Visit to Palermo (*Really* Posted by Denise!)

Our trip to Palermo was extremely emotional for me at times. Having my family's roots there I caught myself wondering if my Great Grandparents and their relatives had walked down the streets we were roaming. I tried to take many photographs in an attempt to show my family in America what Palermo is like, due to the fact that none of my family has travelled to Europe since our family's arrival through Ellis Island. I was completely overwhelmed with the sights in Palermo. At The Cathedral in Palermo once again I found myself completely emotional as I knelt and prayed for my family. I sure my family at one point in the lives in Palermo prayed at the Cathedral for my ancestors and I sat there staring at each pew trying to invision the presence there. I have been warned what a rough city Palermo could be. However, I felt completely safe there maybe because the sense of family I was emerged in. I forgot about the warnings and was embracing the city as we went from sight to sight. The hopeless romantic that I am, I went off on my own fantasizing at the fountain (Fontana delle Vergogne) in the Piazza Pretoria wondering if any of my ancestors may have experienced a kiss or maybe even a proposal. Palermo to me was an amazing experience because everything seems to be so hopelessly romantic. Needless to say, I was impressed and overwhelmed with Roger II of Sicily Palace and summer home. It gave us a true sense of the history we are here studing. While we were at the Palace and summer home I tried to envision the daily occurances that may have occured there. Its all so fantasic.