Palermo, Sicily

If I had to stereotype Sicilians, I'd say "They all scream, but they smile while they do it ." They really do talk loud, with hands, and often. But they're a friendly sort. Palermo is wacky, but fun.

Wow. Just wow. We're on our fourth and last day here and it's been amazing. Palermo is gritty like Catania, but I like it so much more for some reason. I'd sworn off going to multiple churches in a day but yesterday I went to five of them! There's so much history here that it's hard to pass up these Norman churches that had Arabic craftsman adding touches to the Norman design with Byzantine mosaics inside.

Today I visited the cathedral Monreale, which is about 45 minutes outside of town. It's also a masterpiece with golden mosaics telling stories from the Bible all around the interior.

Yesterday we kind of messed up and went to Agrigento on the last day of the almond festival. We thought we could see the ancient Greek ruins, which are about the best in the world including Athens, and then attend the cultural festival afterwards. Well, they closed the ruins early so they could put up a stage for the festival (which was sold out). We went to the nearby museum and we could see the temples in the distance but we couldn't get inside. We had taken a train from Palermo and that was 2 and 1/2 hours transportation each way. What a disappointment! I didn't have the energy to go back the next day, but Deanne did. I opted for Monreale instead.

Palermo has a lot of immigrants including South Asians so there's no shortage of different types of food. But we're here for Sicilian food and we've been having great meals of course.

Despite what the photos show, it wasn't all churches. They have a modern harbor with a promenade and walking through a street market and any street really, was a treat. I feel like we barely scratched the surface.

Tomorrow we take a train back to Messina to spend the night before we head to mainland Italy. We just spent two wonderful weeks exploring the football of Italy and now we're going to go hang out in the instep and the heel, Basilicata and Puglia.

More photos and videos are here.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/W3M52TGhJjNkH3zg9

And for those very few of you that can't get enough of Norman churches......

Cattedrale di Monreale
Duomo di Monreale
https://photos.app.goo.gl/x4yLm8Zxr3zBF54ZA

Chiesa del Gesù di Casa Professa
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qfUNABewcJTS2ZQW8

Chiesa Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (Chiesa della Martorana)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UiAWgELCtgGjYWix6

Church of Saint Caraldo
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SKuuDJ7GxXAZo9RaA

Chiesa di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RDYdYfAqAtLB6gRf6 Czytaj więcej