Forget Taormina, It's Cefalu for me

People told us from the first months we got here that Cefalu (pronounced chay'-falu) is a beautiful little town and we just had to see it. But we thought, we're in Sicily, everything is beautiful so we weren't in any particular hurry to see it. Besides, how could it compare to Taormina, world-reknown as THE town to visit when in Sicily---all the notable people come to Taormina.

But, here we are on spring break and have some time so yesterday we went with some friends to Cefalu. It was a long trip....three hours. Not so bad since we were with friends and they have a big SUV...Still, over the day we drove about 8 hours total. It will take us a couple of days to be ready for another big trip.

The first look at Cefalu was of the lighthouse and the sea. I don't think I've ever seen water as blue. Now I understand the Crayola crayon called Mediterranean (although this in on the Tyrranean Sea). Deep beckoning, blue. You just want to walk out in to the sea and become a part of it. I didn't get a good photo of the lighthouse but here is the water. Out on that little penninsula is the remains of an old (maybe 12th century) fortress/watchtower. You can walk out there but it's private property. There are two small houses on the little penninsula and, of course, a hotel at the place where it leaves the rest of the land.

As we walked through the town there were many beautiful walkways. On our little pathway was this 'tunnel'. We were enjoying the blend of materials and finishes (very, very old and very new) when a car came through making us realize it was not a pathway but one of the roads of the town. When Trace was here she called them "coffee table roads" because that's about the width of them. The kind you have to pull in your side mirrors to get through----and don't try to stop and get out, the doors wouldn't open in that tight space. There are many, many roads like that in small towns in Sicily. Always an adventure to drive.

We went to eat right near a marina and, of course, had seafood. The north side of the island is mostly fishing villages and up there it's hard to find a restaurant with something other than seafood. And they all seem to know how to cook it very well. On very full stomachs we walked down by the mariana and looked at the boats and the water and the sights. I found a little stream emptying fresh water into the sea (I know, I tasted it). I was like a little kid, following the stream backward as far as I could.

We walked by all the boats at the marina......not at all like marinas in the States. Nor were the boats like those in the states. I really liked this one that had windows in the front that looked like eyes. All it needed was a mouth painted on it to be perfect.

There were "photo ops" all over the place and Bob and I took almost a hundred photos. I'll have to put them on flickr so you can see more of this little town. Just had to put this one on, though because he was so.....picturesque.

Cefalu, itself, is a small resort town with nice beaches and lava cliff(ettes) and stone walls that open right out to the sea. We were constantly saying, "Ooh, look at this!!" We couldn't get enough of the views.

There are lots of little shops in the town some with tourist-y things and some with unusual things and one that just had stuff...I loved that shop. Vintage hats and baby clothes, old pottery and metalware, books, helmets from old and all just stuffed here and there. Since I was the only one of the group interested in such an old musty shop I looked for a short bit then moved on. I want to go back. There's got to be some treasure there that I "just can't live without."

We walked around for a couple of hours and never got enough of the town and the beach and the sea. But, Harrison----their gelato is definitely not as good as in Misterbianco. We tried it, just for you.