I’M BACK!! Epic Italian Road Trip 2022, Part 1: Palermo

Well hello lovelies!! It’s been a hell of a couple years. Hope you and yours all weathered everything okay.

It’s been too long. TOO. DAMN. LONG. But the good news is, the Professor is back and having a grand old time….and took a ton of photos to share it all with his favorite ragazzi.

HOWEVER, and there *IS* a “however” to this….it absolutely HAS be in several parts, because it was one *HELL* of an experience and there is no way I could possibly narrate the whole thing at once. You’d be reading for days. I mean you probably still will be, hopefully, but you get the idea.

With all that out of the way, from 18 February through 1 March, I was on an epic road trip of road trips up Italy. Started off in Palermo, Sicily and ended up via Naples, Rome, and Florence, in Venice for Carnival. Buckle in, this is a good one.

Friday February 18th finds us at BWI en route to JFK, where a layover of *JUST* over seven (7!) hours created a good bit of boredom. Pretty sure we said hi to prominent trance DJ/producer Lane 8, but as everyone was still masked, can’t be 100% (but probably about 99.98% sure it was him).

Redeye to Rome was uneventful, and even landed a tidge early thanks to a solid tailwind. Quick layover and we were airborne again on the way to Palermo, which was a nice short up-and-down 90 minutes or so.

The drive from Palermo airport to the hotel in Quattro Canti was the most terrifying 45 minutes of my life. I’ve heard all the jokes. I’ve listened to Jeremy Clarkson’s explanation of Italian driving. None of it….AND I MEAN NONE OF IT…prepares you for the absolute insanity of it all. Lane markings? Lights? Signs? ALL ARE MERELY SUGGESTIONS. If you *WANT* to go up that road, you just go up it. If you WANT to go through that intersection, you do. If you *WANT* to sort of be in between lanes….yup. Go for it! Here in the States we often hear the phrase “drive it like you stole it!” Nah. From now on it’s “drive it like an Italian!!”

By the time we reached Quattro Canti, it had sunk in that I’d paid the extra 56 euro for the collision damage waiver, so I opted to “blend in” with my driving style. When in Rome (or Palermo, in this case, I suppose).

For those wondering what Quattro Canti is, it’s the *OLD* city-center of Palermo. The hotel in question was the B&B Quattro Canti, and it was spectacular. Got checked in from some of the friendliest hotel staff ever (another running theme on this trip), and upon entering the room, threw open the curtains and….

Great little cafe (which has buskers/live music in the evenings) and a centuries-old marble fountain. Not a bad first impression, but after unpacking, it was time for a wander and an beverage (you guessed it….running theme for the trip).

As the sun went down, a trip to the rooftop bar at the hotel was on the docket for snacks. The view wasn’t terrible either. An Aperol spritz, a Negroni, and a not-small amount of jet lag all made it an early evening after that.

The next morning was a big one….cooking classes with Marco Cillari from A Casa di Cilla. Met up with him at the Porta Carini, the gateway to one of the original Palermitan outdoor markets, Mercato del Capo, along with a lovely couple from London. We made our way through the market, discussing what we wanted the day’s menu to consist of, and he took us to his favorite vendors and stands to buy all we’d need for our lesson–beef, raisins, fresh pistachios, fresh sardines, and some other odds and ends.

Marco. Was. AMAZING. Incredibly patient, easy-going, provided instructions in a simple way, and his apartment is gorgeous!! We started out making our dessert in the form of cannoli shells (well come on, it’s Sicily, what did you expect?).

And if you have a shell that opens up during the process, YOU GOT CANNOLI CHIPS SON. Throw a little fresh ricotta (with a spoonful of sugar to sweeten it a little) on a plate, break up the “mistake” shell, and do a presentation with flair (because it’s Italy so *EVERYTHING* is done with flair). Bam. You’ve got a delicious snack. As Bob Ross always used to say “No mistakes, only happy accidents.” In this case, really freakin delicious too.

Next up, we learned Marco’s personal dessert favorite. He takes the cannoli shell dough, but instead of frying it around a cannolo form, after cutting the circle out he adds a little sugared ricotta to which he’s added lemon zest. Fold it over and seal up like ravioli, *THEN* into the oil it goes until golden. If you told me I *HAD* to pick one thing from the entire trip food-wise that was my favorite….this was it.

Next up, we made a pesto to stuff the beef and fresh sardines from bread crumbs, raisins, pine nuts, pecorino, garlic, onion, and some blood orange. It was all I could to do keep from grabbing a handful and shoving it in my mouth. Probably would have been frowned upon though.

Next up…exactly what anyone hopes to learn when they do a cooking class in Italy: pasta! We kept it simple with tagliatelle. Flour, egg, olive oil. Mix, roll out, roll up, slice, unravel. EASY.

As another snack, we did a little cacio e pepe–traditionally more from the Rome area, but as Marco comes from Rome originally, it’s his favorite “drunk food” and has definitely inspired me to do better than a brick of cheap ramen when I come home from the pub. Boxed pasta is fine, but NEVER BARILLA!! Marco enlightened us that it’s nothing more than a corporate brand these days and the passion is gone from the company. That being said, he used some Pasta Molinazzi (not available in the US, but he mentioned it can be acquired in London so I’ll be looking out for it over there later this summer–HINT HINT!!) and boiled it for 3-4 minutes TOPS. While it was boiling, he added some fresh-ground pepper to a pan, *THEN* heated it up (this avoids burning the pepper). When the pan was hot, he transferred the pasta along with *SOME* of the water it had been cooking in. Then he added a spectacular heap of fresh pecorino, adding a little water to keep the pasta steaming and create a simply magical sauce for everything. It was absolutely spectacular, and so unbelievably simple.

Next up we cooked our tagliatelle the same way with fresh tomatoes and more pecorino.

And now…..the lunch spread (i didn’t get photos of the stuffed beef and sardines, but they were delicious as well).

The rest of the day and evening was spent exploring and taking in a tiny bit of what Palermo truly has to offer…..and now there’s a massive photo dump to follow. 😀

The next morning, Marco recommended his favorite cafe for a pastry and a cappucino, so that was priority number one. It didn’t hurt that it was directly in front of Teatro Massimo, a world-renowned opera house with perfect acoustics, which took 22 years to build–and of course, being Italian, it looks absolutely incredible. Also, while enjoying a nice laid-back gorgeous day and breakfast, a neighborhood dog popped into the cafe, got a biscotto, and hung out for a bit working the crowd for pets before trotting off to do dog stuff somewhere else.

Next up was a daytime walkabout adventure to take in more of the people, the town, all of it. Cattedrale Palermo, Porta Nuova, Palazzo dei Normanni, a Volkswagen Up Exclamation Point (shout out to my Grand Tour fans), and some great fountain faces were all part of the day’s finds.

It eventually became time to depart Palermo, and while I was very sad to leave the city, its vibe, its gorgeous weather, and everything yet to be explored all behind….I was *VERY* excited for the adventure starting the next day in Naples. “How did you get from Palermo to Naples overnight?” Find out next weekend!! Ciao!