SICILY: CEFALU CATHEDRAL AND BACK TO THE AIRPORT

 March 18, 2024

Our last stop in Sicily was Cefalù, a coastal city about an hour and a half from Palermo. It has a population of about 14,000 and is a major tourist destination.

We were VERY lucky to find a parking lot with an open spot within walking distance of the old (aka touristy) part of town, and it only cost 1€! We came out of the parking lot by this building that I think was a school.  I love the murals and the words Vola Con Me (Fly with me).

As we walked into town, we passed this monument honoring the locals who perished in World War I.

The narrow, shop-lined street reminds me of Taormina, which we had visited two days prior.

SICILY: MONREALE AND PALERMO CATHEDRALS

March 17, 2024

We lucked out in finding a parking space just a few blocks from the Monreale Cathedral, which was about a 30-minute drive from Palermo proper but still part of the metropolitan area.

I love how the neighborhoods are built up around these gems of churches in Europe, as if the church is just part of the neighborhood.

Hey, there's another one of the famous Sicilian pine cones, this one over a foot tall and a decoration at an outdoor cafe.

The Cathedral was built between 1174 and 1182 as the result of a sleepy king. William II of Sicily had fallen asleep under a carob tree near here, and in a dream the Holy Virgin told him to build a church on that spot. When the carob tree was removed so the church could be built, a cache of gold coins was found among the roots and used to finance the church. What a great story!

The official name of this church is the Chapel of San Castrense di Monreale. Saint Castrense is the patron saint of Monreale. William II was given his relic as a wedding gift, and he laid it under the high altar of the cathedral.

Like the Palatine Chapel we had just visited, the church is an amalgamation of Norman, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles.  It is an earlier, larger, and somewhat lesser version of the Palatine Chapel, which was based on the design of this church. Like the Palatine Chapel, this cathedral is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

SOUTHERN TEXAS, BEAUMONT: ST. ANTHONY'S CATHEDRAL BASILICA

November 22, 2021

For the first time, the college where I work gave us the entire week of Thanksgiving off. Bob and I just couldn't pass up that opportunity. We started planning a trip to Nashville, but then Covid numbers in that area started looking bad, and most of the places we wanted to go were inside. Where could we go that was less crowded and had more outdoor attractions? 

Why, Texas, of course! After all, we had never been to the Texas Gulf Coast!!

To say I wasn't very excited about our new plan was an understatement. Bob booking a flight that left at 6:05 AM from Palm Springs didn't do much to increase my excitement. I got up at 2:30 AM and we left for the airport at 3:30.

Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in Houston around 11:00 Central Time, picked up a Mitsubishi rental car at Budget, and got on our way.

We headed for the lovely town of Beaumont, Texas, which turned out to be full of surprises. But then, just about every place we have ever traveled to has been full of surprises of some kind.

The first surprise was so wonderful that I'm going to give it its own post. St. Anthony's Cathedral Basilica has to be one of the most beautiful churches we've seen in Texas, and maybe even in the United States.

The exterior was being spray-washed when we visited.

ISRAEL AND JORDAN: BAPTISMAL SITES

After stopping at the Dead Sea, our next destination was another famous body of water, the supposed "baptism of Christ site" on the Jordan side of the Jordan River.

But first, I want to go back to a different baptismal site on the Israel side of the Jordan River, which we had visited earlier in the trip.

The Israel site is called "Yardenit," which means "Little Jordan" in Hebrew.

It was a well-cared for site, really gussied up for tourists:

When we first arrived, there was some major action on the other side of the river--a group of young men catching an enormous fish. I didn't know a fish could grow that big in a river:

Yikes!

Yardenit has twelve separate baptismal pools, and visitors can be baptized there for free--with the rental ($10) or purchase ($25) of baptismal clothes and a towel. Many groups come here on pilgrimage, and I think that seems like a fair exchange. Their pastor or whomever they choose can perform the baptisms.