Last day Palermo

Monday 14th April 2025

It’s our last day in Palermo so after another huge and delicious breakfast we set off to use the launderette! With everything now clean we go back to the cathedral to go up on the roof!! We go behind an alter in one of the side chapels and there are the stairs! It’s a bit windy today as you can see, great to be up there and see the view but I was clutching my phone!! When we got back down we went through the Royal Crypt and there is Roger II again, with various relatives. Worth going up.

Our train isn’t until 8pm so we have a whole day to fill. We walked over to the Botanical Garden but miss the entrance and end up walking all the way round the outside of it. It is hot and humid and we are fed up when we get in. So straight to the cafe where we get amazing burger and chips and feel much better! The garden itself is disappointing though, again no money for maintenance. Lots of trees but hardly any bushes, or other types of plants. There is this Ficus magnolioide though, planted in 1845 and considered the tree with the largest foliage in Europe, not quite sure how they measure that. Lots of giant bamboo as well which has been marked by many people over the years. Overall, good cafe, disappointing garden.

Back to the centre to see the church of St Cataldo. Built in 1160, which was a busy period in Palermo. It is Arab-Normannwith three small fines and a beautifully simple interior. It is tiny but lovely! I also learnt about a period in 1950 to 1960 which is now called ‘the sacking of Palermo’. Palermo was in ruins after the war and needed to be rebuilt, instead of renovating the beautiful city, officials (with Mafia links) knocked a great part of the city down and put up poorly built blocks of flats. A real shame.

We had some time to waste before our train but Palermo station is a terrible rundown area. There were no cafes, a lot of rubbish and the area didn’t seem that safe. What do you do? Go to McDonald’s for an hour of course. Robin looks a bit fed up! Then into our deluxe carriage and off we go to Florence!!

We really like the English translation in this sign!