Greek Antiquities and Pastry Making with Maria Grammatico

Trundling our bags behind us, we walk a couple of blocks to meet our bus and driver, Aurelio, at 8:30 a.m. On a Rick Steves tour, one is expected to haul your own bags. No excuses! Almost everyone has a small bag and backpack. One of the things I like, is that there are no fashionistas on the tour. And yet, we all look decent in our active, easy wash clothes and sturdy shoes. 

The ancient Greek site of Segesta is our first stop for meandering through a magnificent Doric temple and hilltop theater.

I couldn't decide which photo to post of the temple!

The plastic-protected schedule for the day.

Our driver, Aurelio, is ever so safe with a beautiful, clean bus for his passengers.

Maria Grammatico is a Sicilian pastry icon, known worldwide for her story and baking skills. After World War II, times were difficult, and 11-year old Maria and her little sister were sent to live at the San Carlo Monastery. Maria worked in the kitchens and learned the art of pastry making from the nuns. She left the convent at age 22 to begin her climb to baking stardom. What a treat it was to meet the charming Maria at her Culinary School, with her interpreter (whose name might have been Mark); he said, "I married into the family."

Maria shows how she makes almond cookies with the dough of three ingredients: egg whites, crushed almonds, and sugar.

Now, we get to try our hand at rolling the cookies. It's harder than it looks!

Maria is a bit gleeful over those "naughty" nipple-topped cookies!

We're in Sicily and, of course, we must learn about cannoli!

Yum! Almond cookies and cannoli! And, oh yeah, wine and more wine.

Our appetites are whetted with the aroma of goodies that will be our dessert!

There are so many delicious dishes of regional Trapanese food and "Mark" is kind enough to describe each!

La Pasticceria di Maria Grammatico bakery and coffee shop draws visitors from all over the world to the enchanting ancient mountain town of Erice. Traffic free, our bus lets us off at the bottom of the town for the walk through the hilly and cobblestone town with an attempt to work off lunch.

Historical building with Moorish roof in Erice. It overlooks the town of Trapani, our next stop for 2 nights.

An Erice tourist shop with lots of painted pottery and the pottery heads that one sees throughout Sicily.

Torretta Pepoli, the turreted home, was built in 1881. The striking castle ruins feature a 12th-century Norman fortress built over an ancient Roman temple and look down on Trapani.

The sunset in Trapani was pretty and quick. After all, it is February!

The Magnificent Monreale and Palermo Highlights

Our first full day of the Rick Steves tour begins with a golden city view seen from the rooftop breakfast room of Hotel Amabasciatori. The three distant peaks, which are referred to as the three sisters, are named Mt San Salvatore, Pizzo Antenna Grande, and Pizzo Carbonara. 

Jackie is our charming local guide. Local guides lead our group and disseminate information via our "Whisper" transmitters. Jackie was fun, dramatic, and very knowledgeable. Tommaso comes with us to make sure we stick together.

Jackie showed us the highlights and told us about the history of different sights around Palermo. The Vucciria Market isn't as extensive or authentic as the The Ballarò Market that Bob and I previously enjoyed.

Do you see the plastic sheets hanging over the balconies in the background? We had a scattering of rain and the plastic covers are used to shield the clean clothes hanging out to dry.

There are many churches in Palermo, and it seems as if there is one or two on every block. If you looked at previous posts, we seldom pass up an opportunity to view their magnificence. I often wonder where the money came from to build them. Just when I thought a church couldn't get more spectacular, we pop into the Church of the Immaculate Conception. One would never guess the lavish Baroque interior that lay behind the plain exterior.

The magnificent Monreale Cathedral requires a short bus ride to a hillside six miles west of Palermo. The Norman cathedral was built between 1174 and 1189. It's an amalgamation of Byzantine, Norman and Arab elements in a Romanesque building. Inside are intricate golden mosaics that impressively illustrate Bible stories. 

Perhaps the quirkiest sight in Palermo is the crypt of its Capuchin monastery. Rick Steves gives this two out of three triangles. Since we had seen just about everything we wanted to see, we took the three-mile round trip walk. There were mummified bodies in various stages of decay with many dressed in their funereal best. There was a route to follow, all the while surrounded by bodies hanging and lying on display. It's a ghoulish thing to walk through, but we didn't find it too disturbing. No photos allowed.

I'll end with a colorful Trinicria, the symbol of Italy. The mythical head of Medusa is surrounded by three legs of the central figure, which represent a trinacria, or triangle (or Trinity). They also stand for the island's three corners: Peloro (northeast), Passero (southeast), and Lilibeo (west).

Palazzo in Palermo and Tour Beginnings

The Rick Steves Best of Sicily tour begins with an afternoon orientation by our leader Tommaso Pante in the upstairs breakfast room of the Ambasciatori Hotel. (An agenda is posted every day of our tour.)

We walked several blocks as a group for a private tour of the Arab-Norman style Palazzo Federico. Originally from Austria, our hostess is the animated and enthusiastic Contessa Christina Federico. A more down-to-earth person in such a position cannot be found, and she was so generous to show us her and her family's living quarters. Begun in 1200, the palazzo was the house of Frederick II and built atop the city wall. It was later enlarged to include one of the Arab watchtowers. The palace has been restored to display the history of the family. The palazzo is amazing, and the family has restored the public rooms with a style in keeping with the original design. The details also reveal the personal lives of the family. They also host private events, give tours, and rent out lovely bedrooms. Garbage service costs €48,000 a year!

Entry to the palazzo.

Racing trophies and armaments.

The Countessa is a competitive swimmer and has a lovely soprano voice. Her husband, Conte Federico enjoys racecar driving; his vintage Fiat Balilla was on display.

Tommaso has arranged for us to try some Sicilian street food such as arancini (stuffed rice balls) and porchetta (Italian roast pork). And then we head to the restaurant for more food!

"I'm paying for all your wine," declared Tommoso. Throughout our tour, the wine nearly flowed like water and was much appreciated! Osteria Ballarò serves Sicilian antipasti, pasta & mains with a creative twist, in the former stables of a medieval palace. 

Panoramas of Palermo

We revisited the Piazza Pretoria and the "Fountain of Shame." I had read that one could visit the monastery and church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria and find bird's eye views of the fountain and Palermo skyline. The church has a rather plain exterior, which effectively disguised the glorious interior.

The Fountain of Shame 

The plain exterior of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria.

The eye-popping interiors of Santa Caterina await worshippers who dare enter. I'm sparing you from the dozens of photos taken with only three selections from the explosive Sicilian Baroque interior.

A bird's eye view of the sanctuary, on the way to the roof, is loaded with marble inlay mosaic.

The over-the-top altar area. Above are the golden screens where the nuns of yore could look down on their families.

This 20 sec video might help give a better idea of the all-encompassing mosaic surroundings.

After climbing several staircases and ducking under rafters, we came out onto the roofline for incredible city and church dome views.

The large dome belongs to the Church of San Giuseppe dei Padri Teatini.

The Church of La Martorana (left) was never open when we were there. The Church of San Cataldo has three red Arab-inspired domes on top.

A natural reserve is the backdrop for a Palermo panorama.

But wait! There's more! There were several art displays and bedrooms of the nuns to see that are large and light-filled. Apparently, the nuns have gained a reputation for their sweets. We visited the cafe down in the convent cloister for irresistible cannoli which we have learned to love. We ordered one with chocolate on one end and candied orange on the other end, and shared a coffee in the sunny courtyard under orange, lemon and banana trees. 

One tree growing both lemons and oranges.

Time to walk off the cannoli with a Rick Steves city walk. We don't want to miss a thing.

This is the interior of the Oratory of San Lorenzo. Rick gives it 2 triangles, which means that it is worthy of a visit. Basically, it is one amazing room. An oratorio was kind of a medieval Rotary Club, designed to provide social work not provided by governments. The Nativity altarpiece is a reproduction of a Caravaggio that was stolen in 1969 (probably by the mafia) and has never been recovered.

The Church of San Domenico.

The Church of Santa Anna di Misericordia.

Palermo is justifiably proud of Teatro Massimo. The Neoclassical edifice was begun in 1875 and took 22 years to build. It is Italy's largest opera house and Europe's third largest. We were able to join an English tour of the interior.

Relaxing with some take-away in the apartment, we run a load of laundry and get organized to transfer to the tour hotel in the morning. (entrance to our apartment)