The ferry trip from Naples was smooth and quiet, we went to bed looking forward to a good night’s sleep and out arrival in Palermo scheduled for 10am the following morning. All was well untill a tannoy announcement at 6am announcing that we would be docking at 7.20am and all cabins should be vacated before arrival. Scramble!!

We needn’t have rushed, disembarkation was really disorganised, we hung around for ages trying to find out when and where foot passengers were meant to disembark. We were directed to the car deck and had to fight our way back through the drivers and coach passengers like a pair of salmon swimming up stream.

Turns out there is no terminal building in Palermo and we had to leave the port on foot among all the traffic coming and going from ferries. There was no sign of the bus stop we needed so we decided to walk  towards the centre of town and see what we could find. The first thing we found was a lovely cafe/ pasticceria so we took a table outside and asked the waitress for two cappuccinos and whatever the typical local breakfast option might be. It turned out to be a large baked sweet pastry generously filled with sweet ricotta cheese, lemon zest and candied peel (don’t tell the Helston diabetes team!). Suddenly the morning was looking up.

Palermo is quite small and in the end we walked 2km to our hotel in the historic old town. The staff at the hotel were very welcoming, allowed us early access to our room and tried to feed us another breakfast.

Having regrouped we set out to explore the local area. Palermo is very pretty, lots of old buildings, wide avenues, tree lined streets and interesting alleys, the very opposite of Naples which, though interesting seemed dark and noisy with narrow canyon like streets. We walked through town to see the cathedral, inside it looked like a fairly plain Catholic church, outside you could see the impact of its history as a former mosque.

Walking back towards the centre of town we stopped for lunch, I ordered arancini which is a Sicilian speciality, balls of flavoured risotto deep fried until crisp. I have had them in England where they are served in golf ball sized portions. In Sicily they are about 4 inches in diameter, the one I had was filled with Bolognese sauce and was incredibly filling. We were so full up we couldn’t face dinner so we skipped our evening meal, what a shame to miss an opportunity to sample the local cuisine.

Next day we set off in the opposite direction, passing the opera house (the third biggest in Europe apparently) and venturing down a number of alleyways exploring a variety of local shops and more touristy outlets. Having learned our lesson we stopped for coffee (Mark) and lemon granita (a very refreshing crushed ice dish, me) and Mark sampled another local delicacy, cannoli, again, a super sized version of the kind we get at home.

The staff at the hotel had recommended we visit the local Ballaro market so we made our way there around lunchtime. We weren’t prepared for the huge, vibrant market with amazing stalls stacked with fabulous fruit, vegetables herbs and spices, meat, fish and cheese. There were also lots of restaurant stalls with plates of food on display, the idea seemed to be that you choose what you want and they bring it to the table, some dishes were raw and were taken away to be cooked on demand. It was amazing to see but all the food was uncovered, there were lots of people wandering about, cars and scooters squeezing by and quite a few flies. We enjoyed the spectacle but decided not to partake.

Our hesitation paid off, come dinner time we were ready to visit a nearby trattoria. We watched tables of locals ordering platters of antipasti, bowls of pasta and plates of meat and seafood. Knowing our limits, and to the disappointment of our waiter we ordered a carafe of local red wine and two plates of pasta (they were huge and very filling). We must look like amateurs!

We really liked Palermo but in no time at all it was time to head towards the station and our journey to Syracuse.