Panoramus Palermo

Palermo, located on the island of Sicily, was originally founded by the Phoenicians around 734 BC. After being taken over by the Greeks, it was renamed Panoramus -meaning complete port. Through time, it was ruled by many empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab and eventually even the Normans gained control. Due to the city's age and the myriad of rulers, Palermo has many unique buildings with multiple architectural influences. It's definitely a polarizing city, people seem to usually love it or hate it. Personally, I was excited to be in a place that existed well before Jesus was born and essentially is one of the larger cultural melting pots.

Not the clearest image but it was crazy how bright the moon was 

Pulling up to port

Pano of the port 

As we were departing

Before I go on,  one thing I should explain - our mentality was to soak up as much culture as possible. In order to do so, we would not be able to take part in the excursions offered by the cruise line. Hubs and I are great at finding our way, even without a plan. I'm not sure how, but somehow we always seem to stumble upon great things when we're simply meandering about. That being said, in hindsight I wish I would have pushed my family to participate in more excursions. However I digress..

I awoke early that morning as the ship was pulling into port and starting planning out the day's itinerary in my head. Palermo has a lot of unique options, so I was excited what we could get to in such a short amount of time. Breakfast was a bit rough, I think my sister and BIL were still suffering from jet lag and everyone seemed to be moving a bit slowly. Once we were able to get off the ship, we were met with tons of locals offering to show us all the sites for the day but we opted to negotiate with a cab driver.

Travel tip: these excursions, while not vetted through the cruise line, offered similar sites at a much lower price. Most ports had the option to do so, so it's a great option if you're willing to chance waiting until the day of to decide what you're going to see. 

Before long we were pulling up to the Palazzo Normanni, this is where Sicilian Parliment meets and dates all the way back to the days of Arab control. It was later restored by the Normans (hence the name) and boy, is it worth seeing! Not only are there a ton of artifacts, but the entrance fee also allows you to see the Cappella Palatina - this alone makes it worth the cost. It was completed around 1140AD and is covered with incredible mosaics. We were all stunned with the impressiveness of it and honestly, if I ever make it back to Palermo - this will be on my must see again list.

I loved these arches

Cappella Palatina

Cappella Palatina

Cappella Palatina

Cappella Palatina

Some artwork I liked

A beautiful vase

More mosaics

Outside the Palazzo

Courtyard at the bottom of the Palazzo

Next, we headed towards the city center and happened upon the Piazzo di Cattedrale where the Palermo Cathedral is located. Another must see. The cathedral was completed in 1185AD and blends Greek, Roman, Norman and Arabic cultures. Not only was the piazzo beautiful but the cathedral itself is breathtaking. For 5 euro, you can buy tickets to access take the stairs up the steeple and get great panoramic views of the city. Of course, that was right up our alley! We bought tickets but had to wait around 20 minutes before we were allowed up - which ended up being perfect because it allowed us plenty of time to look at the prolific detail. Seriously, I can't emphasize enough... if ever you find yourself in Palermo, please make time to see both the Palazzo and the Palermo Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral

Far off view of the altar

I can't imagine painting these ceilings! It must have taken forever

View from the top

More views from the top

From the other direction now... 

I couldn't stop myself from taking photos, it was stunning

If you look closely you can see the Mediterranean 

Here's the front of the cathedral

View from the bottom

We'd been at the siteseeing for a few hours and the group was starting to get hungry so we started back towards the ship. Hubs opted for the scenic route through the city center and began to lead the way. He took us down through some beautiful streets with shops, restaurants and bakeries. All the smells were making my mouth water! Eventually we made it to Piazzo Prettoria which resides in the exact center of the historical city center and was originally known as the "square of shame."

Fountain at the Piazza Pretoria

Building across from the fountain, I thought it was beautiful

The troops were wearing out quickly, so we decided to make our way to the Teatro Massimo before they went back to the ship. The teatro is actually the second largest indoor stage in Europe and where Godfather 3 was filmed. It was absolutely beautiful from the outside and I'm sad to say we decided not to buy tickets for the panoramic roof view nor did we venture inside. Looking back, I wish we'd at least gone inside to take a look.

Coming upon the Teatro

I think I need this statue for our yard... 

With that - the fam decided it was best they head back to the ship, leaving Hubs and myself to finish the sites alone. Since we'd hit the big things on my list, we sort of meandered around through the city until our grumbling stomachs got the better of us. Luckily, we happened upon a cute cafe so we decided to stop and enjoy some pizza and maybe a beer or two... 

Once we were our stomachs were full and our feet were rested, we decided to take the long route back to the ship so we could see as much as we could. Again we got pretty lucky as we happened to pick a route that took us directly to the Teatro Politeama which was another incredibly beautiful teatro. From there, we found a pedestrian walkway taking us through the shopping district. I'm not a huge shopper, but for those who are... you can find pretty much anything here. We continued on finding a few parks and sites as we made our way back to the ship.

I thought this was pretty

Teatro Politeama

Close up

Beautiful gardens we found

Hubs checking out the scenery

After my initial research, I wasn't really sure I'd like Palermo all that much but I was pleasantly surprised. It was not without grit but to me that made the beauty stand out more. It was definitely one of the more unique places we've traveled to and if you're in Italy, it's a worth a short visit from a history perspective alone. Our next stop was my favorite of the Italian ports - Cagliari. Can't wait to share with you next week... until then... ta ta for now!