Tuesday October 11th
The young lady at the hotel told us that we might have trouble getting across today. The explanation for the 50 “big rig” trucks we saw as we pulled in last night is that they are on sort of a strike, and were blocking the passage. So that had me a little worried, but in the end it was nothing at all. We bought our ticket and rode right on. The ferry takes about 20 minutes te get across
Messina wasn’t on our list of places to see because it is the port city and I figured it would just be a crowded mess with little to offer. But as the boat pulled in I saw a number of things that probably deserve a second look. I’m hoping that we’ll have a little time on the way out to cruise through.
The weather in Sicilia is so far quite nice, warm even. Which is a nice break from the 8 straight days of rain that we had had so far. There was even a good number of people sunbathing, as well as a handful out swimming around.
The first stop was Santo Stefano di Camastra, the ceramics capital of Sicilia. Word on the street is that bargaining is expected, and you will pay a fraction of what you’d expect to pay in Florence or the like. However, if you are not here to shop, you might as well drive through and window shop from your car. There isn’t anything to see here outside of the colorful storefronts.
Cefalu on the other hand has a lot to do. The beach is sandy, and the water is blue, and the food is cheap. The view of the town from a distance as you drive in is striking. It sits there fronted by the sea, and backs right up to a giant rock. The oversized Cathedral sticks out like a sore thumb, but one with very nice fingernail polish. It’s a hefty walk up to La Rocca, the castle, but well worth it. The views from this height are splendid, and it is only from here that you see that the back half of the cathedral is completely different, and even more interesting architecturally.
If we weren’t able to find an agriturismo to stay in before we left it can be very difficult to find one while we are here. The book we brought along usually only offers one or two in an area. If they are out of your price range, then you have to drive around looking for signs. You have no idea of how much they cost, what they offer, if they speak English, etc. The one’s in this area were about double what we’ve been paying so far, so we didn’t end up staying in one.

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