I met a lot of German speakers in Palermo. A lot of people in general but the majority were German speakers. I just wanted to emphasize that. I noticed each person had their way of keeping memories of their trip beyond just traditional photos or souvenirs.
My first night I realized I had never booked a ticket back to Barcelona so I spent €175 to fix that little problem. Then I went to Santamarina with an Austrian with very voluminous hair and a soft and genuine way of thinking and a Swiss who was honest in the face. Two German men from our hostel found the Austrian girl’s number somehow and met up with us. They arrived in Sicily by boat and ate one pizza each per day while on the island. German speakers met: IIII
The next day I walked 42,565 steps. Not too sure how. I went to the Mercado del Ballaro and discovered that a box of strawberries cost €1 here so naturally I bought strawberries three times that day and at least once a day for the remainder of my trip. They have a variety of seafood and traditional Sicilian food that I loved. I then went to Ficus magnolioides, a botanical garden with lots of rotting oranges and organised ants. That night with some girls from my hostel we went to La Vucceria, a lively street with bars and restaurants.
With some girls I met, we visited a lot of things that I’m about to list but I’m sure I passed by during my 42,565 steps the previous day. First we saw the Teatro Massimo which is Italy’s largest opera house. Next the Cattedrale di Palermo and there’s not much to say about it. We then went through the Mercato de Cado which came to be during Arab rule over 1,000 years ago and I got €1 strawberries. Afterwards we went to the Quattro Canti which is a square in which each corner represents a season and a Spanish king from when Sicily was under Spanish rule. Then we went to Fontana Pretoria which was built in Florence in1554 and moved to Sicily 20 years later. I didn’t even know that it was possible to move a fountain. It is known as the square of shame because it has nude statues and all of the statues' dicks were severed. We ended up at Chiesa e Monastero di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, a church with a bakery run by nuns attached to it called I Segreti del Chiostro. Obviously we had to try. There, they are famous for making giant cannolis in front of you and they are so amazing and wonderful and splendid. We then went to a restaurant far from the city center called Trattoria da Pino. We had involtini di melanzane, caponata siciliana, and involtini di pesce spada to share and I had the pasta agglassata. They didn’t speak English, we shared a table with strangers, and we didn’t really know what we ordered but for €11 each we had three courses and drinks. I then went to Montedello beach nearby and went as far as I could to the tip of the island. I stopped when some weirdo guarding a beach told me it cost €1 to keep going. I’m not paying to have access to nature. Bro didn’t make the beach. Why would I pay him? But also why would I waste my time arguing with him? So I went back to my hostel. I then went to Ancient Saint Francis Focaccia Shop, a restaurant open since 1834. I had a glass of white wine, sfincione and a cannoli, and another glass of white wine. The cannoli was not as good as the one I had previously, but was still fabulous because by this point I was extremely wine drunk. I texted my bestfriend's mom during this dinner and she advised me to get some hoes.
Maybe I should put dates to make this easier to follow. On April 18th, I decided to climb up a mountain. I took a bus up half way and when I tried to pay for my ticket, the ticket lady seemed kind of inconvenienced that she’d have to stop talking to the bus driver so instead, I took a seat and shut up. It was a nice mountain with pretty flowers of various colors. I saw a biker pee at the top and he said something to me that I didn’t understand. I walked all the way down the mountain because I didn’t want to wait for the bus and I went to another market. I was by the old bakery run by nuns so I went to get another cannoli. I got a pastry that looked like a strawberry as well that had strong notes of vanilla. I later learned from one of the German speakers I met how they came to be and I feel compelled to share. Frutta Martorana were made in the 12th century by nuns to decorate bare trees in anticipation of the Pope’s arrival in november when fruit were out of season. It then became a tradition and is especially associated with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. While I ate it, a man dressed in all red came to talk to me. He said I looked Arab and gave me a hand rolled cigarette and his number. Sorry but I never texted him. He had a beard and was pushing 40. He recommended another cannoli place that was even better than the one run by old nuns. I wasn’t able to try it but it was called Agata Dentritica o Merinira if anyone reading this ever goes to Sicily and wants to try.
The last day, I went to see dead people with people I met at my hostel that morning. There were three of them and I’ll explain who I’ve understood them to be now from my brief time with them. One really liked her kindle and had a very warm laugh. She was the first one I met and only has instagram on her safari browser in case her girlfriend sends her a reel. She is from a smaller version of Berlin but I forget the name. The next one is from Berlin and has orange curly hair and reallyyy likes Napole. The last one is a guy from Vienna with good tattoos. They are not good because they were meticulously thought out or because the images have some divine symbolism but I just really appreciate the end products. He said he chooses a design he likes in a shop and attributes a meaning to them. For example, he has a tattoo of two bunnies fighting and explained that when male rabbits from a certain species mate they are oftentimes annoying to the females so the females hit them and then they just start fighting. He says it is a reminder that too much desire can lead to bad things. By the way, they all spoke German. German speakers met: IIIIIII We went to see the Catacombe dei Cappuccini. The 8000 bodies were placed there in the 16th century and the last one to be mummified was in 1920. Family members often visited the mummified bodies just as we do graves. It made me uneasy to see dead strangers. I couldn’t imagine what they were thinking. Everyone grieves differently. We then went to a restaurant called Da Spirito where they didn’t speak English which was a good sign. We got many things to share and I had a ragu de something. Their pastas are only €5 and written on a blackboard, often changed. For dessert we had espresso, and the girl from Berlin wanted to try the Minne di Sant'Agata. She explained that they are boob shaped cakes filled with ricotta cheese, chocolate chips, and candied fruit made in honor of Saint Agatha who was tortured in prison by cutting off her boobs because she refused the advances of a Roman governor named Quintianus in the 3rd century. At first it looked questionable but upon trying it, it was exquisite. The nipple (double nipple) was a candied cherry and mini orange candy. We then went to a flea market with tons of jewelry and chandeliers and most interestingly, hand painted tiles from the 15th to 17th century being sold so casually. The guy from Vienna took a little square of tile as a memory. What an amazing place to be. We then sat on a bench in a park in front of the Palazzo dei Normanni and had a cigarette. We didn’t go inside the palace because it was €19 euro. I guess history just isn’t all that important to the youth these days. God! Was a pathetic and useless generation. We went to the market and got orange juice, strawberries, a cannoli, aperol spritz, and limoncello. I lost the German speakers and seeked sanction in a church. I couldn’t find them so I walked and then I found them and brought them back to the church because I was so taken aback by the paintings on the ceiling. The paintings in this church were psychedelic as described by me and one of the German speakers. He brought a limoncello into the church under his jacket. The reason Chiesa del Gesù has such vibrant colors in its ceilings is because it was bombed in 1943 and restored fully by 2009. We then sat at a restaurant by the old bakery run by nuns. The Austrian drew us and it is a memory very special to me. We then got cannolis from the old bakery run by nuns as well as lemon and orange flavored cookies. Then I went home.
On this trip, I appreciated the unique ways individuals keep memories of their trips, I learned a lot about the history, and found phenomenal Italian food. I didn’t tan though.