Harmonious chaos in Palermo

Despite that I was pretty sure I’d just arrived to Palermo they welcomed me to Africa. Sicilians’ humor, I supposed. I was alone just wondering around the city being amazed by even the tiniest sculptures glowing in their historical beauty. I had my map in case, but as I didn’t follow it much I ended up in discovering really small streets. Suddenly I felt something wet fell into my head. It was water, at least i hope it was. I looked up and saw many clothes catching the wind in beautifully carved balconies. Colorful houses, cobbled streets, dazzling sunshine and warm breeze playing with laundry. I felt I was in a movie, except it started to smell weird. At this moment the beauty got mixed by not so classical beauty. There were piles of trash in the streets and cats eating leftovers. I kept walking and ended up in La Vucciria, a nice market full loads of colorful vegetables. One man offered me to try a small apricot-shaped fruit. He smiled kindly and held the fruit in front of my face saying: “Prego!“. Taken a quick glance of his fingers wrapped around this fruit, I didn’t feel hungry anymore. He was really kind though, so I bought a kilo of these fruits and continued my way. The same night my local friends proposed to go out for a drink. In my surprise we went to La Vucciria. I was sure I’d been there the same day but I didn’t recognize the place at all. I was literally shocked by what I saw next. Imagine a narrow street filled with several different small bars all playing music as loud as the speakers can get. “This is Africa” said my friend with a funny smile on his face. This time I got it. It was crowded. People were sitting on the ground, having a drink next to sleeping dogs. Imagine Vespas, dogs, immigrant kids selling junk and people partying altogether. After getting cheap drinks and finding a comfy place to sit I started to feel a special vibe in the air. People were laughing and having fun. Even the dogs looked really integrated. The drinking part was followed by the most-delicious-panino-ever made by kind elder man. He cooked in front of me and carefully chose the best slices of juicy tomatoes and mozzarella. While eating my attention was caught by a street artist dancing in the middle of the crowd. In the end I gave the last bite to a dog - it had been staring at me for way too long. Time passed and we started walking back home. Looking back now I get chills because this chameleon market shook me in so many ways while being ineffably harmonious.