Sicily, Italy 4 - Palermo 1
We had to say arrivederci to Catania on the early morning of Day 4. When we arrived at the train station, I couldn't believe that graceful snow-topped Mount Etna was seeing us off!!!!!!!!
We got on a train to Palermo, situated on the northwest coast of Sicily. The three hour journey from the east to the west of Sicily was actually comfortable. The train was quiet; there were only a few passengers around us during most of the travel time. The scenery from the train window was beautiful - citrus groves, rolling lush green hills, and dramatic mountains. As the train approached Palermo, the blue sea and sky filled the window.
Ciao, Palermo, the capital of Sicily! When we arrived there, it was just time for lunch. We visited Sorelle Mozza Pizzeria, a pizza restaurant on the pedestrianized Via Maqueda, one of the city's main shopping streets. The restaurant was just open when we got there. We chose two pizzas from their extended menu. One was MARINA - Siccagno tomato sauce, Agerola fiordilatte cheese baked, "Riserva Sant’Erasmo" anchovy in oil, DOP mountain oregano, DOP "Nocellara dell'Etna" EVO, and BIO basil; the other was LUNA - Paestum smoked provola cheese braid baked, champignon mushrooms "San Giovanni sel. Luna Calante" ham raw, black olive powder, DOP "Nocellara dell’Etna" EVO, and BIO basil.
Both pizzas were great! The dough was super thin and flavorful, and the toppings were fresh and tasty. According to the restaurant, "Our dough is the true star of every pizza, the result of a meticulous process that respects the natural times of leavening and maturation. Crafted according to strict specifications, the "Sorelle Mozza" dough rests for 48-72 hours, ensuring an unparalleled fragrance and high digestibility. We use only flours made from ancient Sicilian grains such as Russello, Tumminìa, and Perciasacchi, which not only offer a rich and complex flavor but also maintain a perfect nutritional balance thanks to the presence of wheat germ."
We started exploring the city center, which was packed with shops, restaurants, street markets, churches, apartment buildings, etc. A lot of people and heavy traffics on the main streets. Palermo was definitely the most vibrant city that we visited on the trip.
We reached the back of the Cattedrale di Palermo, or the Palermo Cathedral. While the cathedral was built in the 12th century, during the Norman period, it was erected over a mosque from the Arab period that had previously been a Byzantine basilica, and it underwent significant architectural expansion from the 14th through the 18th centuries. The current structure results from centuries of transformation - a unique blend of Norman (the main structure - a classic Latin cross plan with fortress features), Arab (e.g. the external decorative arches and geometric inlays), Byzantine (e.g. a mosaic above the entrance), Gothic (e.g. the pointed arches and intricate tracery), Baroque (the interior), and Neoclassical (e.g. the central dome and the rooflines) styles. It was quite distinctive. I haven't seen an architectural design like that before.
The Cathedral was enormous. It didn't fit in a standard photo frame...
We stepped inside. The soaring ceilings and miles of aisle highlighted the massive scale of the Cathedral. The Palermo Cathedral serves as the primary place of worship for the Archdiocese of Palermo as well as the burial place for Norman kings and Holy Roman emperors, including Roger II (first King of Sicily) and Frederick II.
The Cathedral contains many chapels, including the Chapel of Saint Rosalia. Decorated in shiny silver, the alter houses the city's patron saint's relics, which is believed to have saved the city from a plague in 1624.
There was a large boat near the cathedral. It was the Triumphal Float (Carro Trionfale) of Saint Rosalia. It is part of the Festino di Santa Rosalia (July 14-15), the most significant annual event in Palermo, which features a statue of the saint that is paraded through the streets to commemorate the end of the 1624 plague. It was still in March but the float already looked ready to go.
The Palazzo dei Normanni (Norman Palace, also known as the Royal Palace of Palermo) was adjacent to the gate. We walked through Villa Bonanno, a lovely park lined with palm trees, located in front of the palace.
After wandering a bit more, we headed toward a pastry shop on my Must-Go list but ended up getting lost in the Ballarò Market, one of Palermo's historic markets. Dating back to the Arab occupation over 1,000 years ago, Ballarò is the oldest market in Palermo, maintaining a layout and atmosphere similar to an Arabic marketplace or bazaar. Numerous stalls line both sides of the narrow lanes, selling Sicilian street food, fresh produce, local goods, etc. The market was extensive, bustling with touting vendors and tourists all the way. Various smells from a wide range of fresh and prepared foods, spices, and grilling smoke made there more chaotic.
Food, food, food... Even though we’d just finished lunch and were about to have dessert, it was hard to walk past so many tempting Sicilian specialties.
J was caught by the juice vendor's offer of a glass for 1 euro and bought an orange juice. We watched several oranges being squeezed to fill a cup. The freshest juice was refreshing!
We escaped the market alleys at some point so that we could focus on reaching the original destination - a pastry shop I wanted to visit!
Finally we arrived at I Segreti del Chiostro (The Secrets of the Cloister), a pastry shop located in the monastery of Santa Caterina. Dominican nuns inhabited the monastery as a cloistered community between 1311 and 2014. Since 2017, the monastery and its church have been open as a museum. I Segreti del Chiostro is the monastery's project of rediscovery and celebrating traditional conventual Sicilian cakes and biscuits. Sicily's baking, even though it has its roots in ancient times such as the Greek colonization or the Arab domination, was born in cloistered convents during medieval times. The bakery of Santa Caterina had been making and selling biscuits, stuffed buns, pancakes, jams, etc. so that they could generate major income for the survival of the monastery. Although the nuns were famous for their delicious sweets, they were incredibly protective, refusing to reveal the doses or ingredients, and never writing them down. Thankfully, the last three nuns of the Santa Caterina monastery passed on their secret recipes to ensure their legacy lived on. This allowed I Segreti del Chiostro to recreate the monastery's famous pastries according to the centuries-old, authentic methods.
Everything in the pastry shop looked delightful, but we had to choose just two. One was a freshly sheep-ricotta filled cannolo, which we immediately decided on. Both the shell and cream were heavenly! I would say it was the best cannolo of my life so far. By the way, the toppings - candied cherries, candied orange peels, chopped pistachio, chocolate chips - are options for free. J ordered ours decorated nicely.
The other pastry was Trionfo di Gola (Triumph of Gluttony), a dome-shaped cake, considered a classic Sicilian baroque dessert due to its extravagant ingredients and lavish appearance, representing the era. It was historically crafted by cloistered nuns, notably in the Santa Caterina monastery. Today's version of the ingredients includes flour, eggs, milk, water, corn starch, almonds, pistachios, apricot jam, liquore Strega (an Italian herbal liqueur), candied fruit, orange, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and so on. The flavor was intense: citrusy, nutty, and very sweet. The pastry shop is located on the first floor (the second floor in the US) of the building, and the visitors to the pastry shop can access the lovely courtyard that is on the same floor. It was a real treat to enjoy our sweets from the pastry shop on a bench there.
We resumed our city walk to burn some calories, and soon we came to Piazza Villena, though almost everyone calls it Quattro Canti (which translates to "Four Corners"). The 17th century square sits at the intersection of two major streets. It was also near the pastry shop as well as our Airbnb. We crossed the square several times during our stay in Palermo.
The four buildings with near-identical baroque facades stood at the corners of the intersection, creating an octagonal square. Each of the four facades features three levels representing the four seasons (the street level), the four Spanish rulers of Sicily (the middle level), and the four patron saints of the city's four districts (the top level).
Two opera singers were singing at the square. We listened to them for a while.
We walked up to the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in Europe. Many people, especially young groups were hanging around there.
We passed through Mercato del Capo, another historic street market. It was smaller than the Ballarò Market, but the energetic vendors and colorful displays of food and local goods were similar to the Ballarò.
Just before wrapping up the day, we stopped by a pastry shop near our Airbnb and got hot tea. Beautiful pasties were looking at me although I didn't buy any. I found out right on our arrival day that Palermo is incredibly dessert-friendly. Perfect for me!
To be continued...
