Today was another surprise. Having entered the city of Palermo you would never guess what treasures lay around the corner.

I have been re-evaluating my initial perception on so many of the places we have visited so far. Upon first view of most of these citites you would dismiss them without a second guess. It has been once you get off the beaten track that you find these gob smackingly beautiful spots.

Today I saw so many things, I will list them here and only talk about my favourites. Today I visited - Monreale, Quattro Canti, Martorana, Piazza Preatoria and Capella Palantina.

My absolute favourite was the cathedral of Monreale, which is in the mountains above Palermo. I have been told it is world famous for the mosaics that line the entire inside of the church, in amazing pictograms. It was done like this in the time when Rome was encouraging the citizens of Italy to become Catholic. The problem was that most people couldnt read or write. They got around this tiny problem by drawing the bible scenes in mosaics around the inside of the church. What an amazing site to see, please google it and have a look, my pics certainly dont do it justice.

From there we went to a couple of the other spots listed above, but I went to Capella Palatina on my own. This cathedral was built by the grandson of the guy who built Monreale, so can you imagine the competition he had with himself trying to beat his nonno??? It is much smaller than Monreale, but more detailed. I got there while it was closed for lunch. When I got back the line was enormous. This turned out to not be a problem because there was a wedding in progress in the church any way, so we had to wait for them to leave and then for the staff to clean up. What a place to have your wedding, it would be totally unforgettable. Too bad my camera ran out of batteries after 2 pics, OOPS!

After that I tried to make my way back to the hotel. I took the long, long, LONG way home, 4 hours later (ps - its a 45 minute walk when done correctly) I dragged my sorry arse, and blistered feet into my room for a nap.

Tonight there is a soccer game streaming live on the telly so most of the bars and restaurants have closed so they can go home and watch it, the ones left open are packed. So I have decided to hit the hay.

Tomorrow we have a lazy morning, then leave around 12pm and fly directly to Rome. Its almost time for me to start my solo journey. I am a bit nervous but excited. I will keep you posted.

Buona notte,
JR