Cefalù Impression

Marina with La Rocca rock

About 75 km from Palermo on the Tyrrhenian coast lies under the 270 metres high rock La Rocca the picturesque Sicilian town called Cifalù with its rich history, good cuisine and a beautiful city beach.. This is Cefalù. Cefalù.

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One warm summer evening I was sitting at the reception of a hotel resort in Sicily, when my gaze fell on a tourist guide (understand yellow textbook about the sights of the site) with the logo of our travel agency. So I headed for it, hoping to find some types in it that could escape from the golden cage. As the nearest city to our hotel resort, they presented the town of Cefaluù.

This very useful textbook was finally an inspiration for me. So I jumped out of the chair and ran to the front desk to find out how to get there. "Domani voremmo andare a Cefalù ..."¹ I did not even finish the first sentence and the receptionist jumped into my speech with her "no problem" with a typical Italian accent. She explained that by bus in the morning at 9 stops in front of the hotel we will get there for 3 euros. After the trips in the price category 50 euros and more, I laughed at the amount of 3 euros and left happily.

Cefalu - town directly in the sea

In the morning, after a great breakfast, a bus was waiting for us, with the blond heads of our passengers coming out. Greeting "Buongiorno" was completely wrong. I found it more appropriate to say a 'Guten Tag' or 'Goede dag' or 'Dzień dobry'. The smiley contrast was completed by the dark-haired driver, who spoke no other language than his mother. His "Che fai stupido?²", which he commented the traffic situation several times by, was thankfully no one understood. Our destination was about 15 km from the hotel. We got along for a while on the narrow interurban roads, from which there was a beautiful view of the sea. From a distance, we glimpsed the town of La Rocca. Following him took us to bus stop, which was Stazione ferroviaria, a railway station. The station attracted the attention of various senzatetto³.

Cefalu - Corso Ruggero leading to the cathedral

Instinctively, after getting off the bus, we headed toward the rock. After about 2-3 minutes, we arrived at the hospital and where the center and Corso Ruggerothe main street leading to the cathedral, begin. The city center is rather one of the more peaceful,which of course corresponds to the size of the town. As usual, this was full of restaurants, boutiques, cafes, groceries and everything else. Feast for the eyes. Prices were bit higher than in our country. Corso Ruggero brought us to the cathedral from the 12th century.This Norman jewel and the general presence of the Normans in Sicily bring a special charm to the whole island. Right next to the cathedral we could not miss Gelatteria⁴ with beautiful painted tables and delicious ice cream. We enjoyed cathedrals both inside and out, and our next destination was a beach on this hot day.

Cefalu - Cathedral from 12.century

Il Duomo di Cefalu

The problem was that we had no idea where the beach is. So we were dragged down the aisles by the crowd. It is said that if you go with the crowd, you certainly will not lose what you have followed. And indeed it was good advice, because the crowd brought us directly to Porta Pescara⁵which was the gateway that went directly to the sea. We peered through it and a beautiful panorama appeared in front of us.

Sandy beach, on the left mountains, below them a town built directly in the sea,on the right pier, in front of us the unearthly clean and beautiful Tyrrhenian sea. There was a strong wind and there were waves on the sea, which seemed to hit the catwalk, attracting tourists, but even the wind did not deter us from burying our feet in the hot sand and quickly to chill them into the sea. The waves massaged us pleasantly, the sun burned and the wind cooled.

Stormy Tyrrhenian Sea

View from Porta Pescara, through which we entered the beach directly from the historic center

We were leaving this beach with great sadness. It was really fabulous. It is the reason for me to come back here. There is plenty of smaller and larger churches so believers will also be satisfied. It is a small and quiet place that retains its Sicilian character..

It was in Cefalù that I understood the meaning of the word cannolo - a popular Sicilian delicacy filled with ricotta. There you find the right tourism, not so massive. There are a lot of visitors, but you don't have to stand in a row for a long time.Those who like walking can step out to La Rocca, where there are remnants of Diana's temple from the 9th century BC. and the medieval fortifications of La Rocca di Cefalù.If you are bored here, you can take a bus to another city. Cefalù is a town where you need to stop for a few days,enjoy it and then continue to discover the greater beauty of Sicily. It is an ideal start for this mission.

Italian icecream