All Our Bags Are Packed!

                                                    Europe April/May # 26

 Santa Severina's (Italy) Cathedral

Before we entered, our first thoughts were - "it looks like we're going to visit another typical church..." This would not be the case

Beautiful mosaic floor  

We learned that this cathedral was used (and still is) the archdiocese for the area

Coats of arms of for all of the archbishops are painted on the wall. Notice the first one is dated 970

Above one of the doorways is "graffiti." Tradition has it that each new archbishop scratches out a "religious saying" from the previous archbishop and replaces it with his own statement

There is a room filled with items used by previous archbishops

Quite beautiful

Does anyone need a "relic" from 1690? The bones inside the metal arm might bring good luck!?!?! 

Killing the devil is always a good thing or anyone else you may not like at this time??!?!?!

She's holding a gold miniature version of the town

Five, six, seven, eight - all together now...

Bamboo embedded into the walls during construction kept the walls pliable/flexible, provided insulation and protected it from earthquakes

Archbishop still has Sunday services here

Old frescoes are still holding up after so many years

This is a great place to have  Halloween party

Booooo,,,,

Time for lunch in the countryside

 Beautiful countryside

Lunch at an old inn that was turned into a resort. Notice the exposed beams. Daily rate is about $65 per night

Much of the food was home made. There was too much. We did not have enough strength to say, "No More Food, Please!"

Plenty of local wine to drink and great deserts to sample

The building is so old and the walls so thick, power had to be run outside the walls

Aged meat is available for the regular guests

The old doors and locks are still used today