Day 8 (Nov 1st) All Saints Day

Ughhhh, I feel like I was hit by the train I'm riding on right now. Ciro woke me up at 7am. I almost got in the shower fully clothed, and in a zombie-like manner dragged my suitcase down the elevator outside to the street while Ciro got the scooter. Yes, I said scooter. We jammed my bag where he puts his feet, and I climbed aboard. It was about a 15 min ride to the station. I got in line for my tickets, and Ciro walked me to the train. It amazed me there was no sort of security anywhere. I mean no checkpoints to walk through, or guards between the ticket counter and the train tracks. I learned that 'Bin' translates to track, so I needed Bin # 2 for my train. We said goodbye, and I climbed aboard. I tried to stay awake, because I wasn't sure how many stops I'd have before Cefalu, and I didn't want to wake up after we passed it.

About an hour later, as we slowed down for another stop, I saw the Cefalu sign at the station so I exited. We were at the edge of town I guessed, and I followed the crowd towards town. There were a couple people with bundles of umbrella's wrapped in plastic, so I guessed they were heading into town to sell them. I stopped at a bar to get a coke and asked if they spoke English. They didn't, but I had the address written by Ciro, so I said Piazza Garibaldi, (where the hotel was) and they pointed down the road. I drank my coke, and continued down the road. I kept an eye open, for when I had to come back in two days.

I got the the main plaza, and asked another person who was sitting at a table drinking an espresso. He didn't speak any English either, but this time I showed him the paper with the address. He pointed to about 5 doors down on one side of the square, and also to the camera store on the other side. Outside was a man who waved when he saw him pointing. He was the owner of the bed and breakfast, so I walked to him. We went inside, I filled out a form, he copied my passport number, and then took me to my room. It was about 3 flights up narrow stairs, but was a great room.


It was like a studio, with a set of stairs up to a small kitchen and the bathroom. It was a full kitchen, with an oven, a fridge, and even some pots and pans. He pointed out the switch to activate the hot water for the shower (thankfully!), and he went back to his shop. I didn't waste much time, and went back to the second bar to buy a sandwich and something to drink. I had to duck to get into the kitchen, but it was a good room.


View from the kitchen with the sun setting.
Right outside my window, there was an old church, and the old men were already gathering on the benches. In every small town, you will find at night the older gentlemen of the town all meet, to visit with each other. It's always just the men, with their canes, and wearing their hats. It's one of my favorite scenes over there.






A few other shots out my window...


I quickly learned this bell.....


...would ring every 15 minutes!! I wanted to sleep with the window open, but the plaza was the main square, and those trees had about 3 gazillion very talkative birds in them. I relaxed for a bit, then walked toward the beach to take a look see around town. I picked a side road, heading downhill, and a few minutes later got to the beach. (I'll post those pics next time). I went into a bar, and got a drink, then sat and people watched. I made my way to the end of the beach, took some pictures, stopped and had a gelato, and watched some more people. Cefalu was sort of like a small version of Taormina. It's nice, but Taormina, maybe because it has more, plus most of the store owners speak a little English, one ups Cefalu. It was beautiful though. I walked around a bit more, grabbed another sandwich for dinner and went back to my room. It was a nice change from Ciro's. I didn't feel uncomfortable there, but I was in 'house guest' mode. I've lived alone for so long now, I like my quiet, nobody around time. Now if I just had my dogs here. It could also be I would get to sleep in a normal sized bed, even though the mattress was pretty firm, but all their beds were on the firm side. It's only 6:30 here and I'm considering taking a shower and going to bed. I am out of gas after the lack of sleep. I've come to realize something on this trip. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time, but I think it would have taken it up a notch if I had a friend to share it with.

I watched some TV, even though it was all in Italian, and tried to stay up a little longer. I didn't want to wake up too early, and wanted to attempt to sleep in as late as I could. It's 10 min until 10pm, now and I haven't heard the church bells for awhile. They must stop at a certain time at night thankfully. It's still pretty loud with people outside. Not car traffic, rarely did a car come through.

Anyway, heading to bed. Watch the videos below I found on youtube of Cefalu if you want.



ciao!!


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Now playing: Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl
via FoxyTunes