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| Paul at the beginning of our morning hike! |
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| We weren't even half way up and the view was amazing! |
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| La Rocca Di Cefalu. |
With luck, we realized that Paul had a three-day weekend due
to a local holiday.
This meant that it
was the perfect opportunity to fit in a day trip to a neighboring costal town
called Cefalu. We weren’t exactly sure what we would find there or how the trip
would go, but we woke early on Sunday morning to catch a bus down to central
station.
On the way to the station was my first run in
with the bus wardens, where they taught me how to use the ticket validation
system.
Without the lead of many locals
who regularly validate their bus tickets, I had no idea that it was
required.
It makes perfect sense, but I
was lucky that I didn’t annoy the police too much while trying to understand
their Italian.
That could have been an
expensive mistake.
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| Breathtaking views from the top |
We arrived at central station, bought the tickets to Cefalu
and shortly after boarded our train.
It
was a quick trip and we found ourselves in the quiet costal city.
It was a bit chilly for swimsuits, but the beaches
were very pretty, and I can imagine the main beach scattered with people during
the warmer months.
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| Baby Anderson even make it to the top of La Rocca! |
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| The extremely old church ruins at the top of La Rocca. |
We strolled into the city from the station and tried to find
the path to climb to a local overlook.
We realized shortly that it was a park and we arrived only a few minutes
after they opened the entrance.
We
bought our tickets and started the climb to the top of the Rocca.
The top of the bluff housed the ruins of an
old church.
Nothing more than the strong
walls of the church remain.
The views from
this area were absolutely breathtaking.
We were definitely at the summit and were able to see many different
views from each side.
We snapped quite a
few photos of one another before deciding to start our decent to the ruins left
by the people who inhabited this area. We saw a few of the stone remains
including a water reservoir and a large stone oven.
I had to get a picture of the oven with my
bun in the oven, if only for laughs.
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| Look at that tall man in the blue sky! |
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| On the edge of the view, no tripping allowed. |
After our morning hike we walked to the other main attraction,
which was a massive central church.
The
parish is still alive and well, so we only stayed for a few moments of mass
before stepping out.
In the square of
the church we both enjoyed a caffe americano and caught out breath before
exploring the city on foot.
We walked
down the different small roads and poked our heads into the shops, careful not
too buy anything.
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| Cefalu, Sicily. |
That afternoon we had scheduled a late lunch, once again
sponsored by Groupon.
It was a
four-course afternoon and served as much of our entertainment.
The waiter wasn’t very pleased with our
arrival, however he served us regardless.
This experience wasn’t nearly as impressive as the restaurant in
Palermo, but the price was right and we had a nice afternoon eating food and
chatting for hours.
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| Heading down the hill to look at the ancient ruins. |
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| Bun in the oven, by the old, old oven for buns. |
We paid our bill and had one more stop to make.
Paul wanted to enjoy a Chimay, a beer he
particularly fond of and caught a glimpse of in the window of a diner we passed
while walking.
We managed to relocate
the spot and sat down for a macchiato and a Chimay.
Both were perfect and the bar was
spectacular.
The staff was very
accommodating.
We wished we could have
spent more time there, but we had to leave quickly in order to catch the next
train back to Palermo.
At the station it
began to rain – a sign of another perfectly executed day.
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| Not quite Brazil, but not bad. |
Once we arrived in Palermo the streets were buzzing.
They are always buzzing on Sunday
evenings.
We walked to catch a glimpse
of Paul’s favorite street band and I bought a cotton candy from a street vendor
who was in high demand from all the children.
We stayed out for another hour or so until we walked home exhausted from
the day’s activities.
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| Duomo di Cefalu! |
We should really make these “day-trips” more of a habit in
the states.
Oh, if only we had more trains to jump onto.
Then again, we all have cars, so it’s a bit of a different story.
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| Paul about to dip his toes in the ocean! |
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| Thank you for the beauty Cefalu! |
*****
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Alyce Jane, Living Simply
