Today we had no plans other than wandering around and absorbing the flavour of the city, with naps in our room if and as needed.
We headed out after breakfast to see the Mercato di Ballerò, one of Palermo’s famous street markets and the closest one to where we are staying. There were fabulous displays of produce from land and sea, vendors crying their wares, and lots of people. We were early so most of the people visiting the market were local shoppers buying groceries; I didn’t see anyone else just taking pictures.
Cauliflower! None of it was white or wrapped in plastic, the only way I’ve seen it at home.
Deep fried prawns on sticks? This display was across from where we ate lunch 4 hours later and didn’t appear to have changed. When were they fried or are these just a non-edible display?
How very Sicilian! Chunks of octopus served in a paper cone to eat with a stick. This display was also unchanged 4 hours later, as most of the market vendors were packing up.
Keith AdamsWhen we visited Tuscany our tour organizer pointed out that "graffiti" is an Italian word. The reason seems obvious... Reply to this comment 1 year ago
After a stop by our room to swap my puffy jacket for my light fleece, we carried on down towards the port. Al wanted to get some CO2 cartridges so we looked on Google Maps for a bike store. Most of the route to get there was along the water but the last part was on a fairly busy street with no real provision for pedestrians. We never saw the bike store so turned toward our accommodation. Another search yielded another bike shop and it turned out to be on the informal “Via Bicicletta” that Scott Anderson mentioned finding in one of his journals. It took several tries but Al came away happy with 4 “bombolette CO2”.
“Ficus macrophylla, subspecies columnaris” or so said the sign. Planted in honour of the unification of Italy, or so I interpreted the rest of the sign.
On the unpleasant street where we failed to find the bike shop Google Maps said was there, we saw several horses trotting quickly, pulling little racing carts. Nowhere else to go?
Margie AndersonI love this photo in so many ways. The red details, from the building top to Al eyeing that red bike. Great photo! M. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Next was lunch and for this we returned to the Mercato di Ballerò for “street food”.
The term seems to mean little dishes served on disposable plates with canned or bottled beverages. Al had mixed fried fish and a beer and I had grilled vegetables and a chinotto. The food was okay and the atmosphere chaotic. We are in Sicily!
After a nap we walked over to a church very close to our B&B but it closed at 4:30 and we were an hour later. Tomorrow, perhaps. We did see some of the Cathedral and walked around some more.
Let’s go take a closer look at the cathedral. It’s just over there.
Jacquie GaudetTo Patrick O'HaraThanks! This street intrigued us; coincidentally, the pizzeria here is where we ended up going for our late lunch the next day. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Rachael AndersonGreat photos! You definitely right about it being chaotic! I’m looking forward to going to some quieter places. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
