Day 80: Friday 6 June - A Strange Day in Palermo

I was up early sitting on the wall close to reception having another attempt at downloading the Europe Camper map for our satnav. While it had started from zero again, it seemed to be transferring quite quickly and wandering around with my laptop I could see there was a vacant pitch where we could get reception in Mabel. That would allow us to hook up the laptop to the mains in Mabel and leave it downloading the map while we were out for the day. Jane reluctantly agreed we should strike camp and move Mabel the 50 metres, or so.

The faffing with the download and shifting Mabel meant the morning was drifting past and I began to get concerned that getting hold of the map was beginning to dominate our lives and detracting from the trip. Today we wanted just a taste of Palermo, but a chunk of the day had been lost.

We set the laptop and satnav up in Mabel’s garage (there’s a power point in there) and after a breakfast of cereal and a croissant for me and a chocolate croissant for Jane, we set off to walk through the back streets to the railway station in Isola delle Femmine. We arrived with a good 30 minutes to spare before the 10:46 to Palermo Centrale departed. It was very hot (nudging 30 degrees) and we sat in the cool of the waiting room. After a while we were joined by an Italian couple with a shaggy white dog (a Scots Terrier we think) that took a lot of pleasure from rolling on the cool floor. Then a German couple joined us clutching the same map and leaflet detailing the train service as we had picked up at the camping ground at the end of last night’s briefing. The man was struggling to validate his ticket, incorrectly using the machine used to purchase tickets. I was able to take him to the correct machine and show him how to use it – a feat we had accomplished with difficulty 10 minutes earlier.

While we were waiting a train from Palermo arrived and unloaded a procession of beach sellers with their boards containing their offerings of sunglasses, jewelry and whatever carefully wrapped in cloth. There were at least a dozen of them and I wondered what sort of a living they make.

Beach Sellers Off to Work

As the arrival of our train was announced we were amazed to see the Italian man start to lower his dog tail first into something that resembled a small aircraft carry-on bag, except that the majority of its faces were mesh, rather than solid. The dog was uncomplaining as its owner folded in protruding limbs and ears and then zipped the bag shut. The bag looked very cramped, but I guess the shaggy coat made the dog look larger than it was and Jane thought she saw it turn around in the bag.

Our Train Arrives

Our train was practically empty, spacious, very clean and air-conditioned. It stopped at all seven stations into Palermo and we arrived at getting on for 11:30. As in every city, the railway didn’t pass through the most salubrious parts as it neared its destination. Leaving the station it took a while to orient ourselves, but once we spotted north on our map was towards the bottom left corner we soon found Via Roma and then Via Vittorio Emanuele that divides Vucciria and La Kalsa, two of the quarters of the old city dating from the 16^th century.  We walked towards the waterfront heading for the Museo delle Marionette.

Our Spacious Train Arrives in Palermo

According to our guide book, Sicily’s most vibrant traditional entertainment is its puppet theatre and the museum contains the country’s definitive collection of puppets and scenery. The museum has to be one of Palermo’s best kept secrets as it was virtually impossible to find. Our map showed its approximate location and we found a sign directing us along Via Butera. After walking for 10 minutes we decided we must have missed it somehow so we retraced our steps. Just before we reached the sign we spotted a small poster indicating the museum was along a side street off Via Butera. It was, but we had to look very hard to find it, the entrance seemingly designed to hide the museum’s prescence. Judging by a comment in the vsitor’s book it appeared we weren’t the only ones to have had difficulty in finding the place.

One of Palermo's Many Alleyways

I Would Like To see This Guy's Safety Plan!

Imposing Entrance to Museo delle Marionette

Our guide book showed the museum was closed for siesta between 13:00 and 14:30. It was after 12:00 when we finally found the place and we were worried that our late start meant we wouldn’t be able to take in the whole museum. We needn’t have worried, we were back in the street a good 15 minutes before closing! I think ‘bizarre’ best sums up the museum with an eclectic collection of puppets from around the world including Japan, Mali, Rajasatan and even the old British favourite of Punch and Judy. The presentation of the puppets was cluttered with dozens of them cheek by jowl with little, or no, explanation of what we were looking at. It might have been different if we had been able to see a puppet show, the museum puts on twice weekly performances of rowdy battles, chivalry and shouted dialect based around French and Siscilian history. Unfortunately, we were too late for the 11:00 Friday performance.

Laurel and Hardy, Greta Garbo and a Man on Stilts

Greta Garbo

Punch and Judy

Soldier Puppet With Woman's Face?

Assorted Puppets

Lots of Strange Looking Puppets Like This One

From the museum we walked along the waterfront for a while before diving into he Vucciria quarter in search of its markets and street food. We were out of luck and followed Via Vittorio Emmanuele again before heading north down an alley that looked more promising. This time we struck gold finding flea markets selling fruit and vegetables and assorted household goods and ‘hole in the wall’ food outlets which was what we were looking for. Palermo is noted for its street food and a lot of the locals eat on the hoof. We avoided places where we didn’t recognise what was on offer - a local delicacy is bread rolls filled with sautéed beef spleen or tripe. We opted for a small café in an alleyway with just six tables managed by Brendan McCullum. It was an easy choice – his menu was displayed by way of large coloured photographs on the alley wall. We both chose the Palermo speciality of pasta con le sarde – spaghetti with fresh sardines, fennel, raisins and pine kernels. It was absolutely delicious and the white wine Brendon recommended complimented it very well.

Scooters Use This as a Road

Fresh Fish ?

Fruit and Veg Stall

Jane Seated at Brendon's Place

Brendon Takes an Order

Tasty Dish

Pasta con le Sarde

Scooter Passing By While We Eat Lunch (note cigarette in rider's mouth)

After lunch we explored a bit more of the Vucciria before heading west until we reached Via Maqueda which we followed to the Quattro Canti, a crossroads at the centre of the old town that divides it into the four quadrants. In each corner of the crossroads are tiers of statues.

One of the Four Corners of the Quattro Canti

From the Quattro Canti we walked to the Catacombe dei Cappuccini. It was quite a walk and it was very hot. Passing the enormous cathedral we stopped for an ice cream – something else for which Palermo is noted. We both felt ours rated an ‘average’. We walked and walked and just as we were giving up hope of finding the catacombs we spotted a signpost and found the entrance a few hundred metres away.

Cathedral

It seemed we had selected two of Palermo’s strangest attractions for our taste of the city. The catacombs under the church are where the Capuchin monks placed their dead brothers from the 16^th century onwards. Later rich laymen were also interred there. Various caverns are reserved for men, women, clergy, doctors lawyers and surgeons. It’s an eerie place with bodies standing in niches, while some are decomposed beyond recognition, others are complete with skin, hair and eyes. The eyes of one man in particular followed us as we passed by.

The most common form of preservation was dessication brought about by the environmental conditions. After lying for about 8 months, the bodies were washed in vinegar before being exposed to fresh air. They were then dressed and stood in niches, or sometimes laid in coffins. Other bodies were preserved by dipping in arsenic, or lime, generally during periods of epidemics.

Sadly, there are the remains of babies and young children in the catacombs. These include Rosalia Lombardo who died in 1920 aged 2. A new embalming process of injection of chemicals was devised by Dr Solafia, a Palestinian. The result was that Rosalia looks as she did when she was alive. Dr Solafia died without passing on details of his embalming process.

Photography wasn't permitted in the catacombs out of respect for the dead, but it didn't stop people trying. Someone was obviously keeping a close watch on CCTV and at one point a speaker burst into life saying "No photography" in a number of languages. The following are photographs of the guide pamphlet we purchased:

Rosalia Lombardo

One of the Catacomb's Many Caves

Children

Priests

From the catacombs we walked to Palazzo Reale Orleans station, two stops from Palermo Centrale where we caught the 16:44 train which was much busier than our earlier ride in. Contrary to the information provided at last night’s briefing the train didn’t stop at all stations but fortunately it did stop at Isola delle Femmine. There waiting on the platform were the beach sellers with their wares returning to Palermo, we wondered whether they had a good day? We walked back to the camping ground, we were tired and our feet were sore – the result of walking approximately12 km on a hot day. 

It was disappointing to open Mabel’s garage and find the download of the Europe Camper map had stalled at 7%. Tired though I was I walked back to the wall in the shade where I thought there was a stronger wi-fi signal and continued the download. It was working well and I was soon n the 30% range. Then it stopped and I found the 24 hours of wi-fi I had purchased had run out, it must have been ticking away during the day even though nothing was being downloaded. I bought another 24 hours, returned to the wall and logged in again. This time I could access the web page that allows me to install and uninstall maps on the satnav. Much to my surprise the Europe Camper map had returned. I tried to upload that only to be told there was insufficient capacity on the satnav. That had to be wrong as the only maps were Morocco and New Zealand, but I removed them just in case. Still there was insufficient capacity and then my laptop started to download the Europe Camper map from scratch again. I didn’t need it but there was no way I could stop the download and sort out an upload. I gave up and resolved to phone Tom Tom in Australia (from whom I had purchased the second copy of the Europe Camper map) in the morning.

While I was sitting on the wall the man from the station with his hairy dog on a lead walked by. The dog seemed none the worse for its ordeal and the man was wearing the bag into which it had been stuffed as a back pack.

I walked back to Mabel to tell Jane I still hadn’t sorted out the satnav, but was hopeful I could resolve it with Tom Tom in the morning. Jane wanted a shower but couldn’t face the palaver of the camp showers and used Mabel’s instead.

Dinner was what was the remainder of the cowboy casserole from a few days ago.