Mountain trip to Monreale

This morning, I spontaneously decided to drive to Monreale in the best weather. It is only 8km south of Palermo, so it could have easily fit into the program yesterday.

However, it seemed like too much for me and I finally wanted to enjoy the afternoon sun in my courtyard. And the opening hours in Sicily are either for early risers or for very late travelers.

So, I set off this morning on the country road to Partinico.

The first challenge today was refueling. I had prepared well and looked at the side where the fuel cap is on the Punto. After searching for a lever to open the cap and not finding one, a little more force was enough to open the fuel cap. Ok... but that looks weird:

@Andre: Do we also have such an open suction cap on cars?

Well, the gas station attendant will know how to do it...

My memory of refueling in Italy is quite blurry, but I do remember gas station attendants who operate and defend their gas pumps like feudal lords.

So I quickly went to the next big gas station. I boldly drove towards an available pump and got out of the car. The gas station lord was serving two men at another pump. When they were done and had nothing else to do but watch the spectacle with me, the gas station feudal lord asked if I would wait for his service? Of course, I thought and nodded friendly, what else do you do at a gas station?

But there was only service at the pump where I wasn't standing. So, I quickly got back into the car and changed pumps.

After that, everything went smoothly. Apparently, the gas station feudal lord also filled up the right type of fuel (because I wasn't sure about that spontaneously), because the car survived the trip today :-)

By the way, all the attendants were very nice and smiled at my rudimentary Italian language skills.

Then I continued on a truly beautiful mountain road SS 186 towards Monreale. Through small and very narrow mountain villages (luckily my car is so slim!) over a mountain ridge and on the other side downhill, also through very narrow villages where it felt like there were 100 people on both sides chatting. Unfortunately, there are no photos of this, I'm just glad I arrived safely, and lay-bys were scarce. In general, it didn't seem to be a route frequented by tourists... so a real insider tip!

Arriving in Monreale, I had to get used to the traffic chaos again. Even if nothing is moving, there is honking and a lot of agitation. So, I parked in a relaxed manner at a school complex and decided to walk to the city center.

Today was market day in Monreale. But it runs quite differently than with us. There is no market square with proper stalls and a large parking lot for convenient arrival and departure. No, in the middle of the street with significant traffic obstruction and on the (already narrow) sidewalks, there are open vans and carts where goods are sold directly. According to the motto: let's see what the home garden has to offer this morning. In between, honking scooters and cars, mothers with strollers, grandmothers with walking sticks... everything is on the move here. It only became calmer in the part of the market that was closed to motorized forward movers. Phew, made it.

As a woman alone, you are actually not paid much attention to. And if you then carry two bags of fresh groceries, you might think the Sicilians consider me one of them... if it weren't for my summer outfit...

At 25 degrees Celsius, it's clearly a case for a summer dress, but the Sicilian women dress very autumn-like. Boots and down jackets are a must. But I can understand why. When else should they wear their autumn and winter wardrobe when it still feels like summer until November? And I shouldn't even think about the current weather back home... :-((

But now to the important part: the cathedral

On a very beautiful square that leads directly into another square, stands the Cathedral of Monreale. It doesn't look too impressive from the outside, but it really blows you away when you go inside:

Beautiful mosaics tell biblical stories, and the ascent to the terrace rewards with a great view of the cloister.

I'm always amazed by the extensive complexes like this. It was the same in Florence this summer. Everything looks nice and manageable from the outside, but from the inside, it suddenly becomes incredibly spacious - and quiet, even though the hustle and bustle of the city is just a few meters away.

I find Monreale to be typically Sicilian, at least during autumn the number of tourists is quickly counted. Incredibly many men meet in bars and chat with each other. Where are they in the morning in our country?

Most owners and salespeople in shops are really friendly and helpful. There are wonderful small shops where the elderly owner still stands at the cash register and recommends local delicacies. That's how I got Caramelle carruba today, a local candy specialty for example.

That would be the next keyword.

After the return journey the same way, nothing stood in the way of an extensive sunbath. And of course, at some point, hunger set in.

Today, I wanted to find out what was hidden behind the skewers of meat with bay leaves that I took with me to try at the market in Palermo yesterday. At first, I thought the individual meat segments were rubbed with Parmesan or something similar. But when frying, I realized that it was just breadcrumbs (now I understand why the seller looked at me somewhat incomprehensibly when I said 'with cheese'...). When cutting open the pieces of meat, I was quite surprised to find that they were ham rolls filled with egg, cheese, and diced ham. It tasted delicious with the vegetables.

That's the news from Sicily today. Have a lovely evening, everyone!