Seeking sunshine, we hopped a plane from Venice to a place we have never been to... Sicily! The forecast called for a solid week of rain and cooler weather in most of Italy, so we thought we'd head south where it is in the 80s and work our way up from there.
Knowing nothing about Sicily, except that the Mafia originated here, we booked an Airbnb for a couple of nights in the city of Palermo (where the major airport is), in hopes of being close to a beach paradise. We didn't plan to spend much time in Palmero but rather use it as our launching pad to rural, coastal towns where we hoped to stay put for a while and enjoy the sun.
Upon my quick research of best neighborhoods to lay our heads for a couple of nights, I read that though Palmero has become much safer and cleaner over the years, there are many neighborhoods to still stay clear of.
Well, I must have read the map wrong because I thought we were on the border of "Palmero's Hippest Neighborhood to Stay In" and "Palermo's Neighborhood to Stay In for First-Timers," but we ended up in "Palmero's Neighborhood to Avoid Because You Will Be Scared for Your Life!!!" Funny, the Airbnb reviews read, "it's a wonderful, little place near a market that's a bit dirty but great... perfect stay in the center of Palermo... great location... the apartment is brilliantly located..." Hmmm.... I've never been so uncomfortable walking around a place in my life! Of course, when you have your kids with you, you feel even more uneasy,
We were planning on going out to eat and exploring upon our arrival, but that idea quickly changed and we raced to buy a few groceries to get back to our place before dark. We all gladly cooked dinner at home. I guess we are just shy of a mile off from the recommended neighborhood to stay in!
Our Airbnb is homey and we feel totally safe inside. There are fireworks, horns honking, music blasting and people yelling on and off throughout the night, but we are tucked in nicely here.
Today was supposed to be 85° but ended up being 99° with high wind. The kids did school and then we were too hot to venture outside and not very excited about stepping foot outside of our place. We know if we get out of our neighborhood, we will be fine, but we are just being lazy. Tomorrow, we will head out to explore. It is supposed to be a beautiful city with lots of cool stuff to see!
Go with your instincts alwAys!!! You will still have a great time.