Monreale April 2, 1954

The last night on the Saturnia has passed and the travelers deboard on Friday, April 2, 1954, after a two-week home at sea which began on Friday, March 19, 1954.  Although they have had several port stops including Lisbon, Gibraltar, Barcelona, and Genoa – where they made the most of the limited time in dock, they will now be on their own.  As HH put it in his letter to the CJ Uibles, "now our sight-seeing really begins."

Monreale Sicily Cathedral Postcard sent to Mrs. NWB - April 2, 1954

Monreale Sicily card sent to Mrs. NW Ballantyne April 2, 1954

Jean writes to her Mother:

4-2-54
We visited here yesterday while the ship was docked at Palermo, Sicily – a really beautiful place on top of a mountain called "Montreale." 

Landed at Naples this am about 7:30 and took a tour to Pompeii – then the Amalfi Drive to Sorrento where we stay tonight and then on to the Isle of Capri in the morning.  

Beautiful scenery – the Bay of Salerno on one side and high cliffs on the other covered with grape vines, orange or lemon trees.  All our love, Harold and Jean

According to Wikipedia, Monreale is about 12 miles south of Palermo on the island of Sicily.  The cathedral pictured in the above postcard was begun in 1174 and is a national monument of Italy and an important attraction of Sicily. "Monreale" is a contraction of monte-reale, "royal mountain", so-called from a palace built here by Roger I of Sicily