Top 10 Palermo Sightseeing

DNRYYNPD7XZN In my opinion this are the top 10 sightseeing that you should consider if you go to Palermo

1) La Cattedrale

Located in Corso Vittorio Emanuele the cathedral is a great  building with a mixture of different architectural styles

(Gothic, Norman, Baroque).  I

used to live 5 minutes away from this beautiful building which i walked

passed almost every day and never got tired of looking at it.

Free admission. Mon-Sat 7-7; Sun 8-1:30, 4-7.

2) The 4 Canti and Piazza Pretoria

The 4 Canti each one of them adorned with fountains are considered the heart of Palermo, located at the intersection of Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Built in 1611 when Palermo was divided in four sections respectively Capo, Kalsa, Castellammare and Albergheria. A few meters away from the 4 Canti you will come across Piazza Pretoria (fountain of shame). It has been recently restored, this beautiful monument is a mixture of mythological monsters and nude statues.

3) La Martorana and San Cataldo churches

This beautiful churches are located in Piazza Bellini next to each other. The Martorana  interiors are decorated with some of the best mosaics I have ever seen. A must see.Free admission Mon-Sat 8-1, 3:30-7.

The San Cataldo the one with the three domes as you can see from the picture where you can admire the beautifull mosaic pavement, a sure sign of the arab craftsmen who worked for the christian in power few centuries ago.Small donation to enter. Mon-fri 9:30-1, 3:30-6,

Sat-sun 9:30-1

4) Palazzo dei Normanni

  Standing on the highest point of the old city the Palace was the seat of the Kings of Sicily. In 1947 the palace became the seat of the

    sicilian Parliament. Originally the phoenicians built a fort here, which was rebuilt by the romans and arabs. Don't miss the Palatina chapel! Mon-sat closes between 1 and 2 Sun 8:30-12:30


5) Cappella Palatina

    This lovely chapel is located inside the Palazzo dei Normanni. It was built by King Ruggero as
    his private chapel. The interiors are decorated with astonishing mosaic. I would definately reccomend
    a visit. Tickets costs around 10 euro wich include a tour of the Palazzo.

6) Teatro Massimo

    The third biggest theatre in Europe is situated right in the city centre. This neoclassic building is
     a masterpiece of Ernesto Basile who completed the work started by his father. A guided tour costs
    around 5 euro.

7) Orto Botanico

    An elegant, pleasent and relaxing italian garden with beautiful statues, fountains and a big variety of palm trees, orange trees, giant cactus etc.
Opening hours are 9am to 7pm, tickets are approximately 5 euro.

8) Monreale Cathedral

   Monreale is a little town situated 5 miles southwest of Palermo. The Cathedral of Monreale contains the world's largest mosaic surface. To the right of the cathedral is located the cloister with its 228 twin columns decorated with mosaic.
    Visit the treasury before climbing the 181 steps to the terrace with a fantastic view of Palermo.Free admission but a small price apply for the
Treasury and Terrace. Open daily 8-6.




9) Catacombe dei Cappuccini

    One of the best catacombs to see. 8.000 bodies dating from the 16th to the 20th century in various stages of preservation. Some still have hair, eye lashes. An old tradition of the cappuccini monks.

Free admission but you have to give a small donation.
Open daily, closed between noon and 3pm.

10) Mondello 
Mondello and its beautiful beach is only a 15 min drive from Palermo.I would definately reccommend a visit in the week as usually at the week-ends hundreds of Palermitans will visit. I also reccomend to buy an ice cream from Renato Bar then sit in the Piazza by the fountain and enjoy the view and your ice cream of course!

I hope this post is going to help many of you and as always comments are welcome!

Activities in Sicily

In Sicily normal school time usually is from 8.00 to 1.00 , this leaves a big slot of time for young people that can be dedicated to extra curriculum activities, such as playing a musical instrument, swimming, dancing ect...

Sicily is also quite famous for extreme sports as its mountainous landscapes offer the ideal place for Trekking, Hiking, Mountain Biking, Horse Riding and Running , while the many sandy beaches makes it a perfect place to go scuba diving, sailing, surfing and any other water sports.

If you are a fan of windsurfing from the 15th to the 23rd of May 2010 in Mondello (Palermo's beach), will
take place the 25th edition of World Festival on the beach . This year's event will include the 2010 Sicily
Grand Prix.

For the best scooba diving experience i definately reccommend a trip to Ustica.
Ustica is a small island  55 km north of Palermo where regular ferry or speed boats
can take you to the island .
Many  divers are attracted by the deep dives of this beautiful volcanic island.

As always comments are welcome.

Sicilian cuisine

In my opinion Sicilian Cuisine is a masterpiece of Italy.

The many recipes are simple and its ingredients very flavourful thanks to the climate.

Olive oil is largely used for cooking and dressing, butter is rarely used.
Fish is very popular especially served fresh with oil and garlic or olives, tomatoes and
capers.

Sea salt is also used a lot and various dishes are enriched with herbs that grow locally in
 abundance such as basil, parsley, mint, sage, rosemary etc.

At lunchtime pasta is the most popular dish.
If you travel around the Trapani province cous cous is very popular especially with fish.

Bread is largely used with almost any dish.
Different types of cheese are produced on the island like ricotta and caciocavallo which are personally two of my
favourites.

Sicily is also a proud producer of wine, boasting 28 vineyards and 21 DOC wines.
A red wine I definately reccomend is Nero D' Avola and a nice White is Corvo Glicine.

Sicilian puddings are often fruit based and quite rich, a pudding that I think anyone
who visits sicily must try is the cannolo siciliano and of course the delicious ice cream.

Feel free to leave a comment.

Flight to Sicily

The only flight to Sicily available trough Ryanair from london Stansted airport is
to Trapani as the route to Palermo will be discontinued by the end of March 2010.

I have tried  investigate the matter over the Web and i learnt of a dispute between
Ryanair and the Italian Authorities regarding some type of ID (fishing license) used on
domestic flights.

As i could not find any other news regarding the Stansted/Palermo route, i decided to call
Ryanair. Unfortunately the operator didn't know or wasn't allowed to tell me why
Ryanair will stop flying to Palermo but he confirmed that from 30th March 2010 Trapani
will be the only route to Sicily.

 Trapani is situated on the west coast of Sicily and has traditionally made its money from
tuna, salt and carved corall (canned tuna was invented there). Today the salt is the only
industry remaining, although its port is still busy with ferries connecting to the Egadu islands
and Tunisia.

The distance between Trapani and Palermo is about 110 Km.
The easyest and cheapest way toget to Palermo city centre from Trapani is with a coach
company called Terravision.

A single ticket costs around 12 Euros and the total journey is approximately 3hrs . But if  you
hire a car it will only take you about 1h 22 min!

As always feel free to leave a comment

Sicily Climate

Sicily has got one of the best climates on earth in my opinion.
Winter can be mild by the coast where in the daytime low
temperatures float between 13 and 15 Celsius.

If you travel inland it can be quite cold and stormy
due to the presence of mountains as they can reach up to
3000 feet. You can actually go skiing on Mount Etna.

On the other hand July and August can be very hot
with temperatures reaching on average 40 to 42 celsius especially if the dusty
Scirocco wind is blowing from the african Sahara desert.

From my personal experience the best time to visit Sicily is either
in May or late September as temperatures average around 27 to 31 Celsius.
You will still get plenty of sunny days and it will be a cheaper holiday because
it is out of season and the beaches are generally not as crowded as the majority of
sicilians tend to go on holiday in July and August.

Hope I have given you a clearer idea on when to travel to Sicily so you can make the most
of  your holiday. If you have any questions  just leave a comment in the comment box.

As always comments are welcome!

History of Sicily in 100 seconds