Sicily Pt II: Left Our Hearts in Cefalu!

By some divine power, I stumbled upon this gorgeous seaside town of Cefalu on Sicily’s northern coast during a Google search—yeeaaaa I need to go there I thought. I knew that while I was planning mine and Smitty’s 2 week escapades around Europe, we had to hit Paris, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Venice, and well it just so happened to be the end of September so we squeezed in Oktoberfest in Munich as well :). Sicily was Smitty’s idea. After we picked up our new friend Zach the World Traveler in Florence and had the most amazing pasta of our lives in Palermo, we hopped on the 45 minute train heading eastward towards the coast. As we approached, we saw it around the bend—a medieval Italian oasis right on the Tyrrhenian Sea and sitting under a rocky fortress and lighthouse jutting out from the rocks—Cefalu! We were already in love. Our B&B was right on the water’s edge and a stone’s throw from several candle-lit restaurants with a view of the bluest water I’ve ever seen. We had no plans, no expectations and no worries, only smiles and curiosities. We dropped off our bags and wandered into a cozy restaurant next to the sea—2 bottles of wine and several dishes of Italian delicacies later, we raved about how much we were enjoying our time in Sicily! Wandering through the streets at night at the tail-end of tourist season meant the only noise we could hear were the crashing waves against the rocks…and a random vespa engine somewhere off in the distance (and our own giggles!). 

The next morning, after enjoying a cuppa joe on the balcony overlooking the ocean, we set out to discover the place by daylight. Our explorations didn’t take us far because we were sure we found the best spot in town—a bench on a jetty with a view over the bay to the entire town. It felt like we spent hours here! Laughing, observing, sunbathing, me getting creamed by a wave, and reveling in the fact that we were in a small Sicilian town far, far away and no one in the planet could be enjoying this moment as much as we were at that very second. We somehow managed to peel ourselves away from that bench and into the town’s main square. Old Sicilian (oh no, they are NOT Italians, they are Sicilians!) men were gathered on chairs playing cards, smoking cigarettes and watching the world go by. We thought that was a great idea so we grabbed a table on an outdoor terrace and well 18 beers later (and several hours!) we strolled down the street to indulge on a meal of seafood spaghetti, ham & cheese tortellini and mista salads. Oh and we made a quick stop on that bench :)…aaaaand we may have watched the sunset from there too. The entire 3 days we spent in Cefalu felt like one long dream. Smitty and I felt blessed to be best friends experiencing Europe together, felt so humbled to have met a new friend and felt totally completely in love with this place we were sure that no one in the universe had discovered. The time came to leave this magical place as Smithers and I continued in one direction and Zach the World Traveler continued in the other. It was a sad day, we felt like we were saying goodbye to not only 1 new friend, but 2 new friends—to Zach and Cefalu, we hope to see you again :)…

{Bye Zach!}

{…and bye Cefalu! Our nearly perfect view from the train}