Page 136 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

OUT FROM THE CENTRE

Baia del Corallo Via Plauto 27, Sferracavallo 091 679 7807,
www.ostellopalermo.it; bus #101 from the train station to Piazza de Gaspari, and then
bus #628 to Punta Matese; map. Palermo’s youth hostel is by the sea 12km northwest
of the city – not the most convenient choice for sightseeing, but handy for the airport
and a good cheap option for a first or last night. There’s accommodation in double and

family rooms as well as in dorms. Dorms €18; doubles/family rooms €56

Grand Hotel Villa Igiea Via Belmonte 43 091 631 2111, villaigiea.com; bus
731 or 721 from Piazza Croce, halfway along Via Liberta; map. This classic Art
Nouveau building, originally a villa of the Florio family (the people who pioneered
tuna canning), was designed by Ernesto Basile in 1900, and stands outside the city
centre above the Acquasanta marina. It has a swimming pool overlooking the port,
shady gardens, a tennis court and sweeping terraces for the most stylish aperitif in

town. Give up all notions of sightseeing in favour of long lazy days by the pool. Boat
trips and food tours available. €180

EATING

You can eat well and cheaply in Palermo, either snacking in bars and at market stalls
or sitting down in one of dozens of good-value restaurants throughout the old town
serving cucina casalinga. Pizzas and pastries, in particular, are among the best in
Sicily, while fish is another local highlight – a typical Palermo speciality is pasta con
le sarde, macaroni with fresh sardines, fennel, raisins and pine kernels. Traditional

street food is enjoying something of a renaissance, and in hole-in-the-wall outlets and
fancy bars alike you can try the sort of earthy snacks and fritters the locals have eaten
for decades. The other prime glory is ice cream – Palermo’s best gelaterie (ice-
cream parlours) are famed all over Italy. Restaurants tend to close early, especially in

the central old town, where if you turn up at 10pm the waiters are likely to be packing
up around you. For the most popular places, go before 8pm or be prepared to wait in
line.

PALERMO’S STREET FOOD

Street food in Palermo is pretty distinctive – away from pizza slices and pastries
there are plenty of things you may not have come across before (and a few you may
not wish to encounter again). Many of the more traditional snacks are straight out of
the market, and while chopped boiled octopus (purpu in Sicilian), cooked
artichokes and charcoal-roast peppers and onions are at least familiar, you might be

less inclined to hover at the stalls selling pani cu’ la meuza – bread rolls filled with
sautéed beef spleen or tripe, which either come unadorned (schiettu, meaning