Hop on hop off bus tour of Palermo

The weather for this day was forecast to be rainy so I figured that if I took a hop on hop off bus tour I could mop up the remaining sights. The bus has two routes that meet at a central point so what I had to do was to catch the first, do a circuit with the second then return to the the starting point with the first.

Here we are approaching the park outside the Norman Palace near Piazza Indipendenza where I changed buses for Montreale on Sunday.

The Porta Nouva from the bus.

As usual with these services, the earphones didn't work terribly well and I could only make out part of the commentary. So I used the map to see where we were. The advertised bus WiFi was non-existent. At the time I was also having problems with my mobile data reception dropping out frequently (which I resolved later in consultation with the eSIM provider by changing the preferred network type).

Passing the Mercato del Capo which I would return to later.

A not so great shot of the Teatro Massimo as we drove past.

A slightly better view of it.

Finally we arrived at the common terminus of the two tour lines. Since the other line hadn't started the first run of the day, I had about 30 minutes in hand to explore the neighbourhood. I was just a short walk away from Teatro Politeama Garibaldi.

And a statue of Ruggero Settimo in front.

This area is upmarket and many of the well-known international stores have shops here.

A wide plaza with outdoor seating.

I seem to have stumbled upon graduation day for one of the colleges situated there.

Now on the second route, we passed the Tribunale di Palermo (courts).

We passed the Mercato del Capo again.

The welcoming sign.

I hopped off the bus and started exploring it on foot.

Nespola, according to the translator, is medlar, new to me. A quick glance at the description told me that it could not be eaten raw, but had to undergo a process called bletting. Not something a visitor like me has facilities or time for. Pity, I was curious about the taste.

Eggplants, so essential in Sicilian cuisine.

Now that I'm on foot, a better photo of Teatro Massimo.

It was around lunchtime and many people were in the area. It was also raining slightly, hence the umbrellas.

Looking for a place to eat I settled on this inexpensive restaurant.

It was very informal, you chose one of the several dishes on offer, paid for a ticket at the cashier, then took the ticket to the kitchen window where they dished it out from large pots.

And this is the pasta with the aforementioned eggplants that I had.

I explored the lanes of the area a little,

Rejoining the bus line, we passed the harbour.

Here I hopped off, popped into a cafe to have a coffee and a tiramisu dessert before continuing my explorations.

The marina would be even more attractive on a fine day.

Those faces in the mural would be of Falcone and Borsellino, the two magistrates assassinated by the Mafia back in 1982. The building is a naval school I believe.

This is the Porta Felice, a former city gate. Makes sense as this is the port area.

And that is pretty much the end of my photos of Palermo. From here I hopped back on the bus to return to my lodgings and called it a day. To sunnier climes the next day, I hoped.