From our hotel room - a glorious welcome to Sicily on our first morning
Our fair city - Mondello - close to Palermo on the NW coast of Sicily
Early morning view from the hotel - Hotel La Torre
A rare sighting of the famous Mondello monster
Cefalu - our first excursion
The Cathedral of Cefalu - built by Roger II in 1131
The Lavatoio - early laundry
Cefalu sunset
Another beautiful dawn from our hotel
We could enjoy these views from our breakfast area
Day trip to Selinunte - on the southwest coast
Giovanni Matrango - one of our lecturers and escorts
Selinunte - a major Greek and Phoenician site from the 7th century BC
Ancient sections of columns still at the quarry
A section cut over 2,000 years ago - but never removed
A carob tree - famous for bearing seeds, all of which have the same exact weight
These seeds are called carats - one seed equals one carat weight!
Another beautiful dawn in Mondello
The Duomo in Palermo
The Palatine Chapel
Jacobs Ladder???
The Martorana Church in Palermo
The Martorana Church with a 12th century mosaic showing Roger II, being crowned by Christ
and one of his decendents (of Roger II not Christ)
The Triumph of Death in Palazzo Abatellis
Teatro Massimo - Palermo's opera house
And here we are -- at the opera house
Time for lunch
And back to our hotel in Mondello
With its pool
and concession stand
View from the pool area near the hotel
Above our pool - a German pill box below and the 15th century watchtower above
An early morning walk from our hotel
Some of the walkers
The guard dog (?) at the entrance of the seaside walk - a really cool dog!
Where we heard the cry for Help!!! (In English no less)
What we thought we saw through our binoculars
What Domenico and I saw when we arrive in the helicopter (actually we lied about the helicopter)
Another German pill box and the lighthouse on the point
The 12th century Monreale Cathedral - near Palermo
with its famous gold mosaics
Bronze door by Bonanno da Pisa -- 1185
and its cloister
A very happy bride
Day trip to Agrigento on the SW coast - founded by the Greeks in 581 BC
Temple of Concord - 5th century BC - one of the best preserved Greek temples in the world
Sicilian Cart - a traditional means of story telling via pictures
Cart owner and an admirer
Agrigento - still a lively city after 2700 years
5th century Telamon on display in the Archeological Museum
The Ephebus of Agrigento
Oratorio of the Madonna of the Rosary in Palermo with stucco relief by Giacomo Sepotta - 17th century
Pietra Dura Chapel in the Santa Cita Church
Where there's a will, there's a way
A real ice cream sandwich!
Guards needed because the owner announced he would no longer pay protection to the mafia
Giardini Garibaldi Park in the Piazza Marina with its 150 year old ficus magnolias
The beach at Mondello
Nora - host for our lunch (with her grandmother)
Palermo Puppets
And those who pull the strings
Near our hotel
3rd centruy BC Greek theater in Segesta
A nearby unfinished Greek temple
The saltworks at Trapani - still active
A lost Tilly hat - but Rosario to the rescue
Returned to a greatful owner
Yep - that's salt
Salt mounds protected by slates
White flamingos - just like Elena said
A view of Trapani
The drive up to Erice
Life just doesn't get much better
Norman castle
Fun in the sun
Back in Mondello - a confiscated house once belonging to the mafia
We leave Mondello heading to Siracusa via this stop at Villa Dei Casale in Piazza Armerina - a 3rd century AD Roman villa
Our guide - Giusi Belfiore
Heating system for the Roman baths
What some call the most exceptional Roman mosaics in the world
Their famous Female Gymnasts in Bikinis
A pricky pear cactus with fruit
Our first view of a smoking Mt. Etna
A walking tour of Siracusa and Ortygia
Elderhostel on parade
Street music - from the soul
Piazza Duomo
The Ortygia waterfront
Domenico doing a count of his chicks
The Cathedral of San Nicolo in Noto
The Cathedral from on high
Our fellow travelers as seen from on high
Buscemi and it's Rural Museum
A local ruin
The Archaeological Zone of Syracuse
Inside a quarry
The Greek Theatre of Syracuse - 5th century BC
The nearby Roman Amphitheatre of Syracuse - 3th century AD
Bill's gotta find something to photograph that isn't ancient
Our hotel at Recanati (Giardini Naxos) - Hotel Scandic by Hilton
Getting closer to Mt Etna
Heading up to Taormina
Our guide - Angelo Fanara
The Greek Theatre at Taormina - with a view of Mt. Edna and the sea
At the top of the Theatre
A few of the local men
Lunch anyone??
Rain - what rain?
A bit of a storm
Time to clean up at the hotel
But rather nice uncleaned
By ferry over to the Italian mainland - two miles
Reggio Calabria
Back in Sicily - the clock tower at the Messina Cathedral
The flooded drive as we leave our hotel heading for home - wet, but happy
