Exploring Cefalu

Today's adventure was figuring out how to get to the seaside town of Cefalu by train. Cefalu is to the east of Palermo, on the northern coast of Sicily, about a third of the way from the western tip. It's always an adventure in a new country to figure out how each system works--in this case, how to buy the ticket, how to figure out the boards that tell you what track the train will be on, and how to make sure you are on the right train. fortunately for us, our train initiated in Palermo and left on time, so that was pretty easy.

It's a little under an hour to ride to Cefalu, which has a dramatic setting due to the high rock that is right behind the town, and which was the site of the original buildings that were built there in the 5th century. Cefalu is popular with tourists and it's major attraction is the Duomo (cathedral), which is today's picture. You can see a little bit of the rock to the right of the church. Built in the early 1100's, like the cathedral in Monrerale that we visited yesterday, it is a mix of Norman architecture and Byzantine style interior. It has fewer mosaics than Monreale, but they are quite similar in style.

we enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets of this hilly town. Our major challenge was the afternoon thundershowers that arrived just as had been predicted. October is the month when Sicily gets most of its rain, and it got some today. We are also supposed to get some tomorrow.

Our return train was very delayed and we ended up getting on an express train that had sleeping compartments, after a group of Italians argued for some time with the conductor that they could certainly afford to fill their many empty compartments with people anxious to get to Palermo. Express trains cost more than the "ordinary" train we had paid for, so the initial response was "no" but after about 10 minutes, they relented and let us all on. Good for those insistent Italians!

Now we are hoping to time our trip out to dinner in between showers so that we don't get too wet. I ended up sacrificing my raincoat to cover Lucs stroller so he wouldn't get wet. fortunately it is warm, so it really doesnt hurt for you to get a little wet.

Tomorrow we are renting a car to do a little drive out into the country before getting on our plane in the afternoon to return to Rome. We have had a very nice time here. Guy and Joahnna say it's been really nice to have fewer tourists than in either Rome or Venice.