When my husband K and I awoke at 6:30, we were sailing into Sicily. Just before we left with our daughter J for breakfast, we got our first glimpse of the island.
When K and I got back to our cabin around 7:30, I went out on the verandah and had a better view of our approach to Palermo. As has been usual, the port has a lot of industrial capabilities. Looking a bit to the right, the city stretched out along the waterfront.
We'd not had an idea of what we wanted to see in Sicily, when we were hastily picking our tours before the cruise. And, strictly speaking, there weren't that many choices. For today's outing, we were warned on the ticket and in the daily planner, that we needed KN95 masks (if you couldn't find the one already provided in the cabin, there are more at the Guest Services desk) and that no shorts were allowed for this tour in particular. No bare knees, shoulders, or midriffs. So, I was wearing capris in hope of being cooler.
They were just setting up, when we arrived at 8:05 at the World Stage. We were given stickers for White 5. Our report time had been set for 8:15, with departure at 8:30. But, we weren't sent off the ship until 8:38. Four minutes later, we were off the ship and searching for our bus. Our guide Gino scanned our tickets and we boarded at 8:46 and departed just 4 minutes later.
Gino immediately launched into the background info for the day. The Palermo Cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was built in 1185, during the Norman domination of the area and sits at the high point of the town. The cathedral in the Monreale section of town was begun around 1172 and is known for its mosaics, which make up the largest extent of golden mosaics since the 12th century. That one is dedicated to the Nativity of Mary.
He pointed out Mount Pellegrino, a portion of which can be seen behind the port photo above, and noted that is a symbol for Palermo. On it is the sanctuary of St. Rosalia, a patron for the town.
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean and Palermo is its most important town. 5 million people live on the island. Palermo was founded by the Phoenicians and it evidently means "big port". Even though his father Roger I was just a count, when he ruled Sicily, Roger II insisted on being called "Roger II" after he progressed from count to duke and then to king in 1130. He is the first king of Sicily. Roger was a Norman and he united all the Norman conquests in Italy into one kingdom.
Just before we parked for the cathedral of Monreale at 9:42, we saw this sign.
There were steps, so many steps to climb. Gino said we could take a taxi to the top, but I hated to waste the money. So, we climbed. It might have been okay if not for the fact that vendors set up on the sides of the steps and covered the railings in scarves. There were times I could reach between them, but not always.
Incredibly, we reached the top at 9:55, although I was winded. We still had to make our way past buildings and through people to a large square.
Since 2015, the cathedral has been part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale UNESCO World Heritage Site. Even though it was started by Normans, it has other characteristics. The arches are Arab. The Byzantine mosaics are the most in Europe. In 1186, the Pope wrote of it being a miracle of light and gold.
Quite cleverly, a window behind the altar area lets in the first light of day, "the light of the Lord". In the evening, a window opposite the altar lets in the last light of day.
So, let's start looking at this thing. When you look at the exterior, you definitely see some Arab influence, foremost to me being the use of mosaics there. Evidently, the tower shows Norman influence. There's a statue near the ticket booth of a king holding a model of the church with extended arms, as if offering it to the Lord. I've seen similar statues elsewhere. The statue of Mary near there presents her as young and lovely, which you don't always see.
We moved inside with Gino and just tons of other people. There were even kids on a field trip. I was immediately struck by just how much of the mosaic work is high above. It's lovely and, since it depicts Bible stories and saints, informative, but I don't know if I could worship there. It is just so heavy and overwhelming to the point of being oppressive.
The door under the evening window, has a mosaic of Mary and Jesus that looks rather like Eastern Orthodox icons. Anyway, it is Mary showing the Way.
The mosaics along the center of the nave are the Old Testament from creation to Jacob's fight with the angel. Stories from the life of Jesus decorate the side aisles. By the way, the nave is modeled on an Italian cathedral, while the choir area is reminiscent of Eastern churches.
Besides these mosaics, there are random lines of mosaics running up and along walls and on the floor. Truly beautiful.
So, let's move on to the nave. It really is quite amazing to look all the way down there and see just how large Jesus is above the altar. Jesus here is in the Eastern form of Christ Pantocrator, which means "Almighty" or "all-powerful". It can also mean "Ruler of All" and is symbolic of Him at His second coming. On either side of His head in these depictions of Him, you'll find IC and XC for the Christogram of the name Jesus Christ. He's huge- his right hand alone is 2 meters long. We'll talk about that hand, when we get closer. But, the left hand holds a Bible open to "I am the Light of the World"in Latin and Greek. You will note how beautiful the ceiling is and the morning light window I mentioned.
We worked our way up to the altar area. The altar rail and the rail beyond the choir were made of lacy stonework. The floor had intricate designs. The Easter candle was the fanciest I've ever seen. I mean, ours doesn't have the lovely bands at the bottom that this one does. The organ pipes on either side of the choir were mirror images of each other. Up close, it was easier to see Christ's hand. You can see that the fingers are in two groupings of two and three fingers each. There's deep symbolism there. The two fingers represent the dual nature of Christ, both God and man. The three stand for the Trinity. They also make the IC, X and C for Jesus Christ. Pretty cool! Below Jesus is Mary as Theotokos, a term used a lot in Eastern Orthodox churches. It means "God-bearer". (This whole section of the church is more Eastern than Latin.) There are angels and saints depicted, as well.
On the front right side of the church are two tombs. The dark red one is that of William I of Sicily(~1120-166), who was the second king of Sicily. The white one is that of his son and the man who started building the cathedral, William II of Sicily (1153-1189). At the head of that aisle is an altar with a lovely statue of Mary as Santa Maria Nuova. There is also a mosaic that shows an awful lot of ego- Jesus crowning William II.
When we finished the tour, Gino gave us a time to meet down at the bus. We took a few minutes to buy some postcards and look at religious items for sale before heading for the restroom. J and I told K where they were supposed to be, as we finished our purchases. He was nowhere in sight, when we went for the restroom at 10:38. They turned out to be pretty far into a courtyard that had equipment for kids to play, as if a school were nearby.
The restroom was modern, but out of toilet paper. Luckily, I had a pack of Kleenex that happened to have a Star Wars theme. I let J go first and then sent her ahead to the bus, hoping she'd find K. When I came out, I had to fly to the bus, as best as my knees would let me. Those stairs with their scarves on the railing caused trouble again, when I reached to them for help.
As I got near the bottom, J was there and pointed out a ramp for me to use to save me the last steps before the parking lot. I paused to take a photo of the prickly pear cactus in bloom with the mountains beyond and still managed to be at the bus on time at 10:50. Oh, and K was already there. It was rather disconcerting, however, to find that someone had taken our seats. This had not happened on any of the other tours.
We drove back into Palermo proper and were let off the bus at about 11:20. Gino led us down Via Vittorio Emanuele. Soon, we were approaching Porto Nuova, Palermo's main city gate. The gate was originally built in the 1500's to commemorate the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's conquest of Tunis in 1535 and his visit to Palermo. It was destroyed by fire in 1667 and rebuilt in 1669. The figures on it represent the Moors that Charles V defeated. When we went through and looked back, we could see there were no such figures on the other side.
We were now walking by the Palazzo dei Normanni (Norman Palace), which now houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly. There's a pretty park in front of it and that was hosting an art exhibit.
Just a couple of minutes after that, we reached our next destination: the Cathedral of Palermo. The church exhibits various styles of architecture. There are 4 Norman-style towers. Arches are Romanesque and the church has massive proportions, both of which come from the Normans. There are Baroque and Arabesque elements. In the 18th century, it was modified into a Latin cross and most of the modifications and additions date to then.
When I zoomed in on the spires with my camera, I saw a statue of Mary, which I expected, but I was surprised to see thin metal figures. The one with the keys must be St. Peter. The one with the hairy-looking coat and pointing at the Cross, must be St. John the Baptist. I have no idea who the other one is.
Inside, it was so much brighter than Monreale, because of the use of white.
In the left aisle, there is also a lovely statue of the Madonna and Child, that seems to be called Madonna Libera inferni ("free from Hell"). It dates to 1471 and it is quite lovely. At the end of the aisle (front of the church) is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, with its incredible lapis lazuli tabernacle.
On the opposite side is the chapel of Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, which was completed in 1635. There is a silver urn weighing 320 kilos and it contains her relics. On July 15, it is carried through the streets in solemn procession.
You may not think that you can find fun things in a church, but you can. Here it is a meridian line. J and I had seen the one in the Basilica of St. Mary and the Angels and Martyrs (Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri) in Rome in 2010. Here, my photo focuses on Cancer, which is the sign for both K and I, but J's Gemini is visible, too.
The main altar was so bright, with lovely rose-colored marble.
I didn't notice confessionals in Monreale, but I did find one here. What surprised me was that the penitent seems to be on the outside. That's not exactly private.
We finished our tour at 11:57 and were given some free time. We discovered some beautiful flowers out in the courtyard- West Indian Lantana and Paperflower.
We went across the street to shop and were not very surprised to find a shop that caters to priests.
We managed to find some pins and a town sticker. We wandered into a bookstore, glad that it was Italian or we might have gone home with books. But, there were religious objects. I found a small Madonna for our coming grandchild and a small stone Nativity for me.
We rejoined the group at 12:15 in front of the cathedral and headed back to the bus. It was none too early for me, because my hip was getting incredibly painful. We found the bus at 12:28 and were on the road at 12:30. Arriving at the port at 12:48, we gave Gino a 5 euro tip and walked along the pier to the ship, getting onboard at 12:55.
The boarding was not crowded, so we got to the cabins at 12:57. After taking care of depositing what we'd taken ashore and what we brought back, as well as putting my purse and K's wallet in the safe, we headed off to lunch at 1:20. We got a fine array of desserts, including the line's signature bread pudding. Salad and fruit made it feel healthier for K and me.
After lunch, we went up to the Observation Deck (12) to take photos of Palermo. We didn't know what we were seeing, but that was fine. I will note that the white things at the base of the panoramic photo are the cabanas of the Retreat below us.
We found more art! These were examples of books being made into art. They were really cool.
At 2:50, we dropped two forms off at the Guest Services area. One was the next cruise deposit form. We'd done this same thing on the Baltic cruise three years ago. We authorized deposits of $100 each and we'd get that in onboard credit on our next HAL cruise within three years. The other form was one stating we didn't need a Covid text at the end of the cruise. Since we are not heading back to the US right away, the test would be useless.
Since we'd finally been able to book an excursion for the 28th, we went over to the dining podium and made our dinner reservations for that day later.
K went off to the fitness room, while J and I went to the 3:00 coloring session. I still found that made me sleepy, but we both enjoy the activity. Afterwards, we went to our cabins. I updated Facebook, while sitting on the verandah.
Our dinner tonight was one of the free ones we'd been given. Tonight's was at 5:30 at Tamarind. I had been leery of booking this one, because of the presence of sushi, but J had pointed out that could be avoided altogether. It turned out that this was a fantastic meal!
First, the setting is just lovely. Purple is one of my favorite colors and it was used well. The dishes had a really cool look, too.
The service was perfect. They were quick to keep the meal moving and they brought extras of the things from the first course that we liked. Since we were sharing everything, it was just a matter of agreeing what we were ordering.
To start, we got the Satay Sampler, Lobster and Shrimp Potstickers, and Jewels of the Sea. They were served with wonderful sauces. There were Shrimp and Tofu Spring Rolls and Shrimp Tempura. We were also served a unique, delicious bread, and, of course, tea. One of the dishes was a soup and they put the broth in at the table. So, there's a before and after shot.
Our main courses were Mongolian Barbecue Lamb Chops, Crispy Duck with Ginger Chili Glaze, and Sweet and Sour Vegetable Tempura to have vegetables.
We also ordered a variety of side dishes: Steamed Jasmine Rise, Dungeness Crab Fried Rice, and Sake-braised Oyster & Shitake Mushrooms.
During the meal, at 5;50 to be precise, we set sail. This was later than scheduled. But, we could look out the window and see Sicily receding behind us. I hadn't realized how mountainous it was.
While I don't think of dessert, when I think of Japanese cuisine, the ones we had were great. We had Yuzu Cheesecake, Passion Fruit Cloud, and Lychee, Lemon Basil, and Yuzu Sorbets.
Then, it was up to the pool on the Lido Deck to find seats for the movie for tonight Death on the Nile, which actually started a couple of minutes early at 8:27. I enjoyed the movie and I liked that the roof was open over the pool.
We were in our cabins at 10:30. The phone said I'd walked 9, 502 steps for 3.2 miles. However, it claimed those steps up to Monreale equaled only 1 floor. I call that baloney.
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