Cefalu

Cefalu is a small fishing village on the northern coast of Sicilia but swells into a tourist town come the summer season.  Cefalu is also where La Rocca and one of the best Arab-Norman Cathedrals resides, and its less than an hour by train from Palermo.  So really our stay in Palermo was a base for our trip to Cefalu so we could see where, according to legend, the first inhabitants of Sicily lived, the giants of Sicily. 

Our train to Cefalu was cheap and uneventful, actually the first train we'd ever taken on the island.  Train service in Sicily is notoriously bad, from old cars to poor schedule to a lack ability to go direct to a destination, therefore this is the only trip we scheduled by train. 

Upon exiting the station I pointed to La Rocca, the nearly 300meter rock towering over the town and told Kathie that's what we were climbing, she was not excited.  But with a lemon granite boost we started the hike up nature's best defense to invasion, a rocky and steep incline (now there's steps and a path of course).







The place was really cool, the people actually abandoned the town below to stay safe from invasion and lived on top of the rock, building a fort that could monitor the land from Mt Etna to Palermo.  We couldn't see quite that far but it was a marvelous view and some interesting finds, like a bread oven, on top of La Rocca. The hike to the lower portion took 45 minutes, where we spent time wandering the hilltop which is laid out nicely with several view points and patio areas.   Then another 20 hot minutes or so to the very top castle, the views were really nice.

By the time we got down we were beat, stopping literally at the bottom of the hill for lunch.  We both had salads and shared some fries, too heated for much else other than 2.5 liters of water, 3 bottles worth, which we gloriously consumed.  

We ventured to the cathedral and it was amazing, truly stunning, unlike my pictures.  I've just realized that I must have bumped my lens on something as not only is the autofocus not working but it is literally ajar at the seams.  Just a bit frustrating but doesn't detract from the memories.  Once again, the google with show you all the pictures you'd ever want to see of the Cefalu cathedral.

Ciao!

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