Day 1: Arrival

We will pick you up from Palermo airport. We will take you to your apartment in the heart of the city, in the Donna Franca Florio complex, where we will have a brief presentation of our program during your stay in Palermo. Tonight you are free, choose any restaurant that you like for dinner.

Day 2: Arab-Norman Palermo

Salty & sweet breakfast in the apartment. We will cross Maqueda Street with our guide and reach the Quattro Canti (Four Corners): break and explanation. In the same area we will find Piazza Pretoria, San Cataldo’s church and Martorana’s church. We will stop in order to explain each attraction.

Then, we will walk through Vittorio Emanuele Street, also named Cassaro (from the Arabic name Al Qasar). Here, it is mandatory to stop and visit the unknown but fascinating church of SS. Salvatore, a truly unique building.

We will therefore head towards the Normans’ Palace (Royal Palace). This Palace was built on the remains of Palermo’s first Punic settlements. Under Roger II’s reign, a beautiful chapel was built inside the Palace, the Palatine Chapel. Today, the Palace still plays an important role for the city administration – it is the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. After this visit you will be free for lunch!

In the afternoon, our chauffer will pick us up and drive us to the Zisa. The Zisa Castle (from the Arabic word ziz, “splendid”) was built in the 12^th century and is one of the best architectural examples of the Arab-Norman domain in Sicily.

Then, our chauffer will take us to Monreale. Its Dome, dedicated to Santa Maria Nuova (the Virgin Mary), was built in 1174 under the reign of Wilhelm II of Altavilla. The walls of its three apses are coated in golden mosaic, realized between the 12^th and the 13^th century by local and venetian artists from the Byzantine school.

For dinner, we will cook something special for you.

Day 3: Contemporary history in Palermo

Authentic Palermitan breakfast: arancine, pizzette, rollò, sfincione (something light!)

This day is dedicated to the parts of Palermo that, in the recent past, marked historical moments for Italians, and Sicilians in particular. Our guide and our chauffer will accompany us.

Albero Falcone (Falcone tree): this tree is planted in front of the house of Giovanni Falcone, a judge killed by the mafia on May 23^rd, 1992. Since then, this place has been decorated with countless messages, photos and trinkets, that transformed it into an important memorial site, in honour of a beloved and respected judge.

Via D’Amelio (D’Amelio street): a terrorist attack planned by the mafia took place in this street on July 19^th, 1992, killing Italian prosecutor Paolo Borsellino and five police officers that made part of his security detail.

Father Puglisi (Two steps. The first one in Anita Garibaldi Square, where he was executed; the second one in the Cathedral, where he is currently buried): on September 15^th, 1993, on the night of his 56^th birthday, Father Puglisi was executed by the mafia just as he was heading back home from its parish, in the Brancaccio neighbourhood.

His tomb is located in the Cathedral, in a funerary monument which shape reminds an ear of wheat. The meaning of this monument is taken directly from the Gospel: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Free afternoon and night!

Day 4: Viva Palermo Viva!

We go down to the café and take something to eat: today we will have breakfast in the bar, together with the Palermitan people, who love eating their breakfast at the bar.

In the morning, we will visit the Arab open-air markets and taste Palermo’s street food: the apotheosis of the five senses and the discover of the sixth one.

Il Capo: the Capo market, together with the other markets of the city, is an important trading point for the agri-food trade of the region. It is very lively and characteristic.

Vucciria: the name of this market comes from the French word boucherie, butchery. This market was in fact originally destined to the sale of meat, but it later included sales of fish, fruit and vegetables. Nowadays, this market is not very active during the day – it completely transforms after the sunset, when it becomes one of the cores of Palermo’s night life, very appreciated by the young.

Ballarò: this market’s motto is “We talk, we shout, Ballarò is magic!”. It is the most ancient market in the city (more than 1000 years old), crossed daily by thousands of people, animated by the so-called “abbanniate”, the noisy calls that the sellers employ in order to captivate the interest of the passers-by and possible customers. We will also visit the most beautiful baroque church in all Sicily: Casa Professa.

In Ballarò, we will buy everything we need to prepare an authentic Sicilian dinner. We will take everything to your apartment and we will cook together!

We will have lunch at the Focacceria San Francesco, a famous restaurant of popular Sicilian cuisine, which can boast almost two hundred years of activity. This is the perfect opportunity to savour all the freshly-produced street food delicacies of the island: arancine, panelle, rascatura, crocché and focaccine con la milza (stir fried cow spleen).

Free afternoon, we will meet again tonight to cook together in the apartment and enjoy fine food and drinks!

Day 5: Minchia! I did not expect these many things to still experience!

Today, feel free to explore Palermo on your own. Here is our advice:

Spasimo: the Spasimo church is located in the Kalsa neighbourhood. Its structure was transformed into a hospice for the poorer classes, but nowadays it hosts the Brass Group Foundation, the Jazz Museum and the Popular Music School.

Photographic Safari of the most amazing wall paintings of Palermo.

The Catacombs: the cemetery of the convent of the Capuchian friars hosts countless bodies, surprisingly well-preserved, that make this place one of the eeriest, almost super-natural places in the whole world. Truly a fascinating site to visit, if not easily scared.

Pupi siciliani: the Opera dei Pupi (Opera of the Puppets) is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the past, for the poorest classes, the puppets’ arrival on the scene was the most anticipated event of the week – like waiting for an episode of your favourite TV series. The pupari (puppeteers) exploit the suspense and divide the representation in many plays, that must necessarily end with a fight scene.

You are free for dinner!

Day 6: The sea!

After a week of staying in Palermo we still have not considered the sea! So, in the afternoon, we will take you to Mondello. This area is well-known for its beach, that is one of the most sought-after in all Sicily, thanks to its many villas in art-noveau style. It is advisable to take a walk barefoot on the shore, characterized by a fine, soft, pinkish-coloured sand. Just one last advice: tonight we will go eat fresh fish and seafood to your heart’s content (a tinghitè, in Sicilian), because tomorrow this will be over!

Day 7: Returning home

We will take you to the airport. We hope that you will return home with a brand-new perspective on Palermo, and Sicily in general. ‘Assabenedica!

Number of participants: between 6 and 12 people

• Price per person (from October to April): 689,00 EUR

Single-room supplement: 300,00 EUR

• Price per person (May and September) 725,00 EUR

Single-room supplement: 350,00 EUR

• June, July and August: price on request

The price does include:

• 6 nights, breakfast included, in the Donna Franca Florio apartment complex
• Local guide
• Minibus
• Entrance fees included for Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo Cathedral, Martorana Church, San Cataldo Church, Casa Professa
• Lunch at the Focacceria San Francesco, drinks included
• Dinner of the 2^nd day, drinks included
• Dinner of the 4^th day that we will prepare together, drinks included
• Fish and seafood dinner at the restaurant, drinks included

The price does not include:

• City Tax
• Drinks, where not specified
• Extras
• Luggage transport

Anything that is