Palermo

“Known for compelling contradictions,.. however, its notoriety has originated more from assassinations, corruption and decrepitude.” Palermo, Italy, Lonely Planet 2007.

Kelly and I arrived in Palermo with no travel books, no maps and no plans other than to spend the week in Italy traveling from Sicily up to the Amalfi Coast and ending up in Rome the following weekend. Had we bought a travel book prior to the trip, we would not have chosen to go to Palermo.

Faced with no clue where we were, we asked the front reception of our hotel for a map and suggestions as to what to see. We were told about a couple of streets that had good shopping, one with a market and two streets to stay away from (however no street names were given, just simply “you will know that you shouldn’t be there”). Apparently we didn’t know though, because twenty minutes later we ended up exactly where we shouldn’t be: down a small deserted alley with garbage dumpsters, stray dogs, a man selling used suitcases and a truck coming at us so large that both the truck and us would not fit in the alley at the same time. “Luckily” the truck hit the side of building while trying to make a turn and we escaped.

After finding our way out of the ghetto and at a “garden” (I use that term loosely) the reception had told us about, we decided to congratulate ourselves with a beer. We picked the least scary looking bar, grabbed a beer and sat outside to enjoy the scenery (which consisted of a busy street/borderline freeway and the docks). To illustrate the type of fine establishment we were in, I experienced first hand the worst bathroom of my entire life: no lights, no windows and no toilet paper…yup I had to go pee in the dark using nothing but my cell phone for light. I kept on waiting for a large bug or rat to come out and attack me.

From the bar we went to check the ferry times to Naples for the following day, only to find out that the ferry leaves every night at 8pm. We bought our ticket at that moment for the ferry out that night. We had seen enough of Palermo. Of course after we bought the ticket we found a cute part of town just two blocks from our hotel in the opposite direction the receptionist told us to go.

It didn’t matter though, we grabbed our belongings, hailed a cab and hopped on the overnight ferry to Naples, with the dog from the ghetto showing up to give us a proper send off.