Simmering in Sicily!Apr 12, 2005
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The joining of tracks to bring train cars into the ferry.
Leaving the mainland and off to an island, Sicily!
View of Messina, Sicily.
| Hey Yall... I think I've left yall twisting in the air waiting to find out where we are right now long enough. so here goes "Gimme S"...I didn't see anyone spelling out the "S" letter! Come on...let's play for old man's sake! "Gimme I...gimme C...gimme I...gimme L...gimme Y!!!!" Yes...Sicily it is. We changed our course once again and went for the southernmost part of Italy and that happened to be Sicily! We also found a reasonable apartment to rent for a week via Internet. Took us 11 long hours by train to get here from Orvieto and the weather was drab with constant light shower. We knew the weather wasn't gonna be beautiful for the next two days and were hoping that the apartment would make us feel at home. Once we arrived Cefalu by late night, we were all smiles after seeing cozy apartment with a view of the Tyrrhenia Sea. Looking out from inside the apartment, the sea-foam green sea seemed to come to our floors. It wasn't even a stone throw but a drop down to the sea-pounded craggy rocks from our balcony! Cefalu, a pretty untouristed seaside town with nice beaches and ancient Greek sites were an antidote to our jarred nerves from a long train ride! It was one of several Greek cities founded between 6 and 5th century BC. During that time, it was said that there was practically no difference between those cities in Sicily and that of Athens! So technically my mom and Jerry had seen "Greek" for there were some of monuments left over from that period such as Temple of Diana at La Rocco, a huge monolithic limestone rock that towered above the town. We decided to climb up La Rocco and bought a bottle of red wine, cheese and salami to celebrate when we reached to the top. Indeed we did and it wasn't so bad as it took us about 40 minutes to get to the top. The view was the fruit of our labor as Cefalu were easily scanned from there with deep blue-green water of Tyrrhenia Sea. The wine gave us an instant buzz as we munched on cheese and salami and enjoying the breathtaking view from any angles! The descend climb wasn't easy as we thought it would be because we were buzzed from the wine and had to be extra cautious as one "oh shit" slip can be fatal. We got back to the base safely and each of us in one piece with nothing broken or scraped! ;-) I forgot to mention that we went to Palermo for the day and found nothing of interest there! It was a crowded big city that I didn't find beautiful as heavily publicized by several tourist brochures and/or books. In my opinion, there was nothing charming about it and may have passed as Detroit, IL with an exception that they do have a beautiful Royal Palace, Cathedral and one of the oldest and grandest theater of Europe. We walked around for 4 hours and decided to leave earlier and get back to the lovely town of Cefalu! Perhaps Cefalu had spoiled us with its small-town charms and winding cobblestone roads with Sicilians gesturing furtively while conversing with each other. We knew now that we were lucky that a search on Internet had led us to an apartment here! It was the perfect place to relax and unwind for a week before taking on another jaunt wherever the wind blew. We are now thinking of going to Sorrento or Positano at the Amalfi Coast. But so far we weren't able to find cheap apartment anywhere there as they are either booked solid or had doubled in price it's turning into high season by now. Grrrr! So we don't know exactly where we will be come Monday and whether we will be lucky once again. ;-) But so far I have been blessed with so many positive things that I am confident we will find a chic place to stay somewhere even if it's burning a hole in our pockets a bit! It will be well worth every penny, of that I am certain. Gonna head out for the beach now and I expect you to get off your bums and do something good for your body. ;-p Big Sicilian Mafia hugs! Butch |
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