It rained the entire day as if the sky knew that today was our last day in Sicilia.
Despite bad weather, we went to Monreale, where we got a special tour of the Duomo from the main priest of the cathedral. Because we were considered important guests, we were able to go deep inside the cathedral which are generally blocked form the public eye, which was very cool!
And obviously the highlight of going to a Duomo is climbing all the way to the top, right? So that is exactly what we did. We climbed all the way to the top and got a relatively good view of Palermo. (Although it is technically Monreale, it is still a part of a comune called Palermo.)
Afterwards, we visited the monastery that is attached to the cathedral. This is where people who wanted to follow their religious pursuits have studied (I believe that it is no longer used...?) On every column, a different Biblical scene is depicted, so we had a scavenger hunt (of course) to determine who could find certain ones first. I miserably failed!
After lunch in Monreale, we headed straight back to downtown Palermo, where I am eating dinner and uploading this post. It is quite upsetting that we have to leave Sicily (and actually do schoolwork - sto scherzando!) But it has been a great learning experience. If there is one thing to take away from this trip is that learning must not be limited to a traditional classroom environment. Obviously, this is easier said than done. And I am very grateful that I have this opportunity to actually see and sometimes touch what some might only learn about through books and images.
Now, time to go back to Viterbo!
