Our day: How it started and how it’s going

The day emerged sunny and fresh after a rain, all sparkly like. The first trick was to catch the bus to Palermo, which necessitated Karen trotting off to the tobacconist for ticket. This bus got us there but with a long winding route of mystery through Palermo. Then a short walk to our digs, meet Libby and Shannon and take a cab to the Capuchin Crypt. I will try to add some picks, tricky cuz they don’t allow photography. No we didn’t cheat. This crypt harkens back centuries once the monks who were interring corpses and displaying skeletons figured out about imbalming. The crypt was filled with all these interred mummified bodies of men, women and children: both fascinating and ghoulish. 

Then we worked our way back to our Hotel, before meetin our group and heading out again this time to both the well preserved palazzo of a contessa (huge, cold) and the Oratorio of San Lorenzo, a saint who was literally raked over the coals for not lying.  The oratorio was a huge testament to Baroque art with cherubs and very detailed carvings out of wood covered with plaster and marble dust. 

Then back to the hotel for dinner. Amazing day.

The cathedral

This is a remake of the Caravaggio that was here that was stolen and that theft is on the FBI’s most wanted list . In case you find it 

As this isn’t a church the artist has a lot of whimsical pieces here