What is a furgone in Italian? These are the strange three-wheeled vehicles that you are likely to encounter when you visit Palermo, Italy.
In this video, I am in Palermo.
As I walk down a typical street in Palermo, outside the tourist zone, I come across a strange three-wheeled vehicle. These are common in Palermo for local vendors.
This one has cleaning goods, supplies, and houseware-type items. You can consider this like a Walmart on wheels.
They are called a furgone, which also means a van. It’s also used to describe a food truck.
These vehicles stop in the neighborhoods and sell their items. These vendors can sell either retail or wholesale.
They often have megaphones to publicize the items they have for sale. You can hear that they do not believe in noise ordinances in Palermo! They announce their specials of the day at the top of their lungs!
It’s in a Sicilian dialect that’s difficult to comprehend.
I don’t see it too much in other parts of Italy. It is probably prevalent in Naples, Catania, and other southern Italian cities.
It is such a unique characteristic in Palermo.
In the video, you will also see a fish vendor utilizing one of the three-wheeled carts. There is also an open-air taxi available for transportation around the historical center of Palermo.
Italian vocabulary for this video
Pothole – buca
Van – furgone
Scooter – monopattine
Street – via
Car – macchina
Teatro – theater – seen as overlays in the video
Food Truck – camion di cibo
Houseware – casalinghi
Megaphone – megafono
Sicilian term
The word “banniare” in Sicilian means to proclaim or announce. Thus, the example of the vendor with the megaphone is an example of the verb banniare in use.
Italian pronunciation lesson
When a “g” in Italian precedes an “o” as in furgone, the “go” sound is similar to what you hear in gondola. That’s an easy way to remember the rule.
More pictures below:
