Sicily part I: Monreale

When Tyler and Callum both had two weeks off for Easter break, we decided to take a long vacation to Sicily to see Laura’s cousin Nikki and her husband, Tyson. We spent 10 days on the island enjoying the perfect weather, amazing ruins and splendid coastal scenery.

Because we had an early flight at 0730 out of Heathrow, we stayed the night prior at a hotel just outside the airport.  Our flight landed around noon and we spent the next two hours battling the worst rental car company in history: Gold Car.  Complete with high pressure sales tactics and some dodgy threats, they tried to sell us an additional 250 euros worth of insurance that we didn’t need.  After speaking with USAA and some fretting, we skipped the extra insurance and set off to our first site: the Norman church of Monreale. 

To get to Monreale, we had to drive through the heart of Palermo.  The driving was chaotic with most drivers totally ignoring lane lines, driving on shoulders and speeding at least 20 km/h over the speed limit. Every car around us had dozens of dings, scratches and large dents from the hazardous driving.  We did eventually make it up the hill to Monreale where the church had a commanding position overlooking the city and the sea.

We wandered around the main piazza for a while and sampled some gelato as quickly as we could find it.  The kids were hooked and made us promise to buy some gelato every day…it was an easy sell.  We came upon the church and admired the intricate main door.  The explanation of the style requires a little bit of a history lesson.

Sicily has been conquered or ruled by many various civilizations including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish and finally Italians.  The church at Monreale was constructed by the Normans, who conquered Arab rulers who controlled most of the island around the time of the Crusades in the 1100s.  The Normans were an interesting people who traced their lineage from Norse raiders who settled in Northern France. 

Getting back to the church, the style of many of the Norman structures in Sicily are a unique blend of Romanesque, Byzantine and Arab styles.  The intricate carvings, pointed arches and geometric decorations come from the Saracens while the golden mosaics harken from the Byzantine empire.

Tyler ventured into the cloister to see the hundreds of detailed double columns lining the courtyard.  Over 200 columns decorated this area with every other set inlaid with some sort of varying tile pattern such as swirls and zig-zags. 

The arches were all Arabesque in their shape and conjured up memories of the Alhambra. 

Meanwhile, Laura and the kids were exploring the exquisite interior of the church which included over 5000 pounds of gold mosaic tiles which blanketed the walls, niches and apse.

The level of detail in the mosaics was staggering as dozens of biblical scenes were pictured starting with creation through to Jesus and the gospels.

At the back of the church was a gigantic Christ Pantocrator mosaic that dominated the decorations. 

Every arch and spare piece of wall was covered an exquisite mosaic scene and made the entire church sparkle from the little bit of light streaming in from the windows.

After taking in the church for a while, the kids were getting restless, so we exited and walked around the far side of the exterior to see the inlaid arches on the back of the church.

The kids explored some windy alleyways with lush potted plants and colorfully painted doors. 

On the way back to the car we enjoyed a panoramic view of Palermo and the Mediterranean Sea. 

As always in Italy, the beautiful scenic lookout had hundreds of small locks attached to the fence by couples proclaiming their never-ending love.

That night, we drove to the coastal city of Castellamare del Golfo for dinner.  We found a deserted ristorante on the water and enjoyed a nice seafood dinner complete with spaghetti alla vongole and lemon-grilled fish.  The staff all took a liking to the kids especially when they found out Callum was born in Italy and we told them Claire's name was Chiara, the Italian version of Claire.  We then drove out to our Air BnB house near Erice and settled in for 3 nights.  The adventure had begun.