After a breakfast of cappuccino and pastries in Spinnato’s outdoor dining area on Sunday (oh, there's our server in the background!), we set out to see the Palazzo dei Normanni and Cattedrale di Palermo, and as many other churches as Kathie could find. The hop on hop off bus (or as I kept calling it, the hop and go) dropped us off close to the palace. Knowing that we would go inside to the Cappella Palatina (palace chapel) the next day with our tour group, we just stood and looked/took some photos there.
Photobomber bird.
Then we headed off to the cathedral. Here’s my favorite photo at this location, plus a nice one of the gate:
Here’s what Kathie took.
Showoff.
This being Sunday, the only way we could go inside the cathedral was if we were going to stay for mass. You know Kathie –
she likes mass.
We stopped in at San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St. John the Hermit).
And then had lunch at a little street cafe. Food was yum and the people watching was fun. Next: Walk, walk, walk, past Quattro Canti...
...through Piazza Bellini...
...to Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio (La Martorana), which was closed. Church of St. Catald, across the way, was open, as was Santa Caterina d’Alessandria. Kathie liked Santa Caterina because every square inch was covered with embellishment.
We walked back to our hotel via a popular pedestrian shopping street that was overflowing with people out enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon. That evening, we met our guide, Francesca, and group – eleven other tourists, and walked over to dinner at Trattoria Biondo. Lots of food and wine. This was the beginning of us being stuffed to the gills for an entire week.
Bonus! As we hiked back from dinner, we passed the opera, where a live performance was happening right out in the open, enjoyed by young folks and old folks, well-dressed people and not so well-dressed people. It was very cool.
Tomorrow, our last day in Palermo and mucho gusto!
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