November 13 Lessons learned in Cefalu

 

Two months seemed like such a long time in early September, but our stay in Sicily flew by.  I would say we have learned quite a bit about ourselves and our travel likes and dislikes.  This trip was an experiment in many ways.  Could we stay in one place for a long time without getting bored?  Could we live (mostly) without a car?  What would life be like having to walk everywhere?  How would we manage grocery shopping?  How would we handle an emergency?  Could we live in a much smaller space and not kill each other?  Could we manage without all of our comfort of home?

The biggest surprise was that we had no problem existing together in a smaller space.  It was cozy.  It helped that the weather was great the whole two months.  It helped that we had a great apartment.  It helped that the area was beautiful.  Everything we needed was in walking distance, except for the hospital.  

What about the comforts of home?  We had thought about this before we left home.  We had the apartment owner order a yoga mat and a shopping cart for us on Amazon and they were there when we arrived.  Both were excellent purchases.  All the floors in the apartment were tile and there were no rugs anywhere.  The shopping cart had a triangle of wheels on each side which made it so easy to go up and down curbs and steps.  We had to leave both items there as they were to big for our suitcases.  Hopefully other tourists will enjoy there use.

What about emergencies?  We didn't have a true test of this - but my injury after one week in Cefalu did challenge us a little.  The apartment owner had a good grasp of English and was able to help us figure out how to get help.  Thank you to the Italian Health System - I got x-rays of my foot and a consultation with a doctor at no cost.

What about getting bored?  That happened!  We had thought about what we were going to do to keep ourselves busy before the trip.  I had 4-5 projects that I wanted to work on.  I only had time for about three of them.  I loved taking photos in Cefalu.  But after a while you think - how many beautiful pictures of the beach and old town to I need?  The problem arose because of the problem of transportation.  Cefalu is a great destination location.  But, except for the train, there was no way to get out and about.  There were local taxi's and great system of car and driver to get you to Palermo.  We tried to hire a car and driver to take us to other locations like the mountain villages - but it was way over priced.  As the local business travel agency's explained - they could make a lot more money taking people back and forth to Palermo all day.  So we rented a car for a week to see some other areas around Cefalu.

Walking everywhere was great - until I injured my foot.  As the Italian doctor I saw said - no fractures - put on your tennis shoes and walk, just take ibuprofen for the pain.  So I learned to limp pretty fast.  Unfortunately I could only do this for so long so I did not get the full experience.  Michael loved the whole walking experience and he was able to make up the slack.

I would have to say the experiment was a success.  We like living in a place where you can walk to everything you need.  Living in a smaller space would work for us.  But we would like a place that has more public transportation available.  We still like the beach experience a lot.  Now we just have to find the perfect location!

I can't do a post without photos.  Here are a few I took with my phone and never posted.

We only went out to restaurants infrequently.  I am not sure where this is.

Some typical street food snacks served as an appetizer.  In the middle - Panelle or chickpea fritters.  They are often served in a bun as a sandwich.  French fries were available everywhere.  Arancini are rice balls with various flavorings with a breadcrumb coating and deep fried.  Crocche, which are similar, but filled with mashed potatoes, eggs, and cheese.  One thing missing here is the spleen sandwich.  It is an acquired taste so not usually served as an appetizer.

Tagliatelle pasta served with tomato sauce and lobster claw.

Cacio e Pepe - a simple pasta flavored with black pepper.  It was served in this pan!

Moon rising.

October 28 The Last Day in Sicily

 All good things come to an end - as has our two month sojourn in Cefalu.  We spent Friday packing for our trip home and getting rid of stuff in the apartment.  One last trip to the Recycle area.  One last walk along the water front.

One last view out our living room window.  And we say goodnight.  Once we leave the apartment at 7am it will take us 46 hours to get home to Albuquerque.  That is thanks to American and United airlines who kept canceling flights and changing flight times.

October 27 Train to Messina

 We have been thinking of taking the train to Messina for a long time.  I am so glad we did as I really enjoyed our day there.

We stopped for a pastry and coffee on our way to the train station.  Then had a bit of a wait before our train.

I took a few photos out of the windows - just to capture a little of the countryside.  The train wound along the coast for a good while.  Then it got boring with nothing much to look at and many tunnels.

A frame out in the middle of nowhere!

A castle way off in the distance on the hill.

When we arrived in Messina - this mural was across the street.  We immediately went searching for the ferry port.  Our plan was to take a ferry across to mainland Italy to a town called San Giovanni in Calabria.  We quickly found it.  The ferry line for tourists we wanted to take did not have a ferry sailing for a couple of hours.  

The ferry we caught was a working ferry.  There was no going up on deck in the open to take photos.  So we had to sit inside next to the warped and dirty windows - so not very good photos.

Our first impression of San Geovanni were these buildings across from the ferry landing.

We headed up the street from the port/train station and passed this statue.  That was the most exciting thing we saw!  But we did find a delicious meal at a working man's cafe.  We know that because as we sat there 3-5 large groups of men in working clothes came in, sat down, and were immediately served - all the same thing, quickly ate and then left.

Back at the port we followed these signs, only to discover that all the semi trucks were being loaded on the ferry and we had to wait in a small cafe and watch them drive on.  If we would have taken advantage of the opportunity to take the train to Rome (as was advertised at the Cefalu train station) - we would have gone through San Giovanni.  Many people on the ferry had luggage and headed for the train station to travel on in mainland Italy.  We got the impression that very few people actually have San Giovanni as there final destination!  

A last shot of Calabria.

Back in Messina we headed for the main square - and of-course a Cathedral.

The current clock tower was built in the 1930's.  It was designed by F. Valenti who based his design on engravings and paintings from the 16th and 18th Centuries.

Inside the cathedral.  I found this one a lot more interesting than some of the more renowned cathedrals.

A closeup from the front door.

An interesting design on a building.

Surprisingly there were not near as many tourist shops here.

King Charles III of Bourbon.  He ruled Sicily before moving on to take over Spain.

I didn't know there was a store that sold Happy!  Unfortunately it was closed.

Back at the train station waiting for our train back to Cefalu.