Field Trip to Sicily!!! (Days 1 and 2)

Okay, this is going to be a long one-sorry (and it's only the first two days...)!  And I just want to start out with the fact that I have the worst luck when it comes to my luggage and European airlines...

(1 Feb.) Our trip started out how we feared it would be all week-raining.  The moment we stepped outside of our apartment we were frantically reaching for our umbrellas and dreading the 25 minute walk to where the bus was going to be to take us to the airport.  Luckily we found the girls from the other apartment who had found a public bus that would take us to the place we needed to be.  No more walking in the rain!

We entered the airport, were thankful that our bags were small enough to be considered a European carry-on and made our way to security.  Everyone made it through without any problems and we were soon anxiously waiting for the time to board the plane.  This is where my luck with luggage comes into play...  I was one of the last people in line and when my boarding pass was scanned they informed me that there wasn't much room left on the plane and that my bag would have to be put beneath.  Oh joy, just what I needed, more problems with my luggage.  Luckily, this time I knew that it was on the same plane that I was.

When we finally landed in Palermo after a not-so-smooth ride, I immediately went to baggage claim where, to my surprise, the luggage started coming out shortly after I got there.  I soon had my luggage at hand and we made our way to the hotel before running off to our first tour.

The first stop was at Castello della Zisa.  It was constructed in the 12th C. and was a summer residence for King William I who was known as the "bad" king because he had rules that the people must follow and did not give them whatever they wished for.  King William II was known as the "good" king because he granted all of the people's requests for whatever they wished for and had no regulations for anything.  Needless to say, during his reign, the country began to fall apart.

Castello della Zisa

 Most of the residence remains as it originally was.  Only a few modifications were done in the 17th C. and the building also went through an extensive restoration in the 20th C.  The structure is a mix of Romanesque and Islamic influences because of the mix of cultures that was common in this era.

Stone slab with inscription in four different languages

  Many inscriptions were written in four different languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, so that the people living in the area would all be able to read and understand it.

Mini-column in the wall

 The building also has a small chapel on the lower level which is open to the exterior and looks out onto what once was a garden.  Here the Islamic influences are extremely prevalent with the gilded work and some of the tiling patterns.  Some of the frescoes and other paintings also have a mix of Early Christian and Islamic influences.

Fountain inside chapel

The chapel also had a fountain on the interior which would run water from the center of the altar all the way through the space and eventually flow out.

Painting on the arch

The next day (2 Feb.) our first visit was to Palazzo dei Normanni.  I think this was some sort of museum/government/civic building...

Palazzo dei Normanni

 All that I really remember about most of the building is that it had a really cool staircase, ...

Staircase

 ...a really old carriage in a glass box, ...

Carriage

 ...and a typical Renaissance style courtyard because we spent most of our time in...

Courtyard

...the really amazing chapel!  This is the Cappella Palatina or Palatine Chapel.  This was the royal chapel of the Norman Kings of Sicily and was built in the 12th C.  This has many Byzantine as well as Islamic influences which can be shown in both the gilding work and the mosaics.

Apse

Light sculpture

Tiled mosaic floor

Column with gilded mosaic work above

Next, we toured the cattedrale or cathedral.   Very typical Renaissance cathedral, especially with the domes and use of marble.

Cattedrale

Nave

Organ!!

 Then, we just walked around the city some more before...

Fountain-recently restored hence the fence
preventing vandalism...

Baroque street corner

 ...we finally had the afternoon to ourselves!!!  First stop we went to-the Tyrrhenian Sea!  We found a little sandwich stand and had our lunch on the pier overlooking the sea.

Public area next to the sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea

Mountains in the distance

 Next, we continued walking around the city to see what we could find.

Interesting old building

 We came across a park with some really cool trees!

Giardino Garibaldi a Piazza Marina

Funky trees-how awesome!

Of course we had to play in them...

The Lauren's playing in the tree

...and I had to try it too...

 Then, we traveled to the market.  Palermo has one of the largest markets and we were told to check it out!

Palermo Market

We came across a strawberry stand that had really good looking strawberries for 29 centissimo and we really wanted to buy some, however, they decided that they were closed because there was a soccer game on and they couldn't manage to draw their attention away from the game for 30 seconds...typical Sicilians...