These pics were taken in the charming seaside town of Cefalù – our last stop on our bus tour through the Sicilian countryside. The town is a picture postcard set (by Floridian standards) perilously close to the sea, old buildings hugging the coast in a half-circle on the sand.
There’s an open area in the center-ish of town on a boardwalk of sorts where street vendors lay out their wares against an auditory backdrop of conversation and whispering waves, punctuated occasionally by a scooter or car motor.
Narrow cobblestone streets lead from the coast to the interior and are lined with shops, cafes, and apartments – like so much of the rest of Italy I saw, laundry flapped from most of the upper balconies. In the interior was a nice square with umbrella-ed tables as people relaxed with friends and family over food and drink. It was there that I was introduced to the Italian version of an ice cream sandwich – so much better than the faux vanilla ice cream held between two pieces of damp cardboard we get in the frozen dessert section at the supermarket here. In Italy, it’s a thick piece of sweet bread folded in half and stuffed with mounds of creamy gelato. As the gelato melts, the bread soaks it up. Pure yum!
One of the things I really loved about my time in Italy was the unhurried pace of meals – even snacks are to be savored. Contrast that with the American way of grabbing something to go or viewing food as physical fuel and nothing more.
In the square was a lovely church – like many buildings throughout Italy, it was rather modest on the outside but the inside was gorgeous.
The day ended with an amazing gourmet meal served in a glass-walled restaurant overlooking the sea. Perfetto!
Filed under: Travel Tagged: Cefalù, church, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Sicily
