1936 On the Continent

the “Lincoln,” the “Aurora,” and the “Lombardia,”where the less pretentious can obtain excellent board and clean, comfortable rooms.
    Palermo has a large number of excellent restaurants and cafés. The “Napoli,” “La Fenice,” are among the best restaurants, while the “Massimo,” “Gran Café d’Italia,” “Politeama,” “Raghet” and “Koch” are the most noted cafés. But—as the reader will already have gathered in the course of the preceding chapters—we are partial to the small
osterias
, and we therefore call your attention to the establishment of Signor Vassallo and the “Spano,” where a variety of Sicilian fish specialities is provided. The Aetna wines you will be served after lunch or dinner, together with the glass of Marsala over which you will pledge eternal friendship with the proprietors of these places, will combine to make it very difficult for you to take your departure. Incidentally, the English are entitled to be proud of Marsala, a famous Sicilian speciality, for it was an Englishman, John Woodhouse, who, in the year 1773, discovered a method for making the best Marsala, thus establishing at one stroke the superiority of his product over the previously unrivalled Oporto wine.
The Sights
    We have reserved two days for Palermo, and in view of the many interesting sights in the city this is really not too long. There are magnificent relics from every period of Palermo’s history. The Arab-Norman, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, and the so-called Serpotta (seventeenth and eighteenth century) school, all had great architects and artists in Palermo. Orientation in Palermo is easy if you remember that the city is divided into four parts by two wide avenues, the Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which cross each other at the Piazza Quattro Canti. Unfortunately, lack of space prevents me from giving a detailed account of the sights, and I must therefore confine myself to a brief outline.
    In the quarter near the Piazza Pretoria you will find the Martorana, a Norman church dating from 1143, with splendid mosaics, and also the S. Cataldo and Gesu churches. On the Piazza Quattro Canti, near the mountain, stands the lovely Baroque church San Giuseppedei Teatini and, to the right of it, the famous cathedral, whose foundations were laid in the year 1185. The cathedral contains the tombs of six emperors and kings. The pictures in the chapel, as well as the crypt, are worth seeing. Near the Porta Nuova stands the Palazzo Reale, which was begun by the Saracens. To the right and left of the Palazzo Reale stands the S. Giovanni degli Eremiti, a magnificent medieval church built in the shape of an Egyptian cross. The museum contains Greek art treasures. The church of S. Maria Della Catena and the fine Gothic building of the Palazzo Abbatelli on the Via Alloro are also worth a visit.
    The botanical gardens of Palermo are very lovely. Honeymoon couples in particular are advised to visit it. If they get tired they can rest on one of the benches amidst the wonderful tropical vegetation.
The District of Palermo
    The most important locality in the neighbourhood of Palermo is Monreale, which can be reached from Palermo by tram No. 8, continuing by the funicular railway. If you have little time to spare, or if you are not in the mood to look at churches and art treasures, you are strongly advised to visit Monreale. Its Dome is the loveliest Norman church in Sicily, and is full of mosaics, sculptures, pictures and other art treasures. To the right of the Dome stands the twelfth-century monastery in whose court there are 216 pillars, each different, and each a masterpiece in itself.
    Mondello is a beautifully situated seaside resort some five miles from Palermo. It has two good hotels which are patronised by Palermo society as well as by foreigners. You can spend a few pleasant days at Mondello swimming, yachting and playing golf. There is dancing at the hotels in the evening.
Selinonte, Trapani, Agrigento
    If you wish to see Trapani, break your journey at Castelvetrani station, then continue by train to Selinonte, which is one of the most important pile of Greek ruins in Sicily and in the whole of Europe. Orientation is not easy in the rather complicated Acropolis and among the temples,and it is therefore advisable to go to the Torre di Polluce by the sea and engage a guide. A unique peculiarity of Selinonte is the fact that it is not framed in a modern city, so that