Palermo Finale

Emboldened by our street food tour, we took on another – the Ballero.

In some ways this market felt more like the locals use it. I remember the scent of ripe strawberries most vividly. It was fun!

We found ourselves a good lunch today and just wandered.

The most fascinating thing was the stall where the vendor/artisan cheese maker was making ricotta. I think (after a little You Tube foray this was after finishing a batch of mozzarella.). Really interesting.

It’s really quite a process. Ricotta is a byproduct- makes use of what’s leftover from cheese making.

A bit of serendipity turned the botanical garden into a high point of the day. Enjoyable on its own for green and exotic plants and spaces, we ran into a local market of plants, pots, art and bamboo fabric accessories.

The unique shaped tree is a from Brazil that holds water in its unique trunk.

There are jacaranda trees here (I learned to identify them in Hawaii and their purple color always makes me smile.)

Then a smattering of the plant market.

And we wound down the day with a stroll and some food in the centro of this city. It’s one that leaves me a little ponderous. It’s unique, colorful, food filled and also struggling with the ills of most large cities (particularly post pandemic) including general trash around. Our apt neighborhood is gentrifying so to speak around its history. Good to see, but not my favorite Sicilian city – though the markets were great!!