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Cinisi
With our hostess before leaving Cinisi Today we have to farewell our wonderful hostess. It has been a delight staying here at Rustico San Leonardo, the name of our apartment. It has been well designed with great outdoor seating where we have breakfast each morning or drinks and nibbles late afternoon. Our hostess has been more than generous. With her lack of English and our lack of Italian we had a very happy relationship. The daughter was a great help when she visited. Our three days were not enough but we felt sorry for those who arrived late afternoon and then prepared to leave on an early flight next morning from the nearby airport. We are sure they didn’t appreciate their stay as we have.
We have a long drive across Northern Sicily to Milazzo. If we drive the toll road the journey will be less than three hours but we won’t see very much. Driving time along the coast will be over five hours. Leaving Cinisi we have some extra baggage. Our hostess boxed up some delicious breakfast cake her daughter had made for us. We will truly miss Giusy (Giuseppa).
Our first part of the trip to Cefalù travels inland from the coast
Cefalù
A busy beach scene on a four lane highway. This will get us to our lunch stop quite quickly. We had thought about staying in Cefalù when planning the trip. Once we arrived we found it a tourist mecca. Not quite the place for these traveling pensioners to find a bed. The beach area is starting to fill and the hawkers are selling a variety of beachwear, mainly cover ups, sunhats, lotions, mats, water, and any other item needed to make the beach experience memorable. After a taste of delicious Sicilian street food we go in search of the Cathedral.
It is not hard to find the Cathedral, just follow the crowd or battle the oncoming crowd returning from their visit. While the tourists are enjoying their Sicilian sit down lunch it leaves room for us in the Cathedral. This cathedral resembles the cathedral in Monreale. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites and form a group of Byzantine Norman buildings found in the Palermo area. This cathedral did not have the mosaic designs of Monreale but was equally impressive. Restoration work is being undertaken in the area around the altar. We return through the tourist traps, brushing aside any hint of temptation. We
Cefalù
The Cathedral only have one modest bag for three months holiday and every space is accounted for.
Back at the “free” car park we spot a pay and display machine. “Whoops!” Fortunately it is a quiet time of the day, the park is relatively empty, and the bulk of the tourists haven’t arrived yet. Not worth the energy to walk up the hill to check on free-loaders in this park. Sometimes car parks are free during the siesta time. Maybe that is the reason we were not ticketed.
The drive along the coast gives spectacular views of the steep cliffs and the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea. There is the occasional small beach but nothing like Cefalù. We wondered if sand was imported to make the tourist experience one to write home about. We twist and turn for nearly a hundred kilometres. It is not fast driving. As we approach Milazzo we can see the Aeolian Islands, one of which is Stromboli, famous for its eruption. Perhaps we’ll visit on the next trip.
Jane couldn’t quite find the street on which our apartment was located. After a quick phone call and a check on Google maps we located the street
Cefalù
Tourists flock to this UNESCO site. and there holding up a large placard was a young woman awaiting our arrival. It is a quiet time of the year and we are the only guests in this multi room apartment. The bed feels great and it will be peaceful.
After a takeaway pizza we settle down for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we have a reasonably early start for our drive to Messina followed by a ferry trip. Our last night in Sicily.
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