Seattlest has been in Palermo for the past week, hanging out in the ancient markets of Vucciria, Ballaro, and Capo that snake through narrow medieval streets and church-fronted piazzas. The Mediterranean island of Sicily (Palermo being its capital) has been invaded over the centuries by just about everybody: Phoenicians, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, the French (Angevines and Bourbons), the Austrians, even the Piedmontese, whom we think of today as being fellow Italians but back then were symbols of alien occupation. It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century that Sicily became part of modern Italy, and to this day the Sicilians speak their own language and maintain a unique set of culinary traditions. Where else but Palermo would you find market vendors serving up rolls filled with calf spleen, lung, and trachea? And we're here to tell you, it tastes tons better than stadium hot dogs. (You surely don't want to know what goes into those.) more ›

No one's immune, except perhaps the Sephora cosmetics store. Sale posters in the windows of every designer, from Armani to Zara. Most are holding the line at 40 or 50 percent, but Benetton's out there with 70 percent discounts. Fashion-conscious Italians, and that's virtually the entire population, spend heavily on designer clothing, but the weather's been icky the past month and the shoppers aren't buying. Restaurants and smaller shopkeepers haven't followed suit; they don't have the sophisticated systems to predict how bad that sinking feeling's going to get. La maledizzione! more ›