Italy Forum

Sergios
Joined 2010
Posts: 1476

6 years ago

Your impressions please

6 years ago

I would like to hear from the current expats about their actual impressions of the locality they've chosen to live in. Please present both the flowers and the trash. What would somebody need to know or want to know about the place. I am looking to move next summer and would like to better understand other places.

To start I'll talk about Palermo. I live in Mondello, a beach community about 20 minutes from downtown Palermo. The place is spectacularly beautiful with a crescent beach and turquoise water. The locals are very friendly and accepting and we have formed several friendships. Shopping is relatively cheap with great fresh produce always available with, however, a rather limited choice because what is sold is what is grown. Area supermarkets are well stocked and prices are good. Fish is fresh and moderately priced and is available on the docks and in dedicated fish shops. Certain items are not readily available because of cultural reason. For example I love croissants, the real ones. In Italy they have cornetti which look the same but are not. Not even close. Same with brioche. Here it's nothing but a bread role used to serve ice cream. The French versions just do not exist.

In summer the place is overrun by people from the city. My private Mondello becomes a public beach with too many people. A significant percentage of the crowds do not care about others and they drop trash wherever they want and make noise whenever they want. Most are friendly but slobs.

Palermo has an airport with cheap access to the USA and other parts of Europe. The island is large and varied and provides plenty of opportunity for exploration. The weather is, for the most part, great. Winters are mild with occasional rainy days. Spring and fall are the best seasons anywhere. Summer, starting in late June, is hot. It's no hotter than say NYC, but it is consistently hot, mid '90's with humidity in the 60% range. Some days can be oppressive. But the nights cool down and AC is rarely needed for sleeping.

I have wanderlust and want to experience life in other places. Palermo, if you could overlook the quirks, like too many abandoned dogs (a particular peeve of mine), or the trash not picked up often enough, is a wonderful place. The people are uniformly friendly and helpful. If you have questions feel free to comment. Now let's hear from you.

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