, but it was so hot and I was so tired and weary that a return trip would have to be reserved for Corrie and I alone, and even then, we may just choose Syracuse. Or Sardinia...

The next day was one of the last great logistical juggles, making it from the mountains of western Sicily to all the way to Naples.

At least we had the positive energy that it was our 11th anniversary on our side. Go us!