We’ve been surprised by how touristy Palermo is.  We’ve been in restaurants where the only Italians are the restaurant staff.  We’ve seen a lot of tourist shops with postcards and refrigerator magnets and Sicily cookbooks in several languages.  I certainly didn’t expect any of this.  To be blunt, who picks Palermo for vacation?  The answer – lots of people.

On Wednesday, we hit what have to be the two biggest tourist attractions in the city – the Cappella Palatina and the main cathedral.

The Cappella Palatina is located in the Palazzo dei Normanni.  This palace was the home of the Kings of Sicily during the Norman rule and then was the seat of power for subsequent Silician rulers.  Today it is one of the Sicilian Parliament buildings.  Because it was originally a palace, it makes sense that this building would have its own cappella (chapel).

Okay, I’ll just cut to the chase.  The chapel was stunning and worthy of a palace.  The walls and ceiling were covered in beautiful mosaics.  It was interesting to think that, when originally constructed, this chapel was intended for the eyes of just the palace residents.  Now any old riffraff can pay ten euros to go inside.

When we left the Palazzo, we passed through the Villa Bonanno gardens and came upon the ruins of an ancient Roman house.  After four weeks in Italy, ancient ruins are a dime a dozen.  Big whoop.  (Just kidding – this was still cool!)

The next stop was the cathedral.  Considering this was the main church of the city, I was surprised at how austere it was inside. 

However, there were a few surprises inside.  First of all, there is a chapel with a silver alter and decorations.  It shines like a beacon from the end of the building.

But as you’re walking down the side aisle towards this chapel, you look to your right and see a paper sign for the toilets, and this sign is in another side chapel.  This sign is indicating that the toilets are IN the side chapel.  Upon further investigation, you discover that entrance to the public toilets is, indeed, behind the alter in this chapel.  Much hilarity amongst the multi-national tourists ensues.

Then we hit the Ballaro neighborhood market which was by far the best market.  It went on and on and on.  We had lunch in a little street restaurant.  One of the funny things about eating at a restaurant in the market is that there is a large stock of ingredients nearby.  When I ordered a chicken cutlet for lunch, the waitress yelled to the butcher three doors down, “I need a chicken cutlet!”  It was delivered a couple of minutes later and then cooked up in the kitchen.

After lunch, we wandered through the market and gradually made our way back home.