Celebrating our 20th Anniversary in Beautiful & Lively Palermo

by Chantal & David · Published September 1, 2023 · Updated January 5, 2024

We must firstly apologise for the length of this blog, but when, if 😉, you get to the bottom, you will soon see that Palermo cannot be done in a day or a short blog!!

After the storm passed, we headed the 23nm’s west, first under motor then sailing to Palermo in Force 3 winds, that was until we got into the harbour when the winds decided to blow 20 knots, this was going to be a lively mooring, or so we thought, but someone was shining on us as no sooner than they appeared, the winds dropped to 4 knots just as we put Seaclusion into reverse to back into our space!

We were planning on stopping here for at least a couple of days, a) to get some new and badly needed service batteries fitted, and after 2 previous disastrous years, to celebrate our anniversary in style, albeit perhaps a day or 2 early as we were likely to be at anchor on the actual day!

Knowing that the following morning was likely to be taken up with the new batteries, we wasted no time and wandered off into the city to explore..

Stopping for a coffee and to taste the infamous cannoli.. not the pasta variety… but sweet corn shaped biscuit filled with flavoured ricotta… and Granita, a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavourings.

Interesting, too sweet for me, but unlikely to be the last David has during our stay!

We then headed off to the Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele, the largest opera house in Italy, and the third largest opera house in Europe. Not allowed to visit it without a guided tour, we dipped our hands in our wallet and signed up to see it. It was stunning and the acoustics amazing, well worth the visit.

Life outside the Theatre was just as enchanting…with horse drawn carriages and tuk tuks vying to attract the tourists attention, and people just chilling out on the steps.

From there we headed off to the Cathedral de Palermo, which was stunning, despite the scaffolding and renovations works, although we didn’t go inside.

We then continued walking, soaking up the sights and the atmosphere, including the very apparent movement to expel the mafia from the Sicilian shores.

And down to Quattro Canti, officially known as Piazza Vigliena, which is a Baroque square considered to be the center of the historic quarters. It is the intersection of two major streets in Palermo, the Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele where the corners of all four of the ancient quarters meet, one of which leads off to the church of San Giuseppe dei Padre Teatini, and Santa Caterina, with the Fontana Pretoria (sadly not running) and its 48 nude statutes sandwiched in between.

We finally stopped for a much needed rest, glass of limoncello spritz and wonderful bruschetta, with some innovative entertainment..

Before heading back towards the marina, chuckling at the different specialist shops along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, such as Pistaccarias, limoncellarias, colourful stalls selling all manner of fresh juices and even Fatima´s Bar..

Shattered, having walked we have no idea how many kilometres, but a fair few, we were ready for our pit.

On the 7th, our premature Anniversary we had a working morning sorting out Seaclusion and her batteries, well it can’t all be fun and games, chilled out for the afternoon, then got dressed up… We had almost forgotten what that was like, to go to a wonderful restaurant recommended to us, in the MEC Museum.

The MEC museum, aside from being set in the most beautiful building was one of first of the IT revolution in Sicily, set up by the architect Giuseppe Forello, one of the largest Apple collectors in Europe which exhibits some very rare and iconic pieces invented by the genius of Steve Jobs.

But of course we were there also for the food, wine, atmosphere and to celebrate 20 Years!!!!

Aside from the rather snooty maitre d´, there is always one, we certainly didn’t demure to the hushed tones of the place, giggling away as if we had only just met, and livening up our waiters evening for sure!.

The evening still young, we headed back to the main Via and indeed back to the bar we had stopped at the day before, for more entertainment, coffee, baileys and of course…..I did say David would have another cannoli, didn’t I… before winding our way home.

Having decided to stay one more day in lovely Palermo, the following morning we headed off to take in the site that is the Capo market and the back streets.

The Capo market is one of the oldest in Sicily, and in Europe, with a varied cultural history, melding Romanesque, Norman, and Saracen historical influences into a market that remarkably stands to this day. A tribute to Sicily’s Arabian past, this narrow, tent lined street, resembles those one might find in North Africa or the Middle East. Walking through this market one is hit with the intoxicating, and exotic aromas of everything from citrus fruits to fresh fish, but is so much more than a market, with people meeting friends, sitting on plastic chairs in this loud and frenetic place munching on the street food. Had to be done, tasting the final local speciality, Arancini, an Italian rice ball that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried, a staple of Sicilian cuisine. They come with different fillings, but with little Italian and everyone screaming their order above the next person, it was just pick and hope for the best!

Finally, we really needed to do some provisioning for our next leg, and in getting throughly lost trying to find the one supermarket that would deliver to the marina, we came across some sites we probably wouldn’t have seen, not sure our feet appreciated it though!

More than a few hours later, we made it back to the boat, took delivery of our food, water and vino, spirited it all away. Being too shattered to cook, we ventured out for a quick pizza, would you believe we have actually only had 2 since arriving in Italy…🤪