another day in sicily's capital

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Hey all,

For the first time on this thing, kerry is sitting next to me, so she can censor the funny things that she did today. (i usually stay away cos its painful to watch him type - KA). We've had another ace day of 26+C sun in the island's capital, one of my favourite days of the trip so far, after the best nights sleep of the whole trip 2! After a slightly bad start (the loud 15 americans we are sharing the place with had eaten all the pastries), we hit the streets and walked up to the Cathedral, which was totally different to anything we have seen so far, as it is very strange to see a church surrounded by palm trees! after doing that inside and out, we walked up to the unique experience of the capuchini catacombes, which was freaky at first, but funny how quickly u got used to it. basically, it is a tradition in palermo alone for the rich and famous of the 15th century to WW1 to, instead of being buried or burnt, to be stood in a corridor after death, in their bezzie outfits, with corridors full of other past local characters, ie proffesionals, army generals, monks and priests. it was so wierd, and something i was a bit uneasy about doing. u got underground, and we were both a bit scared when we got down there, but by the end of it, kerry had her arms round the grateful dead of palermo, posing for pics! (that is a lie, i was uncomfortable about turning my back to them and was sure a skeletal hand was about to grab me when i did, as you will see in photo -KA) still, it was interesting to see all the outfits they wore throughout the last 500 years, and even some of the hairstyles and tashes! after that we got the bus to monreale, an hillside town on the outskirts of palermo. it was lovely, the kind of untouched old town italy is famous for, and we had a lunch of cheese sandwich and a big ripe tommy sitting in the piazza. there we hit another cathedral, far more impressive,as it dates back to medieval times, famous for its mosaic interiour, the best example of medieval mosiac art in the world (aparently). we got to climb to the top of the church too, and got great views of the sea, montains and city. (Arth, there were inadequate safety rails, you would not have enjoyed it -KA). after a beer in a square we got the bus home, and enjoyed a bottle of wine on the terrace here at the hostel (Collin, ur great xmas prezzie came in handy once again to open the bottle. so far iv used it to cut sandwiches, trim the beard, open beer and vino, all of which the huntsman swiss army knife has delt with with ease, so cheers!) heading out now for tea, on the cheap tho, keeping an eye on the pennies. hope all is well at home, love to all,

Alex and Kerry xxxx

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