Island Hopping 2024: Rome to Palermo, A Neighborhood Walk

We had a morning flight to Palermo.  Upon arriving at the Palermo Airport a driver met us and took us to 28 Butera in the Kalsa district of Palermo. There, a young lady, Asia (Ah-see-ah) brought us to our apartment which is one of a dozen such apartments scattered through an actual palace which is still lived in by the Duke and Duchess of Lampedusa.  Our rambling apartment is furnished with what may be antiques, or maybe just old furnishing.  But it is the perfect apartment for our stay in Palermo.  It is a bit run down, like the city, but still elegant also, like the city.  The palace is made even more interesting by the fact that it is the last home of a famous author, Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who wrote “The Leopard” in 1957 and published after his death in 1958.  It is considered one of the greatest works of Italian literature and made into a movie starring Burt Lancaster in 1963.

Leaving Rome

Arriving Palermo

One wants to neither undershoot or overshoot the Palermo Airport Runways

The short flight to Palermo

Sandy and I walked around the immediate neighborhood of our apartment enjoying the evening and doing a little people watching.

Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Maria della Pietà

This church was not mentioned in any of the Travel Brochures.  It is phenomenal.

The back of the church looks as good as the front of the church

My favorite Saint, Rita, patron saint of lost causes

Looking out over the Tyrrhenian Sea

A little square

Mardi Gras Float

There were a half dozen of these kites like this, a bunch of kites attached to one string

A street statue

A pretty street in Palermo

Old apartments decked out in wrought iron and all painted different colors

We ended the day again at a Gelateria.  I’m not sure whether or not Sandy has actually put a dent in the Italian Gelato reserves, but, God knows she is trying.

Strawberry gelato in a cup.  Pistachio gelato on a brioche bun.  (It was like eating gelato on a hot dog bun, but this is a popular thing to do in Sicily)