The greatest blight of Palermo; the one that defames the city in the eyes of the world… is the traffic,’ expounds Mafia lawyer D’Agata in Roberto Benigni’s 1992 comedy Johnny Stecchino. As my taxi lugubriously halts and honks its way from the airport through jam-packed city streets, it’s a view to which I can relate. In daylight this snail’s pace drive would be a chance to enjoy a first view of the city, but my evening arrival means I resort to squinting out at the streetlights, trying to glimpse the architecture beyond, and managing to catch sight of the odd monument along the way – the illuminated elegance of Statua della Libertà and looming mass of Monte Pellegrino still visible through the darkness.
The strains of the journey are quickly forgotten, however, as I arrive at my base for the weekend. Rocco Forte’s Villa Igiea is the kind of place where tense shoulders instantly loosen and a holiday mood takes over, and this is very much the effect it has
