"Gargoyles & Graffiti"chronicles architectural elements that I find interesting or unique in my travels. Gargoyles are my passion, but today graffiti (which I hate but am learning to love as it is everywhere) is as much a part of architecture as the gargoyles and decorative railings that thrill me.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Monreale Tour

Monreale Cathedral Interior
I took a tour to the Monreale Cathedral on my Eurodam cruise from Rome to Rome, Western Med itinerary. It was included with a panoramic of Palermo. Monreale is a small, quaint town and quite charming. It was packed the day we were there with tours from the cruise ship and other land tour groups. In fact, it was so crowded that our guide recommended we return an hour later as they had a wedding scheduled, and we went through right before they closed the Cathedral for the wedding. Seemed a bit risky to me, so I couldn't help myself and slipped in beforehand to view the Cathedral with some of the crew setting up the wedding party. 


Monreale


Our group from the Holland America Eurodam




Monreale rooms to rent


Our guide gave us free time to check out the town and shop, which seems to be most of the cruisers favorite past time. I dislike shopping for souvenirs, so I went for coffee and wandered around. I love the above sign. Notice they take MasterCard, Visa and American Express to rent their rooms! (Universal language, right?)


My favorite graffiti in Monreale translates almost the same in Spanish, "pequeña mia, te amo" basically means "my little one, I love you."


"Little one, I love you" in Italian


Happy Mother's Day!






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