His and Her Day & Night Outfits

After our daytrip to Palermo, we then returned to Cefalu for another day, because we wanted to have another beachday. In the evening we went to a restaurant, which my parents recommended and afterwards just walked around and took some pics, since it was off-season and there was basically no nightlife.

On the evening outfitpics I'm wearing one of my favorite tops from H&M, which I love because of the balloonsleeves, which remind me of the dresses, they wore during the Renaissance. Also the print is quiet different to other flowerprints and almost looks like the company logo of a german dish soap company. I just realized, how usefull outfitphotos are, because it just reminded me, to wear that fake leather skirt more again, because it is so versatile.

The next day we went to Palermo for 2 other nights, because we had planned to see more of the city. this day I am wearing a blue and white striped blouse from Bershka and a skirt from Zara. I'm loving those little details, like the wrap around ties of the blouse, because they make pieces look much more interesting.

Nach unserem Palermo-Tagestrip ging es vorerst wieder zurück nach Cefalu, wo wir einen weiteren Tag verbrachten.

Auf den Outfitfotos vom Abend trage ich eine meiner liebsten Blusen von H&M, denn ich liebe die Ballonärmel, die mich irgendwie an die Kleider der Renaissance erinnern und den Retro- 'Prilblumen'ähnlichen -Print. Wie nützlich Outfitfotos aber auch sein können, denn man erinnert sich wieder an Kleidungsstücke, die längst in Vergessenheit geraten sind, denn den Kunstlederrock (ebenfalls von H&M) kann man so vielfältig einsetzten. Vor allem wenn man es liebt mit Kontrasten zu spielen und zu dem eher punkigen Rock ein feminineres Oberteil kombiniert.
Am nächsten Tag ging es dann für zwei Tage nach Palermo, denn wir wollten noch mehr von der Stadt sehen. Ich trage eine gestreifte Wickelbluse von Bershka und einen asymetrischen Rock von Zara. Ich liebe diese kleinen Details, wie die Bänder an der Bluse oder die Asymetrie und die Volants des Rocks, denn erst sie machen ein Outfit interessant.

Palermo - Those vibrant streets

In search of some restaurant, it took us to the narrow lanes of the historical center. Of course it is often more interesting wandering off the beaten tracks and discover alleys, where not many tourists get lost in. That's the way to discover the real charm of a city, like us that day, when we found a street full of colourful objects, decorated with sicilian folkpaintings or the one, where puppets for the sicilian puppet theaters, a folk art, with its origin in the 19th century, are made. And then we also found a nice restaurant, which wasn't too expensive, opposite the Teatro Massimo, Palermo's opera house. On our way back to the station, we also came by the Archeological museum and walked through the city's oldest market, the Vucciria.

Auf der Suche nach einem Restaurant, hat es uns dann in die Gasse der Altstadt verschlagen. Oft ist es sehr viel interessanter abseits der Touristenpfade zu "wandern" und Gassen zu entdecken, in die sich kaum ein Tourist verirrt. So kann man dann auch den wahren Charme der Städte entdecken, wie z.B. eine Gasse mit Gegenständen mit sizilianischer Folkloremalerei oder eine Straße, in der die Marionetten für die sizilianische Volkskunst, dem Marionettentheater, gefertigt werden. Dazwischen haben wir dann auch ein Restaurant fast gegenüber dem Teatro Massimo, dem Opernhaus Palermos, gefunden, welches auch nicht allzu teuer war. Auf dem Rückweg ging es dann auch vorbei am Archäologischen Museum und mit einem kurzen Abstecher auf dem ältesten Markt der Stadt, der Vucciria.

Palermo Cathedral

The Cathedral of Palermo is one of the cities main attractions and super interesting, because of the mix of different architectural styles, like norman, moorish and neoclassical, due to the long history of alterations. There is no entrence fee. Just if you want to visit the roof or treasury, you must pay (which we visited another day). It is also near the Palace of the Normans, if you want to visit both at the same day and which I totally recommend.

Die Kathedrale von Palermo ist eine der Hauptsehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt und im typischen Stilmix, in diesem Fall im Normanisch-Arabischen. Der Eintritt ist kostenlos. Lediglich der Aufstieg auf die Kuppel kostet 5 Euro, welchen wir aber an einem anderen Tag gemacht haben.

Palermo - Historical Pearl

When thinking of the city of Palermo, would baroque fountains and palaces come to your mind? I definitely didn't think of that at all, until I visited the city myself. Also, I think you don't see enough positive reports or articles about Sicily either, except it is about the Mafia. 

After our first minutes at the Ballaro market (my previous post) I also had a false impression at first, but that changed quickly. When it comes to the architecture, Palermo is quiet a mix of various cultural epochs, because the city was ruled by Arabs, Normans and Spains, just to name a few, but all left their architectural traces. The city also has many examples for the Sicilian Baroque, a distinctive form of baroque, which arose after a huge earthquake, when cities had to be rebuilt (not Palermo).

So our way led us from the market, which is near the main station, along the Via Marqueda to the Piazza Pretoria, a square with a monumental fountain, originally built in Florence and later relocated to Palermo. The square is right next to the Quattro Canti (four angles), a crossing of two main streets with four concave facades of palaces decorated with colums, statues and fountains and which are a good showpiece for the sicilian baroque.

Palermo - The Ballarò Market

Since my father heard and saw so much about this market, he really wanted to experience it in person one time. Me otherwise, wouldn't have gone there, because I have visited so many italian markets before, that I didn't expect something different or special from this one. Apart from that, my boyfriend and I are no early birds, so maybe we also arrived a bit late. And furthermore there are all these people, who warn you, that this area is very dangerous and criminal und that's why you don't have the best feelings beforehand. I don't want to be too negative, because obviously many people are loving this market and for sure it has a special atmosphere, which some call the real Palermo, but for me it was just a normal italian market with more cons than pros. I mean, if you live in the city for a longer time and want to prepare some italian meals, then you can buy fresh and cheap food there and the especially the fish supply is enormous. Besides, the market doesn't offer something groundbreaking, if you want to buy other stuff. And we ourselfes did experience some not so good things there and felt a bit fooled. It started with some false change, we got from one seller and continued with a sandwich with grilled meat, which was sold to us for more than triple the price (7 Euros instead of 2, which we know, because we asked different other sellers) by an other man. When asking him, if this is the normal price, he got very agressive and wanted to get into an arguement with us. We then tried some octopus, which looked good, but was inedible, also for a relatively high price. I mean, these experiences are just personal and maybe we weren't lucky that day, but for me it was like a tourist trap. Of course we also experienced good things, because we met some really nice sellers and took some photos together. So I would suggest making your own picture and maybe you love it there.

Cefalù - First Impressions & Sicily Food Festival

After spending some days in Catania, we took the train towards Palermo, but with a stopover in Cefalù for some beach vacation, before heading for the next city. And just because my parents were on vacation in Cefalu at the same time, they convinced us to visit Sicily foremost. And we were lucky, that at this time a food festival took place in Cefalu, so we were able to try out delicious, local food and beers. For us it became an italian "beer exchange", as it is called in Germany, which is a beer festival, that takes place every summer in various cities.

But apart from that, the city is the perfect vacation spot with its beautiful cove, a wide range of gastronomic facilities and a great railway connection to explore the region of Palermo.

Taormina - Like a movie set

Since we did a trip from Catania to Taormina by bus, we just had a few hours to explore the city. We would have loved to stay there all night long, because that's our favorite part of the day, but I think the last bus drove back at 10pm.

The city already became a popular tourist spot in the early 19th century with famous visitors such as  Oscar Wilde, Nicholas I of Russia and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and after visiting I know why.

It is just such a beautiful, little city with so many cute shops and photogenic details to discover in all those alleys. And then you have this magical view, you want to look at for hours. It's like the perfect, typical italian town, that you know from the movies and the cities style is definitely comparable to the chic Amalficoast. 

Da wir nach Taormina mit dem Bus von Catania aus gefahren sind, hatten wir wieder einmal nur begrenzt Zeit. Und da wir uns alles immer stundenlang angucken, wie zuvor das antike Theater oder den Stadtgarten, blieben uns für die Stadt selbst nur knapp 2 Stunden. Aber ich kann verstehen, warum sich die Stadt bereits Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts zu einem touristischen Hotspot mit Besuchern wie Oscar Wilde und Goethe entwickelt hat. Sie ist wie der perfekte, typisch italienische Ort, den man aus Filmen kennt und vom Stil und der Atmosphäre vergleichbar mit den Orten der Amalfiküste. Nicht nur die Aussicht ist magisch und man würde sie sich am liebsten stundenlang anschauen, man kann auch so viele Details an jeder Ecke und jedem Haus entdecken, dass selbst die kleinsten Gässchen photogen sind. Man könnte meinen, die Stadt hätte ein Set-Designer entworfen.