Cefalù

On Saturday, June 10th we went into the breakfast room at Lirma and were confronted by an amazing, wonderful buffet breakfast, piled onto a large table by the owner's 85-year-old mother, a former teacher, who now dedicated herself to her true love, cooking.  Cefalù is a beach resort, but with a medieval old town.  The cathedral is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site: “Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale.”  First, we took a look at the beach, then we went up to the 12^th-century cathedral.  Unfortunately, the apse was under repair, with scaffolding draped in front by a white screen, on which was a reproduction of the famous mosaic of Christ Pantocrator.

From the Cathedral, we went to the Bastione Capo Marchiafava, at the northern tip of the city, whose sea views were touted by Lonely Planet.  From there, we followed along the coast to the 16^th-century Lavatoio, where people until recently washed their clothes, with water from a spring.

If Mary Joy had not had a sprained ankle, we would have gone way up to the Rocca, overlooking the city, but we had to skip that.

After lunch at Tivitti’s beachfront incarnation and a walk on the beach, we used a discount coupon from our B&B to rent a couple of chaises longues and a beach umbella at the Lido private beach.  We soon heard a man shouting something over and over as he walked slowly up the beach.  It took us awhile, but we eventually realized that he was calling “Coco!  Coco!”  He was selling fresh coconut.  He was not the only beach vendor.  It was reminiscent of Mexico.

After an hour-and-a-half of beach-lounging, we went back to our room and spruced up to go to the 7:00 mass at the Cathedral.  Then we went looking for a restaurant, and after finding some full, we ended up at the Locanda del Marinaio, where we had a nice dinner involving sardines.

Arab-Norman