Norman Palace

Last full day on this trip and feeling some familiarity in this part of Palermo. Having already spent a few days here, I wondered how to fill my day, and whether I should've left from Rome like a few other people instead of flying tomorrow. Alas, we'll never know, and I'm a big believer of things happening when they do for a reason.

This morning, I took a tour of the Massimo Theatre. It was really nice to be in a performance space again, and I was reminded of my time of the opera house in Buenos Aires a few days back. I feel this one was a little less impressive, though it is the 3rd biggest in Europe. Maybe it was because the tour was a little short, I would've loved a bit more time to sit in the box, especially since they were auditioning singers for an upcoming chorus.

More walking and wandering through the old city as one of the other girls had time to explore before her bus was to leave. We ended up walking back down towards the Cathedral and outside the old city gate there before winding back through the nearby gardens and back towards the hotel. I continued to add more steps walking back to the train station with her before heading back towards the hotel.

Instead of stopping though, I decided to keep going towards Giardino Inglese, an urban park. There's a couple of statues there and some cool trees as well as a very small amusement park. A pleasant surprise and great for a stroll. I really do enjoy wandering in local spots that few people visit, and a wonderful reminder to keep doing that in future trips, to get off the beaten off and just spend time walking around.

A little break back at the hotel, and out again. Back towards the Cathedral, but this time I'm headed to a family owned puppet theatre to take in a show as recommended by our tour leader. Puppets are a fading Sicilian tradition, and although the entire presentation was in Italian, I caught enough words to understand that the story was about 2 guys fighting over a girl. The show was short but exciting to watch, especially the swordfights between the puppets. It is truly an experience to add to your Palermo visit, and I hope they find a way to keep it alive.

One last meal as I head back to the hotel for an early night, and perhaps it can't get more Sicilian than this - the infamous street food: spleen sandwich. It's tastier than it sounds, honest. Maybe because in Asian culture, we consume a fair amount of organs. The spleen sandwich is more than just spleen, there's also other organs in there. I think it depends on the lemon vs cheese ratio and left it to the chef to decide =) It is very filling though so if you want fries with it, hopefully you've got someone to share it with. I got mine at Passami U Coppu which is right on the main street as I wanted to make sure it was at a clean place since I was travelling the next day.

The streets tonight were quite busy and I found myself pulling on my mask as I weaved my way back to the hotel. It almost seems like the pandemic is over, but I know it's not. Dealing with staying safe from Covid has definitely been interesting on this trip, but more on that tomorrow as I recap this adventure.Read more