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History lesson of the day (compliments of travel guru, Rick Steves): Palermo was founded in the 8th century BC by Phoenician traders. The Greeks called it “Panormus” and it became a critical trading center for them because of its excellent location and port. It was a small settlement until the Arabs arrived in 827AD and made Palermo the capital of the island. Palermo flourished and became the second largest city in Europe at the time with a population of 100,000 people. During Arab occupation there were over 300 mosques in the city. The Arabs introduced new crops to Sicily- citrus, cotton, sugar, nuts and dates. They were masters of urban planning, water engineering, mathematics, medicine and astronomy. Their knowledge drastically changed the culture of Palermo.

It has been warmer here then it should be this time of the year-probably for the same reason we are experiencing in the USA. High 80s predicted. This is a free day for us as we do not meet our fellow travelers until 6 PM tonight. We decided to take the Rick Steves walking tour of Palermo as we both had brought his Sicily guidebook with us (BTW-it is very good). Our hotel is beautifully located-right in the middle of the old section of town with pedestrian only streets around us. You do have to be careful as there are bicycles and electric scooters all over the place, weaving in and out of walking people.

Our first stop (a 7 minute stroll from our hotel) was at the Palermo Opera House (Teatro Massimo) which happens to be the 3rd largest opera house in Europe! It opened in 1897 after 22 years of construction. We happened to arrive right when they offered a 30 minute English tour of the facility which we decided to take. We were glad we did as it is a beautiful facility with magnificent acoustics which we got to hear when a single flautist started practicing for an upcoming concert.  We could clearly hear from a great distance. After hearing that Gerry wanted to attend a concert but none are available while we are in Palermo. From there we simply followed the narrative and directions from the Rick Steves guidebook.

One of the churches on this walk was the Church of San Domenico, the 3rd largest in the city. What makes it famous is that it houses the tomb of Giovanni Falcone, the hero of the fight against the Mafia. He was a judge and prosecutor who won a series of convictions against Mafia leaders. Because of his actions he (and his wife) were killed by a Mafia bomb in 1992. This caused public opinion to turn against the Mafia and led to its demise In Sicily.

Several hours later it was getting warmer and we were tired and thirsty so we found an outdoor eatery (they are everywhere) and had our first of one of Sicily’s famous drinks- a “lemon granita”- basically a frozen slushie. They can be purchased everywhere and come in several flavors but the most popular one is lemon.  They are often accompanied by a sweet brioche bun which we all ordered. It is certainly a refreshing drink and we resumed our walk reinvigorated.

There are three famous churches on a square right near our hotel and only one was slated to be seen on our Secret Italia tour. Rick Steves gave high ratings to the baroque church called Santa Caterina. As Rick Steves says “it is feast for the eyes”. It was truly amazing! Three dimensional art adorned the walls and the ceiling. I had never seen such decor. It was beautiful.

Time for a nap before meeting our tour director and the rest of our fellow travelers at 6PM for cocktails, then out to a local restaurant for a group dinner. Our tour director, Giusi (Josephine) Mandreucci, is a true local, living in Palermo her whole life. She has been a tour guide since 1998, so we are sure we will be in good hands as she leads us through Sicily. There are 13 in our group-3 Australians, 2 Canadians and 8

Americans. All appear to be seasoned travelers and surprisingly this is their (and our) first experience with Secret Italia tours. We are hoping that they will be as good as previous travelers had reported.

Dinner was at a small local bistro (Osteria Ballaro) near the restaurant we ate at last night. We were served a starter plate of local delicacies (mostly raw fish) and we had a choice of 3 entrees and 2 desserts to complete the meal. Local wine was served in abundance.

Thus ended our first official event of the tour. Tomorrow begins a lengthy tour of the sights of Palermo and Monreale.