Sicily trip: Palermo, Jan 2 morning

We left the house at 8 to return the car to avoid getting a parking ticket and to have more time to see the sights. Our plan was to first go to Palazzo Reale (a.k.a. Palazzo dei Normanni) to see Capella Palatina, then the cathedral, then perhaps the modern arts gallery, then a puppet show. But on our way we stopped at the tourist office in the center, at Piazza Castelnuovo, across from the Politeama theater, and that led to a change of plans.

The two ladies there were extremely helpful (despite their tendency to speak in chorus). They found out for us that there was a special unannounced puppet theater performace at 11 at the historic theater near the cathedral. They also said that special night visits to Palazzo Reale and Capella Palatina were available for a few days only (molto suggestivo e emozionante according to their brochure). So we decided to go to Capella Palatina at night and went to the cathedral first:



Its architecture seems to have a little bit of everything, like the rest of Palermo.



Inside, there is a fenced section housing the Tombs of the Emperors and Kings. It holds simple tombs of Henry VI, Frederick II, Constance of Aragon, and three others.

Given the Christmas season, there was, of course, a presepe (or presepio, a nativity scene, literally "crib"):



We have seen dozens of those in churches, some made with antique figures, some cute. There was also a tacky celluloid baby Jesus on display:



The cathedral has a meridiana, a line that catches a ray of sun that comes from a small opening high up in the wall and crosses the line precisely at noon. This was used for synchronizing clocks.



The meridiana is decorated with the Zodiac signs, located to match the time of the year.



I realized that this was going to be a very long day...

From the cathedral we headed for the puppet theater, Teatro Argento (we actually stopped by earlier and reserved our seats). It turned out the special performance was for a tour group of 30-40 people, who completely filled the little theater.

The theater was founded in 1893. Here is the owner demonstrating a marionette:



These marionettes are big and heavy; the elaborate costumes and armor are all handmade.

A large photo on the wall shows the present owner with his... father:



The show was fun: first Orlando and Rinaldo fought over Angelica, then Carlomagno came and shamed them into going to fight the infidels together instead.



The infidels --



literally fell apart under the swords of "our" knights. Bodies split in half, heads rolling. It was a little "bloody," I thought, for the youngest spectators. In fact, as Mr. Argento explained, this kind of traditional Sicilian teatro dei pupi used to be for men only. The shows went in installments every night after supper. Here the royal "fool" is announcing the end of our puntata (installment):



Back in the streets... This is a traditional carretto siciliano, for some reason dirty and parked on a dirty street:



No tourists to carry?

We instinctively headed for the Capo market at Porta Carini where we had had unforgettable sandwiches when we first arrived to Palermo: cooked veal (or was it sheep's? or cow's?) heart (or was it stomach?); cooked in a pot set on a little cart, served on very fresh Sicilian sesame rolls. Please leave a comment if you know what I am talking about.

Unfortunately no heart vendor this time, so we had a quick snack at a fast (by Sicilian standards) place at the market and then took a cannoli break:



On to see Oratorio di S. Lorenzo, S. Anna, and Galleria d'Arte Moderna, peeking into S. Domenico and other churches on the way. I must say, these baroque churches in Palermo are quite cheerful, not at all severe like those medieval Roman churches in papal Viterbo.