After breakfast we had a meeting with our leader, Andrea. He gave us the basic tenets of what we should expect as well as a few rules about tipping and behavior. My personal favorite is that there can be no discussion of US politics. Last night at dinner we had found that our new trip companion was very much in favor of the orange man. We stopped discussing it. Patricia and I were rather shocked but ending the discussion made it sort of irrelevant. So it goes.
Our first destination was the church of Monreale. It is a good distance out of the city set on the top of a cliff side town. It was built by a Norman king who lived in Palermo. The legend says that he had a dream that the Virgin Mary told him that she wanted the church built there in what was forest instead of the one he had started in town. The church is built in basilica style, not as a cross but as a long rectangle. The architecture is moorish because the Muslims were known to be excellent builders. The arches are pointed instead of round. Some of the decorative features are clearly Muslim. The entire upper walls of the church are spectacular mosaics with 67,000 sq feet of golden pieces that are gold leaf sandwiched in glass. Bible stories line the wall in pictures.
The king, William 2 was showing his power by having his coat of arms above his throne in the church topped by a mosaic of him being crowned by Christ. There was a power struggle between bishop and king. Apparently the bishop who sat across from him was able to get to his seat in 3 stairs instead of 4 for the king. But the mosaic showed the power of the king who built the church.
We left the church to return to town for a walk down the Main Street which leads to the harbor. There are many beautiful old buildings that belonged to noble families. Each noble family also built a church for their use. As you can imagine, the street is lined with churches punctuating the large houses.
We came to the original church that was being built before Montreale. Apparently the interior is very plain. There was a huge boat on wheels with a young woman’s statue on the street. She is the patron saint who performed a miracle 30 years after her death by ridding the city of the plague. Lots of crazy stories.
Patricia and I went off to lunch at a very posh hotel across town. My friend Gail had recommended it. The Villa Igea had been a private home which overlooked the harbor. It is a very elegant spot. We ate a nice lunch in the bar alone until a man arrived just as we were finishing. We chatted with him a bit. He had been staying there for a few weeks. $$$$$
We returned to our hotel to hear a fascinating presentation by 2 men who talked about the Cosa Nostra in Sicily. One man had spent much of his life researching the subject and the other was the son of the last head of Cosa Nostra. So much to think about.
We then went out to dinner as a group to a nice restaurant. Food has been plentiful. Our leader joked that we were required to gain weight on this trip.
Tomorrow we go to a small town about 1 1/2 hours away. It sounds pretty rural and interesting.
The Adventures of Anne 