In Italy Online – Giardino di Palermo B&B

Giardino di Palermo B&B

Authentic Italy - Historic Residence

Character: Typical upper-class Sicilian country home whose backyard is a bona fide botanical garden.
Advantages: In Palermo but not in the city, so great for touring both the city and sites that require a car; groups of six have the whole upstairs to themselves; your hostess speaks excellent English.
Location: On the outskirts of Palermo. You can take a bus into the city in less than half an hour, or easily drive to any site in western Sicily. Click here to see a map.
Size: One room with a double bed and a daybed, one single room, one double bedroom and an apartment with living room and double bedroom. Each room is air conditioned and has its own bathroom with shower. Perfect for a group of 6-8 friends.
Features: Nice family furnishings give the feel of staying at your grandma's house. The garden is unforgettable. Price includes breakfast.
Minimum stay: Two nights (three nights in July and August).
Disadvantages: No hotel services. Ideal for 6-8 people, but not the best for only two, unless you don't mind sharing the area (but not the bathroom!) with strangers.
Car needed: Yes.

In the 1700s, Palermo was an important capital with more than its share of aristocratic families, many of whom accumulated immense fortunes by selling wheat or beef raised on vast farms hidden deep within the island's sprawling center, or by trading throughout the Mediterranean and as far abroad as the Orient and the New World. When temperatures rose in the city, as they inevitably did each summer, the patriarch would gather up his numerous brood with all their goods and take them off to the cool respite of their country baglio. These fortified country estates were built of stone and always featured a high perimeter wall, behind which were concealed a paved front courtyard usually shaded by tall palms, a rambling two-story home with room for everyone, and a secret rear giardino or garden where the sun's rays nourished healthy subtropical plants without searing sensitive human skin. Today, many of these bagli are virtually within the city limits, but when you walk through the front gate you would never know it thanks to the peace and quiet that always reigns within. Some have fallen into sad disuse and others are the exclusive realm of their owners, but this exception, home to the president of Italy's leading environmental organization, is available for a maximum of six lucky travelers at a time.

You'll have to drive past a warren of ugly modern homes to get here, but the first part of the fifteen-minute drive from downtown Palermo takes you through the stupendous and seemingly endless park of La Favorita. Leave your car right outside the gate, step into the peaceful courtyard, and you will soon be met by your energetic English-speaking hostess Gabriella, who personifies the warmth for which Sicilians are famous. She will lead you into her traditional home, scented with flowers and spices, filled to the brim with books and family heirlooms.

The air-conditioned guest quarters are on two floors. Downstairs, a delightful double bedroom has French doors opening onto the patio and garden. Its private bathroom is right across a hall that is used by no one else. Upstairs, another double bedroom overlooks the garden and has its own bathroom across the hall. Next door is a pretty pink single room with its own en suite bathroom; this is rented only in combination with the double room. Finishing off this floor is a spacious, sunny apartment furnished to the highest quality standards, with two windows offering splendid views over the garden. It features a living room with double sleep sofa for one or two children, a small dining table, a kitchenette, a double bedroom and en suite bathroom with shower. Any of the double rooms can have two twin beds or one king-sized bed. Because of this configuration, the upstairs is best suited for groups of four to six friends or a family of 5+2.

Breakfast, a wonderful array of fresh organic fruits and eggs, along with homemade breads and pastries, is served in the family dining room in cooler months, or on the covered veranda most of the time. This faces onto the wonderful garden, as varied and fascinating as many a municipal botanical garden. There are plenty of lemons and oranges, of course, but there are also many rare exotic trees, as well as banks of vivid wildflowers interspersed with carefully arranged bushes and shrubs. Seated with your fresh juice or perhaps with a book on one of the benches amongst the lush greenery, it will be very hard to believe that Gabriella planted every single seed in what was a barren field only 25 years ago. But then, this is just one of the many, many secret miracles that Sicily presents to those who are curious enough to discover them. Gabriella is delighted to share the secrets of her Giardino di Palermo with her guests, along with ideas for wonderful day trips, perhaps to Monreale, Segesta, Cefalù, and of course, to the spectacular sights of Palermo.

For this property:
No children under 10 years of age, please!

Click here for information about getting to Sicily.

Please note that you need a car to stay here.

It is not possible to guarantee Internet access at any property, because the property does not generate the service, it merely provides access from a server. If the server experiences any kind of problem at all, the property regrets it cannot be responsible for any inconvenience caused by subsequent lack of service.

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