Palermo, Monreale, Cefalu - Church days Mar 22-2

Obviously, I could not keep up a daily blog.  Or even a weekly one.  In my draft pile are several posts I started but don't finish.  Any posts no would have to be backdated.  So I'm putting the dates in the title.
So, to recap the week so far, we were in Palermo for 3 days, staying the the Grand Hotel Wagner, named after Richard Wagner who spent time in Palermo.  The hotel was a beautiful 18th century building that had been totally renovated but in the same ornate style.  It was certainly a big improvement over the Cesare Augusto in Sorrento, where the toilet didn't flush, the hair dryer didn't work and the bed was lumpy.  The only saving grace was a balcony with a bistro table and chairs where I could write and smoke.  In Palermo I also had a balcony but it was the Juliet style, very narrow so you could only stand.  But it served its purpose.

Palermo Cathedral

 Monday we toured Palermo.  Saw a cathedral, and an "oriatory" which was a church completely done in plaster with polished marble dust buffed in to make it shine.   .

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Palermo Cathedral

Monreale

Monreale Cathedral - walls are decorated entirely in mosaic

All mosaics, each is only ¼ high

The highlight of the day was a short ride up to Monreale (royal mountain) to see its cathedral and walk around, have a cappuccino and people watch







The next day we drove to Cefalu (sef-a-LU)' a fishing village about an hour away.  It was cloudy that day, as it has been almost every day we've been in Sicily.  I'm really trying to keep a positive attitude but it's getting difficult.  Sunshine and blue skies make for such good pictures of some really stunning scenery.  As it is, with gray skies it's kind of yucky.  We had a wonderful lunch of fresh seafood, so filling that we skipped dinner.  Of course lunch here is at 2 and it is the biggest meal of the day for Sicilians.

Cefalu Cathedral

Cefalu

I really do love seeing these old churches.  I am almost always amazed at how stunning and rich the interiors are, even in some of the smaller parish churches.  This trip, like our last trip back in 2000, had a lot of church visits.