Sunday 9th June

In the morning, we walked to Replublica, and took the blue Hop–on–hop–off bus to Piazza del Doumo where the Cathedral is located, There were plenty of people about and there appeared to be some form of queuing going on. We managed to get near the front of a queue, where there was a concession for over 65s which meant, not a price reduction, but that we could go to the front of the queue to get our ticket for the real queue for tickets. Having got in the real queue, we were able to buy tickets which would enable us to join the queue to actually get into the cathedral.

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This building rising above its surroundings was a bit of an enigma, why would you build a building like this?

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The square in front of the cathedral.

We eventually entered the cathedral and were able to wonder at its size, but in terms of ornateness, it was nothing special. Once inside, we were also able to take a tour of the basement which was of archaeological significance, or so they seem to think.

After doing the inside, we were able to join another queue, to go up on the roof. Being queued out, Pete and Kathy gave it a miss and went for an early beer.

The roof was much more ornate than the inside, and there were good views over the city.


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Inside the cathedral.
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Inside the cathedral.

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The basement.
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A view from the roof.

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Some of the intricate stonework.
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A view over the city.

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Rooftops near the Cathedral.
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Another view of the Cathedral from ground level.

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Here we are back at Starbucks.

Having done the cathedral, we retraced our steps to Starbucks, where we found they had a beer which they called a red beer, and it was definitely an improvement on the normal European lagers. We also had some pizza, which also went down well.

Our next stop, which was reached by walking back along La Dante, was the Castle. It was open, so we were able to explore inside and we also found an ice cream which constituted our second course for lunch.

After leaving the Castle, we got the blue bus route back to the hotel.


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Another pictue inside Starbucks.
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The quadrangle inside the Castle.

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The moat outside the Castle.

Having been out most of the day, we decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant. There was lots of pasta, which wasn't ideal for those of us of a non–pasta disposition. However there was something called “Brill” on the menu which turned out to be some form of flat fish, but not a very large one. However a decent Tiramisu ended off the meal suitably.

We adjourned for the evening to our favourite spot in the bar, only to find that they had run out of beer!