West Coast Sicily Day 20 Cefalu'

We get off to an early start and walk to the station before Palermo has really woken up for the day. It takes about an hour by train from Palermo to Cefalu' and it's a pleasant journey with views of the coast. When we get to the seafront in Cefalu' people are still sitting on the bars along the sea front enjoying breakfast with a sea view. We are surprised by the amount of tourists of all nationalities but more foreign than Italians, definitely. None of the other places we visited had as many tourists, except for Palermo of course. We head up towards the castle to get a view from above but don't go right to the top, it's quite hot, we haven't got the right shoes and Andrea seems to be coming down with my cold. 

Instead we go back down to the historical centre, which is made for wandering, narrow streets full of interesting or touristy shops, bars and restaurants. 

We also want to visit the Duomo, but people are turning up for a wedding, we watch the guests milling around all dressed up smartly and the bride and groom arriving. By now it's getting on for lunchtime so we walk back along the sea front and then up to the main road out of Cefalu' just by the level crossing. It's quite a walk but La Gallizza is abundantly worth it. One of the peculiarities of Sicily is that the Rosticceria usually doesn't have anything 'roast' at all. Rosticcerie usually have arancine, and various types and shapes of pastry filled with everything from ham and cheese to tuna and olives. La Gallizza has a vast array of everything from Sfincione to Arancine to Schiacciate as well as pasta baked in the oven. It's a mouth-watering selection, all at absurdly cheap prices and definitely worth the walk. There are a few tables and we are lucky enough to find one free outside. We eat in great comfort, the kind lady serving even brings us everything to our table. A very positive experience and there's also a view over Cefalu' on the way.

After lunch we go back to the church, which is quite a walk, it's another hot day. The  Duomo in Cefalù is one of nine buildings, together with the Duomo of Monreale included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Arab-Norman Palermo. It was built in the 12th century in the Norman architectural style and dominates the skyline of the medieval town. The facade with the two towers and spires and the portico is spectacular. This time the Duomo is silent and almost empty, just one or two quiet tourists like us so we sink gratefully onto one of the benches in the cool and silence, partly to rest but mostly to admire in wonder the enormous Cristo Pantocratore in mosaics. The Duomo alone makes a visit to Cefalu' worthwhile. We stay there so long, perhaps also lost in thought, that we finally get up because we are starting to feel almost cool. 

During the rest of the afternoon we explore more of the medieval centre and also look at the shops. I buy a nice jug with lemons painted on it, something I had been hankering after for a long time. Cefalu' is a very clean and pretty town and the beach seems nice. It's easy to see why it's so popular, but too many tourists for our tastes.

We stroll back to the station for the train to Palermo, an excellent day.