Siderno, Palermo and friends along the way

 We just got back from a road trip from Bari to Palermo,Sicily and back. There was a purpose for this other than just seeing the sights.  I'll tell you about this later.

We traveled along the east coast from our city of Bari (this map isn't the best--Bari is about an hour north on the coast from Brindisi-on the heel of the boot) and our first stop was in Siderno. (at the toe of the boot) Chris worked with a fellow at the Edmonton Ski Club who lives in Italy part of the year where his wife works as an accountant and runs her family's hotel which her father started years ago.  She is an Italian and lived in Siderno growing up.  They invited us to come stay at the hotel on our way to Palermo and what a spectacular place it was!  We will ever be grateful to Anna and Lorne for the kindness and hospitality for the short time we were together in Siderno.  We don't come across much steak in Italy and Chris was dying for a steak so Lorne provided the place....And what a steak it was!! Wish we took a picture but it was a 2.2 lb porterhouse.  Definitely satisfied Chris's carnivorous needs!  Here's the hotel--The Grand Hotel President.

They put on multiple events at the hotel--there were 3 weddings just in the 2 days we were there.

The hotel is directly across from the beach

Lorne also took us on a guided tour of Siderno.  It never fails to amaze us that every town in Italy has an amazing castle and cathedral as well as an ancient centro.   

in one of the cathedrals--all inlaid marble...Bellissimo!

Here we are on our last day with them before going on to Palermo.  Many thanks!!

after we left Siderno we headed to the west coast to catch the ferry across to Sicily.

along the way we discovered there was a town in Italy named after me.......well, of course there is....

The purpose of our trip was to go visit one of Chris's special friends that he had confirmed a member of the church over 40 years ago in Palermo.  She is a very special lady.  Her name is Ida Luinetti

.  She joined the church when she was about 20 and then went on a mission to Padova.  Since then she has sent two sons on missions and is one of the stalwart, faithful members in Palermo today.  She invited us to pranzo with some of her friends and the sister missionaries, Sorella Littlefield and Sorella Bellomo.

she ordered us this beautiful cake and it was DELIZIOSA!!

Ida's mom is 93 years old and now suffers from dimentia but still carries her sense of humor and was so delightful to visit with.  She is so sweet.  She was baptized just a couple of months before her daughter.

While in Palermo we checked out the sights.  Below is one of the many castles on hilltops that we see often in Italy.

Past by this and Chris informed me that this is where they were extracting salt from the sea--if you were ever wondering where your sea salt came from...a bit self-explanatory, I guess...

We found this tree in the middle of a park.  It was the biggest of its kind but there were others like it.

Believe it or not--this was a restaurant sign.  We ate at the restaurant next to it--didn't dare go to that one!!

This area is called Quattro Canti or 4 Corners which is in the center of Old Palermo.  Built around 1600, each corner has these beautiful structures with scultures--all different and in the baroque style.

Another cool place we went to was the Palazzo dei Normanni.  We didn't take pictures as they wouldn't allow it so here's one from this web site:

  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187890-d195308-Reviews-Palazzo_dei_Normanni_e_Cappella_Palatina-Palermo_Province_of_Palermo_Sicily.html

If you click on this picture at the web site you'll be able to see all the beautiful things we saw.  This was a palace.  It is the oldest royal residence in Europe and palace of the kings of Sicily.  The palace was begun in the 9th century--complete with their own gold personal chapel inside.

Then...off we went to the Capuccin Catacombs--yes, I had to see this....

This place was a 10 on the creepy scale and I didn't really want to stay long.  Originally the catacombs were for the dead friars but centuries later it became a status symbol to be buried or entombed in the Catacombs. The catacombs were maintained through the donations of the relatives of the deceased.  Each new body was placed in a temporary niche and later placed into a more permanent place.  As long as the contributions continued, the body remained in its proper place but when the relatives did not send money any more, the body was put aside on a shelf until they resumed  payment.  

Yup...schifo.