Our Sicilian Adventure

We set sail from Rome at exactly 6 pm.  And headed directly south, following the coast for the next 18 hours, until we hit Sicily.   We were scheduled to dock at noon. Which left E and I a few hours to hit the gym, and for the kids to play in the Kids Club before grabbing a quick lunch and finishing just in time to watch the boat pull in to our first port - Palermo.

We were lucky enough to have a private tour guide in the form of a fellow expat and friend of E's.  M lives about two hours away from Palermo, but was gracious enough to arrange babysitting for her kids after school so that she could come for a quick reunion with E, and to help us navigate the city.  Our first stop - the Norman Palace.

Striking a pose before touring the Palace.

The Norman Palace has a storied history. A long and storied history.  The first building was completed in the 9th century by the Emir de Palermo (it's Arabic beginning) and parts of the original are still visible.  When the Normans conquered Sicily in 1052, the palace was transformed from an Arabic palace into a multinational administrative and residential building for the ruling party.  Then, during the reign of the Swabian emperors, it became the seat of the poetry school.  And later, the Bourbons added reception rooms.  It truly is a multicultural building but perhaps the best place to see the Arab-Norman-Byzantine style that prevailed in Sicily back in the day is the Capella Palatina (Palatine Chapel).  The mosaics were stunning, the wooden roof unforgettable and the throne is simply one of unparalleled elegance.  My pictures don't do it justice...

Cinderella's coach - only older.

All individual tiles!

That wooden, carved ceiling!

We walked up stairs to see the residences, only to find out that they were closed on Tuesdays...Boo.

Our personal driver had to get back to pick her kids up from school, so we said goodbye and set off on foot down the main drag - Vittorio Emmanuel.  We stopped to take a picture (or 10) at the Palermo Cathedral...

And a few snapshots of our three girls being silly - and yet- oh so cute...

It was Carnival after all...

A bit farther down the street we visited the Fountain of Shame in the Piazza Pretoria (Church framed plaza).  This famous fountain was designed in the mid-1500's for a private villa and promptly rejected because of it's lewd and crude nature.  So, of course, the city of Palermo snapped it up, installed it in a square ringed with churches and flood lit it at night so that it is on display 24/7.  When it was first unveiled in 1575 it caused an outrage among the citizens, who named renamed it the Fontana della Vergogna or, Fountain of Shame.  

We tried to visit the churches that ring the fountain, the Santa Caterina and the church of San Guiseppe dei Teatini, but both were closed for the afternoon siesta.  We could have waited around but we still had some wandering to do.

We were glad we kept up our wanderings, because we stumbled onto some fun things to do and see...

We finally made our way back to the ship.  We had just enough time to do our journals for the day, and then get ready for formal night.  It was the first of two on our itinerary, and the one that was hosted by the captain (which meant free drinks for happy hour).  The girls looked lovely and E and I were so glad to have them for our dates that evening at dinner.

But the three Cinderella's were beat (and so were we), so we didn't linger after dinner.  After all, we needed our beauty sleep because the morning would bring us to our most anticipated stop of the trip - Tunis!