Southern Italy
After leaving the Bahamas at the end of March, we spent about 10 days in Florida visiting family, friends and preparing for our second trip to Italy. To get to Italy we decided to take another trans-Atlantic cruise. This 13 day cruise stopped in Funchal, Madeira, Gibraltor, and Alicante, Spain before our final destination at Rome, Italy. Taking a cruise ship to Europe is a comfortable way to travel as you do not have to deal with airports, but it does take a couple weeks, so it is only really practical for people who are retired.
The Town of Cefalu
After spending one night in Rome, we flew from Rome to Palermo, Sicily. From there we trained to Cefalu our first stop in Sicily. We are staying here for 10 days. We have rented a 1 bedroom apartment right in the old town section. The weather here is fantastic. It is about 72-74 degrees during the day and the low is about 60 degrees at night. Sunny all the time. We got here the third week of April and people are already sitting on the beach.
The Cathedral in Cefalu
Cefalu is a very historic town of about 15,000 people with a wonderful old town section. Most of the old section was built between the 12th and 15th centuries. Just like northern Italy, there are cafes, restaurants, and shops on every corner. The are two main historic sites in Cefalu. There is a large cathedral in town built in the 12th century A.D. which is still in use today. There is a fortress on top of the Rock overlooking the town parts of which date back 2000 years to the Roman period. The rock is about 1,000 feet above sea level. Dena and I climbed to the top of La Rocca and back down which took about 3 hours. We won’t be doing that again.
There are several historic sites to see around this part of Sicily which require a train or bus trip. So we will take a couple day trips while here. Other than that we will stroll the streets of Cefalu and spend time on their beach.
After we leave Cefalu, we will spend 10 days in Siracusa on the eastern side of Sicily and then spend a few weeks in Lipari touring the Aeolian islands off the north coast of Sicily.
Until next time.
The View from our Apartment
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