My Life in Travel

To buy a ticket to one city and stay there until the departure day is not for us. It already became some mandatory part of my trips to have daytrips somewhere close and nice to explore new places. That’s what we did during our stay in Palermo. We took an early morning train to one very beautiful place not very far from Palermo. Just one hour on the train, and here we are, in sunny city of Cefalù. Once we left the train station, we just followed the crowd, that turned right from the station, and in a few minutes we were already in a cozy streets of the city, that were full of orange and lemon trees all around.

First impression of the city was that it was very very clean, no trash on the ground. This was a typical Italian city, with old buildings and narrow streets. The picturesque historic center had a direct access to a wonderful beach and is considered as one of the finest resort towns in Italy. But for what is it more famous is its Norman Cathedral, the Duomo of Cefalù which was our first stop in this city. The history says, that after Roger II, the King of Sicily, escaped from a storm to land on the city’s beach, he made a vow to the Holy Saviour after which the building of the Cathedral was erected. King Roger II brought masters in the technique of mosaic from Constantinople to cover the entire church with mosaic decorations, but as a completed result mosaic covers the apse and about half of the side walls. Once you enter the Cathedral, you will see the mosaics of Christ Pantocrator, made on the apse, with praying Virgin and four archangels.

After checking all the details inside this unique cathedral, it was time to have a breakfast, finally. And we found the best place for it, right in front of the Cathedral, on Piazza del Duomo. There were several cafes here, that were serving sweet or salty versions of breakfast. But what could be better than having a hot capucinno and a well known Sicilian dessert canollo? Exactly, nothing! And I must say, this was the best canollo I’ve tried here in Sicily (I tried before one in Palermo, and if it would be my first ever tried canollo, I wouldn’t take another one, as i didn’t like it much). The sun was shining, making the day more warm and enjoyable. We’d stay in this cafe with a gorgeous view more, but time is running too fast and we had to move to see the city.

What took my attention was the ceramics everywhere. On the walls as a door-sign, in the streets as decorations, in the souvenir shops, where you could find anything you like, starting from simple magnets, statues, untill the Sicilian symbols – Moor’s heads. The city is well known for its ceramic arts. There were even several shops, which had their own workrooms behind, where they were creating all kind of ceramic beauties and sell. These kind of shops were the best, the feeling was you enter and start to admire with every single item as in museum and don’t want to go out. Really amazing!

Walking a bit more on those narrow streets and here we are, in front of the sea. What a beautiful view. The beach was almost empty, just some people were walking around. It was mid of March, but however, I’ve noticed few people laying on sand and trying to get tanned. Despite of this, there are many people walking on the beachfront, sitting on the chairs and enjoying the warm touches of sun rays. The sea was calm, with no waves. The water was crystal clear. The turqouse colour of the sea was like a magnet, wanted to look at it without eye blinking. Somewhere on the edge of the walking area the fisherman was patiently trying to catch fish.

But even if you just walk on the streets of Cefalù, you will enjoy every step. All streets look similar, but they catch attention with their clean corners, well kept buildings, smiling people all around. People were very kind here. Doesn’t matter they knew you or not, they were smiling while passing by. The athmosphere in this city was very positive. I’d spend some more days here with great pleasure. The city was the best place to relax, would it be on the golden sands of the beach of old port (Spiaggia del Porto Vecchio) or just strolling on the streets, everything was enjoyable here.

But time to time we have to eat 🙂 🙂 and it was time for us to have lunch as well. What to eat when you’re next to beach? Yes, seafood! And we chose one of the small restaurants on the street, called “La Pergola” and didn’t regret. Everything in the menu was exciting, but we chose pasta with seafood and some salad. But before our meal was preparing, we enjoyed some cocktails. The food was awesome, the service as well. And for today’s lunch, including drinks and service fee, we payed only 34 Eur in total. I think it’s not too much for the lunch in a touristic area of such a lovely city. So highly recommended this place!

But Cefalù is not only the sea, port, cozy streets & buildings and food. This is also an old historical city, where still the history and culture coexist. One of the historical places that you can easily see is the Medieval Lavatoio, or The Medieval Wash-House of Cefalù. If you walk on the street via Vittorio Emanuele, you may see a wide spiral staircase going down. And if you go down the stairs, you will reach a place which was a part of everyday Sicilian life part, where women used to come and do their laundry. Today it is one of the main attractions of the city. Even though it is very old, it still keeps all the beauty of old times. You can see here several cast-iron mouths, most of them shaped like lion heads, that are laid along the walls. Even today the water from the river Cefalino comes from those “heads” and flows into the sea. There is even an inscription on the wall, saying “Here flows Cefalino, more salubrious than any other river, purer than silver, colder than snow”. There is also a legend, according to which, the river Cefalino is born from the pain of a nymph who, after killing her unfaithful lover, regretted her actions, drowning the old wash-house of Cefalù in tears. When we came here, there was no one around, but it’s said that during summer, a lot of people come here to chill on the shadow or refresh with the ice cold of the river Cefalino.

There’s also one place that we missed to go, which was the Cefalù Castle, locally known as Castello di Cefalù or Castello della Rocca. You may see this majestic rock just behind the Cathedral. The castle lies on the mountain above the town and the only way to reach the castle is to walking up a very long and winding footpath. Today there are only ruins of the 12th century castle, but the area was inhabitated since 9th century. Nowdays the castle serves as an archaeological city park, from where you may have a breathtaking view of the city, endless sea and surroundings. Pity we didn’t have enough time to go up and admire this view from the top.

So if you ask me “Is Cefalù worth visiting?” My only answer will be – Definitely, yes! Moreover, it is a must visit city in Sicily, where you can have all kind of activities that you want: hiking, visiting museums, relaxing on the beach or enjoying your gastrotour. A lovely place that I hopefully will return one day to spend more time.