September 1 – Palermo, Sicily

The first impression of Sicily as we were touching ground was, “We’re not in Sacramento any more, Dorothy!” The next thing that smacks your senses is how very Middle Eastern this land looks: the palm trees, the color of the buildings, the terrain itself. As we cruised into the airport, we could see a massive [...]

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September 3 – Palermo

Gino woke to find me hanging out the window, cackling to myself as I peered through the video camera, capturing the street below. The chaotic traffic swirling below our window three stories down provided the morning’s entertainment. What an comedic opera!
Soon Giorgio arrived with breakfast provisions, and we gathered in the dining room to meet [...]

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Medieval Palermo

A modern-day air conditioner clings to the side of a crumbling
Medieval wall, symbolic of Palermo’s many contrasts.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main street that cuts through the heart of old Palermo, is said to be the old Phoenician road that connected the ancient city with the seaside. Treading its length, we inevitably came upon the [...]

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Fontana Pretoria

The Fontana Pretoria was astounding. An enormous fountain designed in 1552 (I was disappointed that the water never ran the entire time we were there), it was destined for a garden in a private Florentine villa. Ultimately, however, it was set into Piazza Pretoria in Palermo. This could not have been an easy feat, since [...]

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