7. Sicily - Palermo

There's so much to tell you, but the internet has not been strong and so we have been using what we have to book our next two weeks in Sicily.

Flew into Palermo on a short hop from Malta.  No sooner were we in the air than we were preparing to land.  Not even time to serve a bread roll and a little bottle of water, which is what we had  on the flight from Rome to Malta.

We picked up our Hertz hire car at Palermo airport.  By pre-booking and pre-paying we saved 50% of the cost than if we had hired on the spot.  We even got an upgrade to a new Dacia Duster with inbuilt GPS when Paul noted the atrocious amount they charged to rent a GPS for the Fiat Punto we had originally booked.

We had pre-booked a tiny studio apartment right in the Centro Storico in the old port area.  That's the building on the right in the first photo.

Palermo has really got its tourist act together now - apartments are easy to find and well managed.  The traffic is atrocious still - quite nerve wracking for the first few hours till you get a sense of it.  To me it is traumatic chaos.  To Paul it is a matter of "rolling with the punches". That is pretty much our life when I come to think about it.

Palermo city was much cleaner than we remembered.  We had planned to follow a couple of walking routes around this historical centro area, but it took us so long to book our ongoing accommodation for the next two weeks that our whole second day was used up before we knew it and we only had time to walk our immediate streets (which were in shadow) and the huge waterfront park between our residential area and the ferry and commercial shipping port.

We came across several shops like this one selling only beans, seeds and pulses - including the budgie and finch food in bags out the front.  This shop was full of people, none of whom were smiling at me - so I did not want to intrude .... after all, this is the home of the mafia.

Famed for its glorious golden mosaics, Monreale Cathedral is one of the finest Norman buildings in Sicily and we visited as we drove out of town. It was built in the 12th century as part of a grand royal complex in the hills overlooking Palermo.

The cathedral was built from 1174 to 1185. It was commissioned by William II (1154-89), the Norman ruler of Sicily, who wished to demonstrate the magnificence of his kingdom and outdo the splendid Palatine Chapel built by his grandfather, Roger II. The project employed both Sicilian and Byzantine craftsmen, resulting in a magnificent fusion of eastern and western influences.

The undisputed highlight of Monreale Cathedral is its richly mosaiced interior. Dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, the golden mosaics completely cover the walls of the nave, aisles, transept and apse - amounting to 68,220 square feet in total. 

The mosaic cycle is second only to the Hagia of Sofia in size, and much better preserved. 

Some of the mosaics were created by craftsmen brought from Venice.

The Cappella di San Benedetto, decorated in the 16th century, contains the porphyry sarcophagus of William I (d. 1166) and marble tomb of William II (d. 1190).

Here lies William 1 (d.1166) - moved for some renovations.

Everything you see is mosaic, not painting. It was absolutely stunning.

From Palermo we headed west to the Greek ruins at Segesta.