Francesca’s beautiful, light, artfully decorated apartment was a real refuge at nearly the hottest spot in Europe on record. It was spotless when we arrived, and the air conditioning worked perfectly and cooled the flat quickly after we arrived late at night. Palermo is pretty gritty, so we hugely appreciated coming home to the cool and clean after exploring the city. Be sure you buy drinking water upon arrival (there are lots of little grocery stores nearby, and our favorites were the slightly posh Prezzemolo y Vitale stores. There was just enough cooking equipment so that we could occasionally cook dinner. As we were there several weeks, we were thankful for the washing machine and clothesline off the back balcony (and plenty of clothespins!). Francesca’s place is a great home base, but we hope you get to beautiful Marsala, Sciacca and Siracusa too!