Touring Time - Monreale

As we are coming to the end of our experiment, we are finding we would like to do a little touring. So we decided to rent a car for a week and get out and about. Kind of want to see how I feel about driving as I have been so anti-car so far. To my surprise, I found that adjusting to driving here again was not that big a deal. I still am happy to not need a car for day-to-day living. But it is nice to be able to get out-of-town.

Visit to Monreale

Monreale is a town located outside of Palermo and is home to one of the three great cathedrals (Duomo) of the Norman period of rule (the others being Palermo and Cefalú. I wrote about this at length last year and have put the link to that post above). It is renowned for the extent and quality of its mosaics done by Byzantine artists.

After the normal drive during which we mist the requisite number of turns and end up parking somewhere other than where we intended, we were greeted by a dear, dear friend.

I downloaded EasyPark last year when we arrived in Sicily and have now happily used it in Portugal and Denmark. I am always happy to see and use it as it saves figuring out strange parking meters.

We arrive at the Duomo

Like many we've seen in the southern Med area, the exterior is not necessarily that which stands out.

As mentioned above, it is the interior that is the star

One of the significant learning experiences I've had during our travel period was in 2017 when we visited Firenze and had a photographic tour that taught us to look at art from different perspectives and another tour of the Uffizi gallery that taught us to look at the detail of the people in artwork. Now this has become a standard way in which I observe art.

If you notice in these detail pictures, they are telling stories of the life of Jesus and there are numerous repeating figures. I always wonder who the models were when we see these.

It is always interesting to me how the artist has some characters with different expressions or looking away from the direction that all the others are looking.

Long time students of de-I know my preferences for certain types of photographic themes. And when you can get more than one in a picture, well, that's just a bonus.

Lamp, Dome & Scaffolding (Sigh - Bliss)

Another popular de-I theme - Statuary and Pigeons

This work was a classic example of how the emotional impact and look of the work changed as you looked at it from different angles

Not to mention the great pigeon shots

Now I'd like to draw your attention to something I noticed as I was working my way around the statue

Might I say that the placement of those fish tales is a bit 'fishy'. Maybe they are just to cover up certain parts. But if you ask me it seems a tad intimate 😮

After lunch we went back into the Duomo and mounted up to a walkway that went all around the building. It was spectacular! Worth the price of admission. We got great views of the cloisters, the town, detailed decoration of the building, etc. It nearly killed us to getting down the steep medieval stairs.

It is nice to know that enlightened rulers like the Normand kings of Palermo would give you a nice view when they imprisoned you.

Yikes! Esposous Fotograficus!

Cafe stop with hot chocolate like a pudding and fresh squeezed orange juice

And last but not least

SIGNS OF THE WORLD

It is so sad. In the old days when they invaded us we just dropped stones on their head and set up barriers for them to trip over. The damn EU now says we have to put up warning signs! 😡😡

WARNING Remove clothes before going down escape route!