Afternoon Strolling the streets of Palermo’s city center

One of my favorite afternoons in Sicily was spent strolling the streets of Palermo’s city center! Nelson and I started the day at the beach, watching the sunrise over the gorgeous blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea—if you haven’t seen the pictures yet, be sure to head over to Part II of my travel series! After beachgoers began arriving, we headed off to the city center with our lovely photographer/tour guide, Anna. She helped us find parking (not an easy feat in Palermo!!!) and led us around downtown.

Sicily, and Palermo in particular, are so rich with culture and beauty! If you don’t know exactly where Palermo is, I recommend you pull out your phone and look at google maps real quick. The city is on the western coast of the island and less than 100 miles from Africa’s northern coast. It’s been ruled by the Greeks, the Romans, the Phoenicians (an ancient region located in present day Lebanon), the English, and the Germans—so it’s safe to say that it’s a very multidimensional culture with a multitude of fascinating roots in European, Mediterranean, and Arabian history. Not to mention it was taken by the Allies in World War II. We could have spent weeks here and not even touched Palermo’s surface, but were unfortunately bound to one single day.

Fontana Pretoria

One of our first stops in the city was at Fontana Pretoria right in the heart of Palermo. This particular fountain was built in Florence all the way back in 1554 and moved to Palermo almost twenty years later! With beautiful statues and walkways circling the fountain, it’s certainly a site to see.

Piazza San Domenica

To finish our afternoon in Palermo city, Anna took us to the top floor of a department store where we had a gorgeous rooftop view of Piazza San Domenico! In the center of the piazza lies Colonna dell’Immacolata, a large column from the eighteenth century.

We were admiring the view of Chiesa San Domenica when Nelson noticed a Lucchese store below. If you’re unfamiliar with Lucchese, it’s a well known western style boot maker… that my husband happens to adore! His favorite boots are Lucchese’s and he just so happened to be wearing them. While Lucchese started in San Antonio, it turns out that Salvatore Lucchese was a Sicilian immigrant in the 1800’s… such a fun little coincidence to end the afternoon!

Pointing down to the Lucchese store below!

Photos by Anna Vlasiuk Photography