First full day in Palermo/Sicily. We are in a nice apartment with John and Roberta. It is on a rough looking street but just off a main drag and very central. We can walk to all major sights. (Hint: don’t trust Google maps’ timing. When it says its a 7 minute walk, count on 14-20 minutes instead.)

Over breakfast the four of us discuss what we want to do for the day. We agree to do the Rick Steve’s walk with stops at sights. RS says that it will be 3-4 hours total – it took our whole day. But it was a wonderful day. Although we were seeing several churches, each had it’s own personality and we admired them all.

We started with the Teatro Massimo where we took a tour. A rehearsal was taking place so we were able to see a little live opera for our 10 Euro fee. We stopped at La Rinascente Department Store where there is a top floor eatery and city view. It was a quiet place for lunch and John bought some shoes for his son’s wedding. Thanks to Rick’s walk we saw the genie of Palermo and my favorite spot – the Oratorio di San Lorenzo – a guild/rotary club place with walls sculpted with playing cherubs. The walk ended with 3 churches and a central sculpture – The Fountain of Shame (all the people are nude). Dinner was okay but in a lovely square – San Francesco. John’s photo with me, Roberta, and David at the table.