Day 2: Palermo - Let's not be Ugly Tourists

Article by guest author Peter Brooker

In Palermo, Sicily, the horse carriage drivers keep their mules cool by throwing buckets of water on their bollocks. To further promote their ignominy, they stick little cowboy hats on their heads. If you're reading this, please don't indulge in this heinous cruelty of getting horse drawn taxis. It's simply deplorable. 

Outside the Palermo Cathedral there is a golden statue of a lady holding a rose in a boat. I missed the description apologies. The internet also tells me nothing, but I'm sure she's a Santa Maria of something kind. All Italian women are either a Madonna or a Maria.

The Palermo Cathedral is a working cathedral, and as we entered like cattle in our group, a procession of mourners and pallbearers was exiting holding a casket. 

The kids play with their phones, ignoring everything. 

It was a long morning spent trying to stay in the shade. The tour guide abandoned us outside the Capella Palatina, which is the Palermos top tourist attraction, to get the tickets from the local vendor. We cooked in the sun for 15 minutes with no shelter. It really took the jam out of our doughnuts and we said as much in the reviews after.  

We missed the Royal Opera House which was featured in Godfather 3. From memory, it wasn't a great movie. Next time I go back I'd like to visit the Mafia Museum. The city remembers the Capaci bombing that happened in 1992. It has murals all over the city, and the Italians talk about it like it was yesterday. The via D'Amelio bombing that took place in the same year marked a very somber time for the city and has spawned countless books and movies. 

There is certainly more to do in Palermo than in Sardinia, but we only had a small amount of time in each city so it's unfair to draw too many conclusions.