Sonia’s place is absolutely brilliant for a month-long stay in Palermo. 5+ stars. The apartment looks out on to a piazza with world class people watching. By day it is mostly retirees and street food vendors and people shouting salutations to each other. At night, especially on weekend and holiday nights, it is “lively,” maybe even “loud,” depending on your tolerance for youthful exuberance. The young people come out, children, students, teens, young parents, fireworks, socializing all night long. The old people, myself included, watch from their balconies. It is working class and knows how to party, but it is totally safe. I would send my daughter for a stay.
There is a Conad grocery store on the other side of the piazza. I am going to recommend against the acciughe sott’olio. The Santa Rita Panificio is very welcoming and an easy source of arancini (arancine in Palermo). The vegetable man downstairs has great produce for next to nothing. He could work as a model. Just saying. The apartment entrance is right behind the fishmonger. Some days he is cutting up an entire tuna. Some days it is an entire swordfish. Some days it is just whatever got caught in the net.
There is an enoteca wine bar across the street that kind of caters to the locals. They toss a beer bottle or a wine bottle in the recycle bin about every 15 minutes all day and all night. Then it gets emptied into a garbage truck first thing every morning. That is most, but not all, of the glass that you hear breaking. Every couple of days someone sweeps up glass the piazza. Be sure to wear shoes.
La Brace down the street is classy by my standards, but well within my budget. You would be hard pressed to eat more than $15.00 worth of food there, but it is plenty classy for a date night out. It has a sister location half-a block further that is even more upscale. It also has take-away.
Getting to Sonia’s, for me, is a short walk from the Giachery railway station. Orient yourself when you walk out. Pellegrino Mountain, which has a very nice trail up to Castello Utveggio and on into the park, is on the left. There is an Esso and a huge unmarked Mafia prison on the right. Ignore Siri. Cross the street at the light so that you are on the sidewalk and turn right and go downhill, past the prison, towards the cruise ships. Cross the street at the crosswalk at the next Esso and go straight up the diagonal street to the address. Or go past the Esso to the light and cross at the light and work your way back a block.
Teatro Massimo and the surrounding tourist enclave is, again, a short walk. There is a McDonald’s on the way, so you can get your electrolytes back in their regular balance. Go past La Brace to the end of the street, turn right and there you are. Be sure to ask, “dov’è il cesso,” so they know you are un siciliano vero.
Sonia’s wifi hotspot was solid. I was able to videoconference without any trouble at all.
The balcony overlooks two, nominally one-way, streets at an uncontrolled intersection. Watching the cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, garbage collectors, bicycles, motorcycles, scooters ridden 3 and 4 up, mopeds, parked in cars, children, dogs, cats, most of them on their cell phones and a third of them going the wrong way, is hard to look away from. It looks like impending tragedy but it never happens. It is like watching blood cells circulate without bumping into each other. I don’t get it and I would not try to drive.
The apartment itself is super-clean, super-convenient. There are landings, steps and stairs. So watch your feet and watch your head. Most of all, Sonia and her entire extended family are super-nice and super-accommodating. I highly recommend her place for anybody who wants to spend some time living as a Palermitano.