Day 111 - Getting Lost in Cefalù

The days are definitely getting longer now. The sun is coming up earlier, which means we’ve naturally started waking up earlier too. Lately it’s been around 6:30 in the morning when the light starts filling the room.

The kids were already up and moving when we woke. We’d left their schoolwork set up on the table the night before so they could get straight into it, which they did without much fuss. Kia and I took advantage of the quiet house and stayed in bed until around 7 before getting up for the usual morning routine of coffees and breakfast.

After that we checked over the kids’ work. They’d done a really solid job working independently. There were only a few little things they needed clarification on, mostly just small concepts that needed explaining so they fully understood them. It’s good to see the repetition starting to click for them because it makes the next day’s work easier.

Once the schoolwork was done the morning drifted along slowly. We pottered around the apartment for a bit before eventually getting organised to head out. The plan for the day was simple, drive into Cefalù, explore the town, climb up to the castle ruins, and hit the beach.

Cefalù is one of the most famous coastal towns in northern Sicily. It sits between the Tyrrhenian Sea and a massive rocky headland called La Rocca. The town itself dates back thousands of years and has layers of Greek, Roman, Arab and Norman history woven through it. The huge cathedral that dominates the town square, Cefalù Cathedral, was built in the 1100s by Roger II of Sicily and is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

From where we’re staying it’s only about a 15-minute drive to town, and the drive along the coastline is beautiful.

We didn’t really have a specific destination in mind, so we just told the map to take us to Cefalù and figured we’d work it out when we got there. As we rolled into town we decided it made sense to visit the castle first before the beach because we knew if the kids got into the water there was absolutely zero chance we’d convince them to hike up the mountain afterwards.

Kia dropped the castle into the maps and we followed the directions.

That’s when things got interesting.

The roads started getting narrower. Then narrower again. Before long we were crawling along tiny cobblestone streets barely wide enough for a single car. Cars were parked along one side and houses lined the other. At one point Kia had her head out the passenger window and I had mine out the driver’s side trying to judge the gap between a metal handrail on one side and a parked car on the other.

There was maybe a few centimetres in it.

It was one of those moments where everyone in the car is holding their breath.

Eventually we squeezed through and popped out into a little section of town… only to realise there was nowhere to park.

So we had to carefully zigzag our way back out of the maze of streets we’d just driven into, which was somehow even more stressful than going in.

Back on the main road we started hunting for parking.

Eventually we found a spot right next to the beach that looked perfect. We pulled in and thought we’d hit the jackpot. But then we started second guessing ourselves because the parking signs in Sicily make absolutely no sense. They’re mostly just symbols with no explanation.

So there we were, standing next to the car Googling and asking ChatGPT what the markings meant.

Turns out yellow lines mean resident parking only.

Which of course is exactly where we were parked.

So we jumped back in the car and started cruising along the beachfront looking for blue lined spaces, which are the public ones. Eventually the yellow lines turned blue… but every single spot was taken.

Parking here is chaos.

Cars sit halfway across two spaces, some are over the lines, and people squeeze into gaps that don’t really exist. The driving in Sicily is wild. Everyone seems to come at you at a million miles an hour and somehow it all just works.

Eventually we found a tiny space we could squeeze into.

When we tried to pay at the ticket machine it wouldn’t accept anything. While we were standing there confused a local guy came over and told us in broken English that parking is free until April.

That was good enough for us.

We grabbed our sandwiches from the car, turned around toward the town, and realised we had parked a fair way away. We had basically driven almost completely out of town before finding a park.

Luckily the kids were in a good mood and the walk back toward the old town was pretty painless.

The kids immediately started asking to go to the beach, but we held the line. If we went to the water first the castle hike wasn’t happening.

So castle first.

Beach later.

We walked through the narrow medieval streets toward the entrance of La Rocca. Along the way we found a public toilet and a little café where Kia considered grabbing a coffee. In the end she decided against it because she couldn’t work out what half the coffees on the menu were and they only had normal cow’s milk, no soy.

After the drive through those tiny streets I felt like I needed something to settle the nerves, so I ordered a beer and we sat for a few minutes watching the town go about its day.

Cefalù is one of those places where just sitting still is enjoyable. The buildings are old, the streets are narrow and winding, and there’s a constant quiet buzz of locals and visitors moving through the town.

Eventually we made our way to the entrance for the climb up La Rocca.

Tickets for the four of us were €15 and from there the path climbs steeply up the rocky headland behind the town.

The hike winds its way through old stone stairways and defensive walls that once protected the medieval settlement below. At the top sit the ruins of an ancient fortress along with the remains of the Temple of Diana, a sanctuary that historians believe dates back nearly 3,000 years.

The views from the top are spectacular.

You can see the entire curve of the bay, the crystal clear water stretching out into the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the honey-coloured buildings of Cefalù clustered around the enormous cathedral in the centre of town.

We spent a bit of time wandering around the ruins and reading the information plaques explaining the history of the site before continuing along the path.

On the way down there are a number of archaeological sites scattered along the mountain including ancient walls, fortifications and lookout points built to defend the town centuries ago.

At one point we took what we thought was a shortcut down the mountain.

It wasn’t.

We followed the path for a while before realising it didn’t actually lead anywhere useful, which meant we had to turn around and climb all the way back up to where we started so we could take the proper route down.

By this point the afternoon was slipping away and the kids were getting increasingly impatient about getting to the beach.

On the way down we spotted a beautiful little beach tucked around the side of the headland that looked incredible. The water was calm and clear and hardly anyone was there.

But it would have required driving to reach it, and since our car was parked miles away that wasn’t going to happen.

So we headed down to the main beach in front of the town instead.

Emmett tried to go in for a swim but the wind had picked up and the air was just cool enough that nobody else felt like getting wet. He spent a few minutes trying to convince everyone to join him but eventually gave up.

Instead we wandered along the shoreline closer to where the car was parked and spent some time climbing around the rocks and splashing in the water.

We probably didn’t leave until around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon.

On the drive home we planned to stop at a supermarket to grab some eggs and a few other bits and pieces for breakfast the next morning.

But on the way back we came across something none of us expected.

Traffic ahead had slowed and as we got closer we realised there had just been a serious accident between a car and a motorcycle.

The motorbike was completely destroyed and the car had lost its entire front wheel from the impact.

The rider was lying motionless on the road beside the car.

He wasn’t wearing a helmet and it didn’t look good at all.

We quickly told the kids to look away and cover their eyes so they wouldn’t see anything. It was a pretty confronting moment and the mood in the car went quiet after that.

Eventually we made it back to the accommodation.

Kia started cooking dinner while the kids and I sat down and watched a movie together. Between the run earlier that morning, the big climb up the mountain and the chaos of navigating those tiny streets in town, I was pretty cooked by that point.

Dinner was simple but perfect after a big day on our feet.

Once we finished eating we got the kids organised and off to bed. After that I set up their schoolwork on the table ready for the next morning so they could get straight into it when they woke up.

By the time everything was done we were exhausted.

We were both in bed and asleep by about 8:30.

It had been a big day. Running in the morning, walking through Cefalù, climbing up the mountain to the castle ruins, exploring the beach, navigating those ridiculously narrow Sicilian streets, and then finishing the day with the shock of seeing that accident on the way home.

One of those days that seemed to pack absolutely everything into it.

A big day. A really big day.