Palermo is the city where a kingdom learned to speak three languages at once, and the Arab-Norman buildings scattered through it are the proof. When Roger II was crowned in 1130 he ruled a realm that mixed Norman knights, Greek administrators and Arab scholars, and his court employed all of them. The geographer al-Idrisi drew a famous map of the world for him, oriented with south at the top. The buildings reflect that mix: the Palatine Chapel in the Norman Palace, with its gold mosaics and painted wooden ceiling in an Islamic honeycomb style; the Zisa and Cuba pleasure palaces; and the Admiral's Bridge, a pointed-arch span over a river that has since vanished.
The group of monuments, which includes the cathedrals at Cefalù and Monreale, was listed by UNESCO in 2015. Between them they show something rarer than any single masterpiece, a society that borrowed and blended on purpose, and for a while made it work.
As a place to start a ride, Palermo is a lively, frustrating, wonderful city. Traffic is fast and improvisational, scooters thread through everything, and the one-way streets of the old centre will confuse a navigator. Cars are parked on pavements, and a motorbike is the sensible vehicle, but never leave luggage on it. The ring road and the A19 motorway are quick escape routes toward the interior, and there are plenty of fuel stations around the edge of the city. Inside the centre it is better to park and walk, ideally somewhere with a guard or a locking post.
Eat on the street: the pani ca meusa sandwich is not for everyone, but panelle and crocchette in bread are, and a cannolo made to order from a good pastry shop is a small revelation. The ride that starts from here runs toward Villa Romana del Casale, across the island's dry interior. Leave early. The light on the hills outside Palermo in the morning is gentle, and by noon in summer the same hills are an oven.