Day 3 took us to Palermo, Sicily. We took a bus tour through Pallermo which showed us locations of the major cathedrals, theatres, and shopping areas. We had about an hour and a half break during the bus tour which we spent walking around the city. We checked out the outdoor markets, shared some Sicilian Pizza from a street vendor, gellato from a small cafe, and then went back to the bus. Back aboard the bus they showed us the new areas of Pallermo and then returned to the port.
The Quatro Canti, or four corners is the heart of the old city center of Palermo. Statues can be seen at all four corners.
The fountain is located at Piazza Pretoria and is a piece of 16th century Tuscany that was later moved to Palermo. The locals call it the Fountain of Shame as when it was moved to the area it was placed right in front of Church of St. Catherine which contained a nunnery. So basically the nuns would look at their windows and out their door to find a bunch of naked statues! 
The Martorana Church was a Norman church built in 1143. It is nearly entirely covered with mosaics and is considered to have works that are among the oldest in Sicily.
The cathedrals on Palermo were very interesting. Back before Rome conquered Sicily during the crusades it was an Islamic country. There were over 300 mosques located on the island. Once it was conquered, it became a Christian country and the mosques were converted to cathedrals. One of the cathedrals had a page from the Quran carved in one of the marble pillars as it was formerly part of the mosque. The Cathedral which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary also contains a special sundial on the floor. There is a hole in the ceiling and when the sun hits it just right it points to the astrological sign on the floor that corresponds with that particular month (astrology sign) of the year.
Sicily isn’t one of those places you’d want to go to over and over, but it was a neat place to see. The city is a bit crowded and dirty, but we’ve heard the countryside is much more beautiful.
Day 4 is an At Sea day, so we’re just taking it easy and relaxing a bit. There was some talk from the Captain that, due to recent events in Athens, we may change our itineray. As of this moment, we are still heading towards Athens. The Captain also said bad weather is coming in behind us so we may have to divert later on. Hopefully we still go to Egypt, but we’ll see. The next four days are port days – Athens, Rhodes, Limassol, and if all goes as planned, Alexandria.
