I started the day early, thinking I could fit Monreale & the catacombs into the morning, since both the duomo & the catacombs close @ 12:30. However, I had to deal with buses and that always seems to mess with my plan. 7 weeks in Italy and I still cannot figure out the buses. The 389 bus is supposed to run to Monreale, but the service is suspended, which I did not know. So I got on, but had to get off at the last stop, which was still far from my destination. So I waited, thinking there would be another bus, and this lady at the stop offered me a ride-she just had to wait on some other people, who never showed. So, she gave me a ride up to Monreale. I thought she was just being friendly, but I later learned that since the service is suspended, there are locals who wait at the station & give people rides for €1 as an alternative to the bus. I gave her €5, but whatever, she got me there. I would have been waiting at that stop all day or would have given up & missed out on the beautiful Duomo. It too is decked out in glittering gold mosaic, with a huge figure of Christ in the apse & biblical scenes all along the nave & aisles. You must know by now how impressed I am with the Byzantine style mosaics in all these churches. This cathedral was huge and covered in them. I also climbed the dome, which offers a gorgeous view of the city of Palermo, flanked on both sides by mountains and with the sea beyond. I didn't realize Palermo was so beautiful. There are definitely some areas that are less than attractive, but the architecture & the churches and the location are all stunning. I didn't explore Monreale much, I found the bus stop & waited for the 389 bus (at this point I hadn't yet figured out that it didn't come this far). Lucky for me, there was a family also going to Palermo, who told me that the 389 didn't come this far, so I had to take a local bus to a stop lower down, and from there catch the 389. So I got on the next local bus with them, and when we all got off they showed me where I had to go next. Thank goodness for some friendly Sicilians otherwise my morning would have been so frustrating. I got back too late to visit the catacombs and debated walking all the way back to the apartment for the bathroom & rest, but I had a killer headache & didn't feel like going all the way & then coming back. So I stopped at a restaurant for lunch. It seemed pretty touristy, so i wasn't expecting much, but my meal was actually quite tasty. Another Sicilian dish-Fettuccine alla Norma-with eggplant(fried), tomato sauce, basil & ricotta salata. Italy has given me a whole new appreciation for eggplant, a veggie I was never too fond of. I had a long leisurely lunch, chatted with the friendly waiter a bit in Italian (I was able to practice quite a bit of Italian today, which was nice). Then made my way back toward the catacombs. I still had about a half hour wait when I got there, so I thought I would get gelato, but the cafe nearby didn't have any. So I settled for the next best thing-cassata. The catacombs consist of a whole bunch of mummified & dressed skeletons & bodies. Creepy and fascinating (sorry, no pictures allowed). I latched onto a tour in English, which was nice because I was able to understand more about the place than if I went in solo. After the catacombs I walked all the way down to the Kalsa district (about an hour walk) where I was able to find the Chiesa di Santa Maria dello Spasimo, which is a church that was never completed and has no roof and is open to the elements, with a tree growing inside of it. Very cool. That was my last stop for the day, since my body is telling me it needs to rest.
