Palermo

These are pictures from my recent trip to Palermo, except for the last one of this series, which came from Franco Lannino. 

Baroque

 

A Shrine

 

For Santa Rosalia

Palermo's patron saint. 

A Papal Indulgence of 200 Days

for anyone who recites an Ave Maria at this shrine, built on Valentines' Day in 1924. 

Wide Angle Santa Rosalia

 

Tying Tiffany

 

A Shrine

 

For Saint Mary

 

A Truck

 

For an Afternoon Nap

 

The Vucciria

 

Via del Orologio

 

Corleone

It's the first thing I saw on my most recent trip to Palermo, inside the arrival hallway at Palermo's Falcone and Borsellino airport. It reads: ``Corleone, a slice of Sicily made up of history, art, culture, fun and legality.'' 

Provenzano

 

The Hike

Cristina, Iain, Peter and I went for a hike in the countryside north of Rome, where first and Etruscan city had stood, then a Roman one, and finally a medieval one. 

San Giuliano

The medieval church is all that remains of the city that stood here in more recent times, except for a few fortifications here and there. We had sandwiches, chips, apples and apricots for lunch here. 

Frescoes

We could peak inside, and surprisingly some of the medieval frescoes were still intact. Unfortunately most of the inside had been graffittied, with people carving their names on the walls. 

Iain Standing Guard

 

Peter, Iain and Cristina

The group shot. 

Up From Roman Bath

The hike took us to the site of the ancient Etruscan city, of which nothing remains except for the tombs carved into the hillsides surrounding the site of the old city. After the Etruscans came the Romans, and part of their ancient public baths still remains, down this stairway. 

Tomb Hunting

This is a posed shot as we browsed the valleys of the Etruscan tombs. 

Etruscan Petroglyph

It's a deer and wolf. It's hard to say whether the wolf is attacking the deer, which would make sense, or whether they are kissing, which makes no sense, or whether it has a mystical meaning, which is possible. We read about this glyph and could not end our hike without finding it. It was etched into a stairway carved into the tuff next to a large tomb. 

Iain and Petroglyph

 

Brunella's 32nd Birthday Party

It was a hot Friday night in May and Brunella would let nothing get in the way of a good time. She danced and drank vodka and tried to walk around in high heels. It was spectacular.