On Tuesday, we explored the southeast area of the historic old town.  Our first stop was San Domenico church in the Vucciria neighborhood.  Many famous Sicilians are buried in this church.  I know none of them.  However, it was still an interesting place for a looksy.

San Domenico facade

View of the interior

The alter area

An ornately carved side chapel

I really liked this tomb with its protectors

Then we came across another church with an open door, so of course we went in.  This was Santa Maria della Pieta, and it was decorated for an upcoming wedding.

Santa Maria della Pieta facade

View of the interior

The ceiling

One of the side walls – note the real pipe organ in the foreground and the fake/painted organ further down the wall

Next stop, the Orto Botanico.  These botanical gardens are run by the University of Palermo, and it’s a worthy visit.  The plants here are all conducive to the hot Sicilian climate, so there are cacti, palm trees, ficus, and aloe plants among others.

Cactus Row

This plant was interesting

Stately palm trees

I’m glad my houseplants don’t get this big

I love this plant!

This is one, single ficus tree. Seriously. I know, right?  It’s 176 years old.

A pond with bamboo in the background

By this point, it was time for lunch so we wandered over to the old harbor, having been told that there were a couple of good restaurants on the water.  We had lunch at an open-air venue with great seafood.

Sailboats in the harbor

Fishing boats

View from our table in the restaurant

My lunch – beneath those potato slices is a delicious fish called “croaker”

After a leisurely lunch, it was mid-afternoon and hot as blazes, so we headed back to our air-conditioned apartment where I was able to watch “New Moon” on Netflix in cool comfort.  (By the way, watching that Volturi headquarters scene that was filmed in Italy while I was in Italy myself was dorkishly awesome.)