18 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT PALERMO

Palermo has been selected as Italian Capital of Culture 2018 so here, in no particular order, are 18 facts - some quirky, others not so - that you may not know about the city:

1.  Its Palazzo dei Normanni was, from 1130 , the seat of the Sicilian Parliament, one of the oldest in the world. (I've met a lot of Sicilians who claim that it is, in fact, the oldest.] It now houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly.

2.  In 2016 Palermo was declared the worst city in Italy for traffic congestion.

3.  Frutti di Martorana, the marzipan "fruits" you will see everywhere in Sicily in autumn, were, according to legend, first made in The Martorana Convent in Palermo.

4.  The city's most important Arab and Norman buildings, along with the Cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale, were collectively named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Palermo

5.  Palermo street food is legendary. Eat it first, then ask what's in it!

6.  The Palermo football team's badge has been ranked (by the British Daily Mail) as among the best in the world.

7.  The city has wide boulevards reminiscent of towns in France.

8.  The word for traditional Sicilian rice balls, arancini, is used in its feminine form, arancine there.

9.  The Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs) are a very macabre, and often upsetting, sight but must be seen. I once decided to leave them till last on a school trip but my students, having been shown the Parliament, Cathedral and other beautiful buildings, were impatiently demanding, "Can we go and see the dead people now?" by mid-morning.

Me with students in Palermo, 1995

10. The city is second only to Naples for the number of coffee manufacturers that call it home (47 in 2011).

11. During the reign of Ruggero (Roger) II, Palermo was a city in which Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side in harmony. This was to come to an end, however, under Frederick II, who expelled the Muslims in 1224.

12.  In 1185 Roger's daughter and Frederick's mother Costanza d'Altavilla (Constance d'Hauteville) travelled to Germany to be married with the greatest dowry the world had ever seen. She gave birth to her son in the market square in Ancona on her way back to Sicily. You can read more about this extraordinary journey in a book I reviewed here. Costanza is buried in Palermo Cathedral.

13.  Palermo has a museum of traditional puppets  (opera dei pupi) where you can also see puppet shows at certain times of the year.  You can find out more about opera dei pupi in my post here.

Some of my own Sicilian puppets

14.  Traditional Sicilian carts vary, from province to province, in their design and size. Those from Palermo were squarer and wider than many of the others and were originally used for transporting grapes. This is a link to an article on Sicilian carts that I wrote for Italy Magazine in 2010.

15. Not strictly in the City of Palermo but in Palermo Province and a short bus ride away is Monreale, whose cathedral, begun in 1174, is one of the best preserved examples of Norman architecture anywhere. It contains Byzantine mosaics throughout. There are stunning views of Palermo from Monreale.

16. In 2014 the priests of Palermo Cathedral were much criticised for displaying a prominent WC sign in a side chapel there. I don't know about you, but when being a tourist I've often desperately needed the loo by the time I got to a city's cathedral!

17.  Palermo was named Panormus ("complete port" or possibly "well-protected bay") by the Greeks, This became Balarme under Arabic rule.

18.  To end on a sombre note, Palermo Airport, formerly known as Punta Raisi, was renamed in 1995 in honour of the anti-Mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who were both murdered in 1992, the latter along with his wife. The airport's full name is now L''aeroporto Internazionale Falcone e Borsellino di Palermo-Punta Raisi but it is usually referred to as aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino. Italy has been remembering the two judges in this, the 25th anniversary year of the stragi (massacres) of Capaci and via D'Amelio. We must not forget that all but one of their bodyguards died with them on those terrible days.

The candidates for Italian Capital of Culture 2020 are Agrigento, Catania, Messina, Noto, Ragusa and Siracusa. Guess which two I'll be rooting for!

City of Palermo
Coat of Arms

20 [NON-MAFIA RELATED] REASONS TO VISIT SICILY

I was sad and disappointed to learn, over the Christmas holidays, of tour operators who are again setting up "Mafia tours" of  Sicily.  I am not going to pretend that the Mafia is dead and I have expressed my thoughts about its continued existence in this post.  However, there is so much that is lovely to see here, such a varied and fascinating culture to explore and there are so many fantastic taste sensations to be enjoyed that I cannot understand why anyone would want to persist in promoting the stereotypes.  Sicily and the Sicilian people deserve better so here is a very personal and eclectic list of good reasons to visit my island in the sun:

1.  Marvel at the Greek sites of Agrigento, Segesta and Selinunte.

Tempio della Concordia, Agrigento

2.  In the summer, attend a performance of a Greek play at the Greek Amphitheatre in Siracusa.

Performance of Medea at Siracusa in 2009

3.  Visit the Infiorata [carpet of flowers] in Noto in May.

4.  See the breathtaking beauty of the Val di Noto towns, which collectively form a World Heritage Site.

Duomo di San Giorgio, Modica

5.  See the Venere di Aidone, over two thousand years old and home after so many years of enforced wandering.

6.  Relax on clean, unpolluted beaches.

7.  See the settings of the Montalbano films.

8.  And, talking of that gourmet detective, try the local arancini!

9.  Breathe in the heady scent of orange blossom and buy some zagara cologne.

10.  Eat a Sicilian vanilla orange!

11.  Take a bus ride along the edge of the Stretto at Messina.  It is stunningly beautiful.  While you're there, gaze over at the Calabrian coast - you could even take the ferry across if you have time - and remember all who passed along this route as they emigrated to Northern Italy and far, far beyond.  Like migrating peoples today, they wanted only a better life. 

12.  Go to a street market, such as the ones in Modica and Catania.  You'll be amazed by what you find there!

13.  Visit Bellini's house in Catania.

Image of Vincenzo Bellini: Wikipedia

14.  Admire Norman and Arabic architecture in Palermo and visit the seat of one of the world's oldest parliaments.

15.  See Modican chocolate being made to the Aztec method at Bonajuto in the town's Corso Umberto.

16. Don't miss out on the best gelato in the world!

17.  Take a trip up grumpy old Etna.

18.  Eat plentiful prickly pears in autumn and sip prickly pear liqueur.

19.  See traditionally painted Sicilian carts at Donnafugata in Ragusa or at the Mostra Permanente del Carretto Siciliano housed in the Museum at Terrasini [Palermo Province].

20.  Go to a Sagra, such as the Strawberry Festival at Casssibile in spring, the Prickly Pear Festival at Militello in Val di Catania or any number of chestnut festivals in the Etna area in autumn.  Relearn the art of living in tune with the seasons.

Finally, if you are genuinely interested in Mafia history but not in sensationalising tragedy, please pay homage to those brave Sicilians who lost their lives campaigning against the criminal organisation:  Giuseppe Impastato, Paolo Borsellino, Giovanni Falcone and others like them deserve wider world recognition, as do the thousands of Sicilians who work daily to preserve their best traditions and make their region a better place.

For all of them, please come and see the Sicily I love.

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 14

This is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles:

Our blog of the week was cookitaly.com and I enjoyed talking to blog author and cook Carmelita Caruana.

If you have ever dreamed of wine flowing from a fountain, there is a place in Lazio where this actually happens!

If you are in London, you may like to know about a very special exhibition there to celebrate the Papal visit.  In this article you can also read about the Ninian tartan which the Pope wore in Scotland today.  This was also the week in which Giorgio Armani was named International Designer of the Year by GQ Magazine and Gucci announced a new cinema award for women.  Personally I am glad that the outmoded Miss Italia contest is over and with it, all the speculation about this.  If I were in Tuscany right now, I would love to attend this exhibition on the life of Mìichelangelo and this one on the history of wine.

For my personal Patti Chiari column I wrote about traditional Sicilian carts.  If you've been to Sicily, you will have seen them at tourist spots and you may even have bought a replica as a souvenir.  But do you know how they came to be so richly decorated?  Take a look at the article to find out.

Happy reading.

MARE DI SETTEMBRE

To the sea with Irma today. It was much quieter down there than it was a couple of weeks ago although it is still hot. [Sicilians, and Italians in general, like to do things during what they deem the proper "season".] The sea, which was completely blue through July and August, has now taken on tones of green [verde del mare] and violet:

Refreshing salads for lunch in a beach bar. Irma had tuna in hers




whilst I had a similar one minus the fish:





This nice replica of a carretto siciliano was displayed in the bar:



Now, don't get me wrong - I love the romantic old Med. But I don't know how Sicilians have the energy to visit it every day [sometimes twice a day] for two whole months! I mean, there is so much to do before you go and even more when you get back: before setting out, women have to check they don't have a single hair in a place where there shouldn't be any; they correct the situation if need be and then worry about it anyway. You have to find a suitable bag that doesn't look like a bag lady's or the one you carted the potatoes home in; find a decent-looking towel and pack it; if you have a fake tan, touch it up the night before; apply lots of high SPF sun cream [necessary for all in Sicily]; pack make-up remover lotions for the mess the waves will make of even the most "water-resistant" products ; pack reapplication make-up; remember to take a perfume spray. Unless you are going to the private part of the beach where you can hire a lettino [sunlounger] and parasol you also have to carry these or at least a little wooden chair [these are much beloved of Sicilian beach-goers and are surprisingly practical]. When you are finally there, you have to keep applying the suncream, repositioning your lettino or little wooden chair as the sun moves and, if using the former, keep rearranging yourself on it. I'm British enough to pretend I am nonchantly reading a book when really I am people-watching so I fret about maybe dripping suncream onto the pages. [I'm not houseproud but I am fussy about my books.] In Italy you have to stand up to greet every acquaintance who appears on the same stretch of beach and also stand up when they move on so you'll probably have done a fair bit of exercise before you so much as dip a toe in the sea! When you get home, it's time to wash your swimsuit and towel; rinse out beach sandals; wash your hair, bath or shower [again]; remove ruined make-up; apply loads of after-sun cream; reapply make-up, toenail varnish and [if you're as pale as me] fake tan on legs; wait for the latter to dry before you can get dressed, then worry if it still might come off on your clothes.... It all takes forever and I find it quite [though pleasantly] exhausting!

How is the beach for you?