Castlebuono & Cefalu

27 Sunday Mar 2016

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Castlebuono, Cefalu, Italy, Palermo, Sicily

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26 March, 2016

Leaving Palermo

Friday the tour loaded into a minibus and went to visit the medieval town of Castlebuono. About an hour and a half east of Palermo, it is in the hills south of Cefalu. We toured the castle, and had a fantastic lunch at a restaurant specializing in mushrooms. The town of Castlebuono is quite charming, with the narrow twisting streets and alleys so typical to the ancient towns I have visited before. The castle dates to the 12^th century, but excavations have revealed the foundations of a Roman fortress. Though as it stands, the building is not particular to any one period due to having been rebuilt to it’s purpose following earthquakes in the 19^th Century.

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|In Cefalu we visited a restored medieval laundry, and then moved to the cathedral square. After enjoying a gelato we had a brief visit to the cathedral. This is a 12^th Century Norman church is very French in its external appearance, but inside the influence of Byzantine and Greek Orthodox is clear. Like Montreale and some of churches I visited in Palermo, the upper walls and domes are covered in mosaics of colored stone, glass, and gold.

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Returning to Palermo, after a brief stop at the hotel, Frank and I headed into the old town to to find one or two of the many Good Friday processions. The different churches all parade through the streets carrying floats of the crucified Jesus followed by the Virgin Mother. The biers are clearly very heavy, one was carried by over 30 men, and move maybe ten meters at a time. The procession of led by men in black representing death, accompanied by drums and a harsh bugle. At the rear comes a band on foot playing a lamenting dirge. Appearing somewhat anachronistic today, this is a tradition hundreds of years old. In history, the churches all tried to outdo each other with the larger churches and cathedral building to many meters high.

Today, we have left Palermo and are on a bus through the countryside to visit the city of Erice, a farm in the valley of Segesta, and finally our next home of three nights in Mazara, on the southwest coast of the island.

arrivederci!

Palermo, Day One

27 Sunday Mar 2016

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Palermo, Sicily

Monte Pelligrino

Thursday 24 March, 2016

Palermo, Sicily

We arrived at the hotel in Palermo after nearly 25 hours in transit. By then end of the day the two days added up to nearly 36 hours long with only a few hours nap over the Atlantic.

The first evening following the rain, there was opportunity to briefly explore the area of the hotel and nearby shoreline.

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The first day in Palermo we strolled through the center of the old town with a local guide, learning some of the history of the city. We stopped in a few piazza before boarding our minibus for the drive to the cathedral at Montreale.

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Fontana Pretoria

Fontana Pretoria

Quatro Canti — The Four Corners (One of four Identical monuments marking the center of the old city)

The Cathedral Square

Cattedrale di Palermo

Set on a hillside 250 meters above Palermo, the Cathedral of Montreale was constructed in the 11^th century “Norman” period of the early Crusades. It is heavy building in the Romanesque style of architecture. The small windows of the period result in the interior being fairly devoid of natural light. Rather than being painted, as the churches in Northern Europe were, this one is literally lined with gold. The influence of the Byzantine Greek Orthodox is plainly apparent in the intricate mosaics. It was the holy Thursday of Easter Week, there was a celebration with 150 priests from the region when we visited. Consequently it was not possible to have access to most of the building. This was a mixed bag as typically the space is dimly lit, but during the service the lights were all on allowing to the mosaics to shine in a way never seen in medieval times. Smoke from incense at the alter added a haze to the air that added an almost magic feel to the vast interior. Photography was not allowed, so I cannot show the interior here.

Returning to Palermo at lunchtime we strolled through the crowded street market filled with vegetable, meat, and fish vendors. We stopped for lunch in the market, and enjoyed fresh shrimp and several local dishes featuring eggplant. All of these pictures were taken with the phone camera which I have not gotten onto the computer yet. Stay tuned for a variety of pictures from that device in the near future.

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The last highlight of the day was a visit to one of the only remaining puppet theatres in Sicily. This was traditionally the entertainment for the people. Today there are few that survive and maintain the tradition, mainly as an attraction for tourists.

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There are many small churches that are all worth stepping into. Their somewhat plain facades conceal gorgeous baroque interiors that are all breathtaking.

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