Palatine Chapel!!

Sunday 13th April 2025

After another huge breakfast at the hotel we went to see the Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel nearby. First we had to get through a security check and Robin failed!! He had his penknife on him, luckily they have a plan for this. You go back outside, hide the pen on one of the entrance pillars and come back through! Luckily they didn’t spot my pen knife!! We rushed to the chapel as it was closing for a service shortly and were blown away by it!! It was built in the 12th century for Roger II. It is all mosaics, of the smallest size and really a wonder to see. If you ever get a chance to see it then go!! It’s not possible to capture how beautiful it is in pictures. Literally jaw dropping!

This is the outside of the chapel which was also amazing! The only downside was the numerous tour groups and their guides basically shouting in the chapel. Pretty annoying!

Now off to see the rest of the palace. There are large royal apartments which are also stunning. All the rooms are beautifully painted and in pretty good condition. There is another small private chapel also made of brautiful mosaics. Roger II must have had a lot of money!! There was also a Picasso exhibition, we both agreed that we are not really fans but I like the bull fighting picture and the cersmicd were great. The palace is the oldest residence in Europe, amazing place, do go and see it.

We walked down to the harbour and came across an enormous outdoor market. This stall of Barbie dolls is for Laura who has a similar collection herself!! I loved this church near the harbour, it is quieter and more restrained than most we have seen so far! The harbour had obviously had investment recently. There were lots of new restaurants and bars near the water, we didn’t stop but they looked good.

And finally the food for today. We had Colonnata lard bruschetta!! Not as bad as I feared as there was some meat, I was expecting it to be a lard spread!! And they were delicious! We found olive oil sachets, only in Italy!! And in the evening went back for more pistachio pasta, I love it so much, definitely going to make it!!