Bonet's Real Travel Journals: June 2012

June 14th - Cefalu, Sicily

Sad goodbyes this morning as we departed our ship & took the transfer to the Catania airport to pick up our rental car, a small black Lancia.

We drove through the central part of Sicily to our destination, Cefalu ( pronounced Chef a lu). Though we had some directions it took some time to figure out how to get to the rental place. There are many one way streets & our GPS didn't know about one in particular & tried to keep sending us that way....Gary turned into the street & realized that it had recently been turned temporarily one way due to some adjacent street work.... We finally were lucky and found Santa Barbara, the street where our rental apartment is located. From there we walked down into the town which is located on the other side of "the rock".

The rental office was closed so we walked down the street and found a cute little cantina (La Cantina di Cicerone & Lili's Club Wine Bar). When we arrived it was about 12:45 and there was only one other table occupied. Within 20 minutes the place was packed. The people here usually have late lunches & they are not a rushed lunch (this is when many close up their shops & go home for 2-3 hours for lunch & a siesta). We each had a nice salad and split a small pizza. As we left the cantina, we received a phone call from Sergio, our rental agent & we made the connection.. he drove down to pick us up & bring us to the apartment (we had missed an earlier text from him telling us to meet him there...).

Our unit has a wonderful view up on the hill. The patio/deck is almost as large as the apartment itself. The apartment and the furniture are quite simple but perfect for us. There are also a swimming pool and laundry facilities that are shared by all the renters in this building.. There are three floors and we have the top one (no elevator) so we assume there are 2 to 4 more below us.

View from our apartment's balcony

We ate dinner at a cute little beach side restaurant, Al Gabbiano in Cefalu... I had Prosciutto & melone, we split a chili garlic penne pasta, and I also had some stuffed veal & a tomato salad. We also shared a carafe of Sicilian Rosso with the meal. Quite good though you could tell that this restaurant is mainly aimed at the tourists that visit....

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June 15- Monreale & Palermo - private tour

After a drive of about one hour from Cefalu, we arrived at the parking lot where we had prearranged to meet our private tour guide for the day, Jackie Alio. We had found her name recommended on bestofsicily.com and had also read a few of her historical articles of the region. She had been very responsive to my emails since February.

View from Monreale

We met with Jackie at the parking lot behind the famous Monreale cathedral. This cathedral was completed in 1198 and is one the most beautiful I have ever seen. The incredible mosaic works are breathtaking. Jackie told us that there are 68,000 square meters of fine mosaic work here much of it in gold leaf. The scenes from the Bible stories of creation, Jesus' life & many of the apostles and saints are beautiful. I do wish that I had brought my binoculars though as I would have been able to see more of the details. (Tip: if you come, bring yours!)

The cathedral also has one of the largest pipe organs in all of Italy with 11,000 pipes, a Ruffati pipe organ. There is a free concert here every year in December.... that would be an excellent reason for a return visit.

We also stopped for a few minutes across the street at the Monreale Duomo Cloisters ( http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Sicily%20&%20S%20Italy/Montages/Sicily/Palermo/Monreale%20Cloisters.htm ) and admired the many columns there with artwork (& mosaic) unique to each one.

Monreale Duomo Cloisters

After our stroll, we headed back to the car and drove into the old part of Palermo through the New Gate. It was so nice to have Jackie with us for direction & interesting insight.

The head is there to prove how fresh the swordfish is

Heading in the right direction!

Everything looked so fresh & ripe

After parking at an underground parking lot, we walked through Mercado del Capo, one of the marketplaces that has been in old Palermo for hundreds of years. This one has been here for 800 years!!!

Jackie shows some nicely painted carts. Had hoped to meet artist but he was on siesta.

Our next stop was the Palermo Cathedral which is a very large complex & you can easily see the many influences in it's architecture over its long history that began in 1185.

Back of cathedral shows Norman influence

Half of the massive cathedral

Other half of cathedral

Luckily were there to see the meridian at the right time!

We went into the Treasury and saw many cool goblets, silk vestments & the very famous crown of Catherine of Sicily ( which was found in her tomb in the 1400s).

We were lucky to arrive shortly before 1 pm as there is a bronze meridian on the cathedral floor that shows the image of the sun through a pinhole in one of the domes. Since it was solar noon LAN time ( local apparent noon ) we were able to see its movement.

Famous Catherine of Sicily crown

Chapel of Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo & where her bones are preserved

We also went downstairs to see the crypts. Many were old reused Roman crypts!

Next on the agenda was some lunch so we made a stop at Kaleido Cafferistoro for a quick bite. I had an eggplant sandwich which used the eggplant instead of bread. It was filled with ham, a bit of cheese, tomato & fresh basil. Very good & unusual... Thinking of trying to reproduce at home.

Great eggplant sandwich

The next stop on our walking tour of old Palermo was the Norman Palace and the Palantine Chapel which was built in 1130. The chapel has many mosaics, some very similar to the Monreale Cathedral but not nearly so large an area as Monreale.

We were able to get an additional ticket to go underground to the area where some old Punic walls (from the time of the Phoenicians & Carthaginians) dating back to the 6th century BC have been uncovered. The Phoenicians named the city Zis, which was later to be changed to Panormos & then Palermo. Interesting stuff!!

While still at the Norman Palace we were lucky to be able to visit the Hall of Hercules (named after the art there) where the Sicilian Parliament now sits. Luckily, they were not in session today but we still were not allowed to take any pictures there.

A portion of the Fountain of Shame

Next on our walking tour was seeing the "Fountain of Shame" in the Piazza Pretoria. It was called that because when it was unveiled in the 1500s, there was much criticism because of the nude statues ( this was moved from the owner's place in Florence to his new place in Palermo during the Renaissance) & unfortunately, placed just across the way from a convent!!!!!

Jackie & Bonnie on the steps of Teatro Massimo (famous Godfather location)

Our day was almost done but it was decided that we needed a gelato/ cannoli stop first. We stopped at Antica Pastceria Mazzara which has been in business at this location since 1909!! Gary & I split a yummy cannoli and we each had a small cup of gelato. A sweet ending to a fantastic day......

Tip: If you ever plan to visit Palermo, I need to say that I very highly recommend Jackie Alio as a private tour guide. She knows her history & she made Monreale & Palermo come alive for us. She was born in California & was there until age 9 and then moved to Sicily & has been in Palermo for 26 years. She is very patient, answered our many questions (& admitted to not having an answer to one which is a good sign in a guide. Some will just make up an answer..).

Sunset from the restaurant tonight

Amusing... I've often thought of a pyramid also when I see people come back to the table from a buffet

Dinner in Cefalu along the beach tonight at Ristorante Pizzaria da Nino.. a typical Sicilian ristorante aimed mainly I believe to the tourists in the area. I did try swordfish for the first time & really liked it. Apparently, swordfish is the favorite fish of the Sicilians. I will be trying it again!

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At this point in our trip, I stopped keeping a journal but continued to take pictures. I'll share some of those with you now.... Also, keep your eyes open for Gary's photo album on Facebook of our journey. His photos are amazing!

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June 16th - Cefalu, Sicily

Cathedral in Cefalu- less decorated than the ones in Palermo or Monreale

We were lucky, shortly after we left the Cefalu Cathedral, the cathedral was emptied because of a wedding. The bride arrived in horse and carriage to much fanfare. Gary got a great photo of her.