Well already I like this place! The plane arrived on time, my checked bag came through and the bus from the airport cost only 6 euros for a 40 minute ride. The scenery near the airport was pretty standard Mediterranean Karst and with mountains on one side and the sea on the other it was a pleasant trip into the Central Station. It reminded me a bit of going into Malaga from the airport although it took much longer before the common suburban retail and warehouse sprawl started to appear. At the station, Google maps wasn’t working for some reason and so I approached the taxi rank to get someone to take me to the Hotel Villa Archirafi where I was to spend my four nights in Palermo. Two cabbies refused, saying it would cost 20 euros but was only five minutes walk, saying they’d have to make big detours through one way systems. So I walked and rather foolishly asked for directions when I was standing right across a junction from the hotel. And half-hidden by a tree. I later discovered it’s easier to spot at night!
At reception, a genial gentleman asked whether I wanted the single or the double room of the two in my name. Somehow Booking.com had made two reservations for me. We resolved the confusion and then the signor asked whether I would like to stay in the hotel or in an apartment next door with views over the Botanic Garden. As this was on my list of places to visit, I jumped at it and am now ensconced in this excellent apartment with a small balcony overlooking the garden and with a sea view. And the tamarisks are in their full purple splendour. I am liking Sicily!
As I’m unpacking, there’s a knock at the door and another signor introduces himself as the owner of the hotel, had heard I was going to the opera on Friday but wondered if I’d like to go with him tonight as he had a spare ticket and it was a different singer in the Isolde role – in fact Nina Stemme who I’d heard at the Royal Opera House. We’d leave in fifteen minutes. Hot and a bit weary from travel, I politely declined. Even for a Wagner fan Tristan twice in three days might be de trop or perhaps überflüssig.
So instead I decided to go in quest of a beer – first of the day – which I found a few metres from the Archirafi opposite the Botanical Garden. I then walked down to the sea front where the view was spoiled by one of those hulking cruise ships in one direction but perfectly fine in the other. There was a message to people like me shared with many other locations around Europe. Should I even be here?
As I walked up through the La Kalsa district, I was struck by this huge mural with another heartfelt message and one which I hope the world increasingly shares.
Back for a quick shower and then out to find dinner which proved conveniently close in Piazza Magione where the several restaurants were doing excellent business for a Wednesday evening but at Ciccio Passami l’Olio they were able to find me a table and I had a great aubergine and ricotta starter and (I confess) a fine veal chop accompanied by an organic Nero d”Avola from Trapani. Day One was fun!
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