Palermo: Puppets and Piazzas

It rarely snows in Palermo but I was pleased to see the universal winter snowflakes on the windows of the elementary school.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Our apartment is near the Piazza Marina in the center of which is the Giardino Garibaldi where  enormous fig trees create what must be welcome shade in the summer.

The largest tree in Europe was planted here in 1863.

Garibaldi Biscuits

There’s a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi – best known to generations of British schoolchildren as the hero who unified Italy while feeding his soldiers squashed fly biscuits.

They usually come in strips of five and hold up very well when dunked in a nice cup of tea. 

The International Puppet Museum is close by. It’s an amazing collection of all kinds of puppets and marionettes from around the world.

There’s something unsettling about rows and rows of hanging marionettes all just waiting to participate in some bloodcurdling scene but for sure this is the place to go to see the international history of puppetry and the artistry of Italian puppeteers. There are examples from various African, Asian and European nations including Punch and Judy glove puppets from the UK.

Josie Holford

View Comments

  • Puppets sort of spooky. Garabaldi biscuits, aka flies cemeteries in our house, essential to any decent 1950's childhood. Love all your posts from Sicily. Fab photography with stunning cultural reports nicely humbled by cats. Of course. I am now into pre Xmas 1916. Only just back in London and already decided reading your blog well high up on New Years agenda.

Recent Posts

The Affair of the Chocolate Teapot

Midge Hazelbrow, the indomitable co-head of Wayward St. Etheldreda's Academy, took herself for a brisk…

1 month ago

Best Practices, Reading Wars, and Eruption at Wayward

Before the eruption, it was a typical senior leadership meeting at Wayward. Head of School,…

2 months ago

Words Matter

When I taught fourth and fifth grade at a school that didn't assign grades, the…

2 months ago

The Culinary Capers and Comic Catastrophes of Gerald Samper

It was the Gert Loveday review of Rancid Pansies (it’s an anagram) that set me…

2 months ago

Working and Not Working

A post on LinkedIn caught my attention this week.  It's had over 11,000 views so…

2 months ago

Gall, Nerve, Courage, and The Party of Women

 Women's rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen of Let Women Speak had a big announcement last week.…

3 months ago