Palermo and Corleone

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What a beautiful hotel I am staying in. It was originally three different buildings that have been merged into one, the oldest part dating back to 500 AD. It was certainly grandiose! It is located in the historic part of the town and is called Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa.

I met up with my tour group at 8:30 after having a quick breakfast. There are 18 people, which is on the larger size for one of these Back Roads tours. Our tour managers name is Michele (he is a guy and the name is pronounced Mick-el-ay). Everyone are couples except another lady named Jackie - and 16 are from Australia! There only two people not from Oz are Catrina and a Derek from Scotland.

We then met our local guide, Nino and loaded onto our mini-bus with driver Andre and had a little tour of Palermo city, focusing on the historic quarter that we are in. It is so stunning! I wish I had more time to walk these streets and explore on my own but looking out of the bus window had to suffice. Our first stop was at the Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina), the royal chapel of the Norman kings of the Palazzo Reale in Palermo. The building we visited was built in 1143 but this was built on top of the older chapel (now crypt) that was constructed in 1080. It has three apses, as is usual in Byzantine architecture, with six pointed arches, three on each side of the central nave, resting on classical columns. The chapel is filled with stunning mosaics, including the ceiling.

We then headed to the Norman Palace (Palazzo di Normanni) which currently the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The palace is the oldest royal resident in Europe and is home to the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Sicily. We wandered through the various rooms with our guide, as he explained how each is decorated and used today. There were many beautiful pieces of artwork on the walls, as well as various items that would be found in a royal residence.

After we had finished exploring here, we jumped back onto the bus and headed to the Massimo Vittorio Emanuele Theatre where we were dropped off to explore on our own and to have lunch. This building will be recognisable from being in the Godfather 3 - it has these amazing columns out the front with stair running up through the middle. I wandered off to explore a market I had seen on our way to this spot. I was keen to try some local food but most that I saw here was fried, so I kept exploring. After meandering through various alleys and cobbled streets, I came across the pedestrian street and there seems to better options along here. I ended up getting a pasta salad with tuna in a little restaurant I found. It was a bit challenging as they didn't speak much English but luckily I know some words in Italian. Anyway, I had this salad that was delicious as well as an aqua minerale frizzante, followed by an espresso and the whole thing only cost €5. So much better than the scandi countries! After I had eaten I was wandering along the street and noticed some street food carts so I stopped to check out what they were cooking. It wasn't something I recognised but then I worked out that one of the Sicilian specialities is spleen cooked and then placed in a bread roll! Glad I had already eaten what I did! I then came across another Sicilian dish - arancini! Wow - even though I didn't really need anything more, i just had to try one. For €2.50 i bought one that had porcini mushrooms in it and it was delicious! It was a meal in its own (good size) so I only ate some and saved the rest for later.

After meeting up with the group again, we were back on the bus for our drive to the town of Corleone. The purpose of this visit was to find out more about the Mafia, or as it is known here, Cosa Nostra. It was also an opportunity its to educate ourselves about this period in their history as there are many myths and tales that aren't entirely true. For instance, the movies "The Godfather" were purely fictional. There isn't a Corleone family per sé but rather it is the name of the town we were about to visit. We met our local guide and she shared with us some of the facts and showed us many photos, each one had a story to tell. There are three photos in particular that sums up this story:

In the first picture: there is a girl dead on the ground. This girls father was Mafiosa and he was killed by another mafia person. A few years later her brother was also killed. She then befriended the judge, Giovanni Falcone and eventually she decided to speak out on what she knew. She became a witness and moved into witness protection. When Falcone was killed, she was so distraught as he was her only friend, that she committed suicide by jumping out of her window. Her whole family, including her mother, disowned her because she came forth as a witness. No one attended her funeral.

In the second picture: there is a child holding a photo of a young boy, who was the son of a Mafiosa. This young boy had been kidnapped and was eventually killed. His body was dissolved in acid. The point of the photo is that the Mafia portayed themselves as not attacking children and women and yet there is evidence they did.

The third photo: there are two women behind a curtain. This represents how people often saw what went on but they would never speak about it. This is where things have now changed in Sicily since the maxi-trial. People are not as afraid to speak out.

We saw all the books containing all the evidence used in the maxi trial (Maxiprocesso di Palermo) which started on the 10th February 1986 and lasted until 30 January 1992. This trial indicted 475 mafiosa, so was quite an amazing feat that came with some terrible consequences. One of the most prolific issues was the brutal killing of the aforementioned judge Falcone as well as Paolo Borsellino. Falcone amd Borsellino were two of the highest judges in the land and were to oversee many of the appeals that came out of all the convictions. Not only did they turn many appeals Dow, they reversed previously successful ones, resulting in many mafiosa who had recently swaggered out of prison being unceremoniously rounded up and put back behind bars. Firstly Falcone was assassinate, along with his wife and his three body guards. He was returning from his honeymoon and it was said his plans were only known by a few people, so someone on the inside must have provided the Mafia with the information. Bombs were planted under the main highway from the airport and someone set up on top of the nearby hill pressed the button when they saw the cars approach. We drove over this stretch of road the next day. Three months later, Borsellino was assassinated, along with his five escorts, including one women. Such a sad and terrifying part of the Sicilian history that none of them are proud of. In fact our guide said there is nothing worse than being branded as mafia, which people tend to do to anyone who says they are from Sicily - and especially her when she says she is from Corleone. She told us a story about trying to purchase some cigarettes when she was travelling abroad. Someone asked her where she was from and when she said "Corleone " they got nervous and told her she could just take the cigarettes. As is aid, a good education for all of us, to be aware of the impact you can have when you crack these sorts of jokes. After this visit we wandered through the streets of this pretty town before jumping onto the bus and heading back into Palermo.

Tonight we had our welcome dinner with the group and Michele. We went for a lovely stroll along the cobbled streets to a little restaurant where we had a lovely dinner. Our entree was a Sicilian dish called Caponata - it is primarily eggplant with tomatoes, olives and capers. Yum. We had a lovely meal and got to know each other a bit more. As with every group tour there are people you get on well with - and others that annoy you. The trick is to make sure you distance yourself from those that annoy and try to connect up with the ones you enjoy. Tonight I sat with Jackie, who is lovely and Michele. He is from Rome but also lives in Randwick during our summers! Small world.

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