IMG_2620 - Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele in Piazza Verdi. Scenes in "The Godfather" were filmed on the steps.
IMG_2621 - The Teatro (often called the Opera House) ticket office, "biglietteria".
IMG_2623 - Piazza Pretoria
IMG_2624 - The nude statues earned it the name of the Square of Shame, from the influence of Spanish inquisition.
IMG_2626 - La Chiasa di San Cataldo (La Cataldo). A Norman church from 1154 with some old city wall in front.
IMG_2630
IMG_2632 - Kapok trees have pink flowers before the leaves appear, giving better access to pollinators.
IMG_2633 - Kapok trees can grow can grow 4 m a year and reach a height of 70 m.
IMG_2635 - Large spines protect the bark of young growth from damage.
IMG_2639 - Closed and opened pods. The fiber is moisture-resistant, quick-drying, resilient, and buoyant, as in life jackets.
IMG_2640 - Kapok is drought deciduous. Some of these trees may have reached water. Sicily was especially dry just then.
IMG_2642 - The Norman Palace in Palermo (Palazzo Reale / Palazzo dei Normanni).