Theresa Maggio

Italy's greatest 20th-century writer Giuseppe Lampedusa's house in Palermo is once again a home, for six families. It has been made into apartments. Here is a video report from La Repubblica:

The La Spiga d'Oro bakery in Palermo says the following on its Facebook page today:
To you who are having a hard time....
To you who have a family to feed....
To you who can't stretch the budget to the end of the month...
Don't grovel!
Evenings from 8 p.m. to to 9p.m. stopby and we'll make available everything we did not sell in the line of bread, pizzas, savory buns, foccacce and more...
Our small gesture is just a little help for your life!!!!
The Spiga d'Oro Bread Bakery.
(It's name means "Golden Grain" Bakery.)
Bravi.  Read More 

Two young Palermo architects have proposed recreating Ernesto Basile's Liberty masterpiece, Villa Deliella, according to the original blueprints which still exist, and to make a museum of it. The idea has the support of politician, art critic and entertainer Vittorio Sgarbi. The art nouveau masterpiece was destroyed over a weekend in 1959 during the Sack of Palermo by mob types who wanted to clear space for their concrete high-density retail/ apartment buildings. From Best of Sicily magazine: Read More 

It's been raining in Palermo. Pilons that hold up bridges have moved out of place on the Palermo-Sciacca highway, a boulder rolled off a mountain and killed an 88-year-old woman asleep in her bed in Mondello ( maybe the house was built illegally close to the mountain) and Corso Vittorio Emanuele stones shone under this bike.

I am grateful that one day walking aimlessly and happily in the neighborhood behind the Palermo Cathedral I found the facade of this house all decorated creatively. I just get the feeling that some older pensioner with a happy, creative bent made this. And I am grateful I had my little Flip camera which I carried in my hand everywhere in that city. Happy Thanksgiving, tutti.
 Read More 

Palermo cut down some ancient trees to install a new tram line, and now they are thinking about what to plant in their place. Along Via Emerico Amari, which leads to the Politeama theater from the cruise ship port, the city counselor in charge of urban greenery, Francesco Maria Raimondo, is thinking about planting  Read More 

Parco della Favorita, on the north end of downtown Palermo, by Siculdrone. Splendid.

but traffic gets in the way.

In July Palermo was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Arab-Norman architecture, including the cathedrals of Palermo, Monreale and Cefalu` and the Cappella Palatina, all aglitter with golden mosaic tiles. Not gilt mosaic tiles, but solid gold tiles. To make the most of this prestigious world-wide recognition, the city has put together  Read More 

The mafia charges monthly protection money even from traveling street vendors, like this guy who sells produce from his three-wheeled  Read More 

Its siblings in the Orto Botanico (Botanic Garden) are rivals for the title of largest Ficus macrophylla in Europe. I love their aerial roots, majestic girth and shade.