Day 32-34. Saturday 18th May to Monday May 20th 2024.
Milazzo & Cefalu Sicily
Last night we went for a meal in the little restaurant on site. It’s a fixed menu for €25 per person, with what appeared to be bottomless wine 
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We decided to stay here another day as it was supposed to be raining everywhere. We had loads of thunder and rain but no lightning and, just as you thought it was over, it started again 
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Late in the afternoon we took Meg to the beach. We were going to walk to the left but noticed the beach was very busy that way. Closer inspection showed it was a fishing competition, so we walked back the same way as yesterday.
This beach, like many others I suppose , could be lovely, if it was combed every day to pick up the flotsam and jetsam that comes in on the tide, as well as the rubbish left by visitors to the beach. The water is lovely and clear and very inviting but not that warm 
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As we made our way back to the site the rain started again , though we didn’t mind too much as it was warm rain .
Day 33. Sunday 19th May 2024. Milazzo to Cefalu, Sicily.
Cefalu was about 1.5hrs away and we surprised ourselves by being on the road by 9.30am! Blimey .
What I have forgot to mention is that as well as there being an abundance of road tunnels on the mainland, there are also plenty on Sicily. On our first day we passed through 16 to get to our first park up, yesterday I lost count, but at a guess it was a similar number!.
Approaching Cefalu, we decided to try a parkup on the beachfront road, within walking distance to the old town. But first we needed fuel. Directing Gareth to the fuel station was tricky as our satnav took us into a hospital’s grounds, the road is clearly no longer accessible to ordinary folk!
Finally arriving at the garage we then discovered that we would have to go all the way around the town, again, to access the parking area – there’s a great big sign saying no campers along the main drag, for flips sake! By now we were getting hot under the collar so changed our destination to a campsite further out of town.
Just as we arrived it started raining again but they had space and let us in. Interestingly, there are 2 campsites literally next door to each other here. We had chosen ours (Camping Costa Ponente – Glamping) purely on reviews on P4N. The one next door has an unreliable source of hot water, reportedly. There were people at their gate waving us to go to them but we didn’t. Obviously we would have, had this one not been able to accommodate us .
Anyway, this site is lovely. There are two pools, not heated but some people don’t mind that , a bar serving snacks and pizza and a small shop.
We didn’t get to explore much as the rain had followed us, meaning we had to batten down the hatches (tie down the roll-out awning) so that we could at least sit out – it was still very warm.
Once the rain had stopped, the sun came out in all her glory, so we took a walk down to the bar, grabbing a seat each on the terrace overlooking the Med. There is a walk down to a pebble and rock beach which we might try tomorrow.
Back at the van we had a home cooked (packet sauce) curry and a glass of Haze – down to our last can now 
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Day 34. Monday May 20th 2024 Cefalu, Sicily.
Blimey, it was warm this morning! Meg and I had been for an early walk, then I did my exercises and had a lovely shower – the facilities are really good here.
Cefalu was an hour’s walk away (there is a bus from the gate of the site if you need it which will also take you to Palermo) and as we were up and about we decided to stay another day and check it out.
This was the cooler part of the day though it didn’t feel like it once we had started out. The walk takes you through a residential area, then onto the main road – unpaved – before bringing you back down to the coast path and the sea.
It’s a gorgeous view when you see it, a sweeping bay of rocky and sandy beaches leading to the old port of the town. Behind the town is a big rock with remains of the ancient city visible from the shore and city.
Cefalu is one of The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy.
The main attraction is the Norman Cathedral with mosaics. Scaffolding was up today so we didn’t get to see all of them. The Cathedral is impressive in it’s plainness. We’ve seen so many pretty ones, but this one stands out, with it’s big wooden door, sandstone walls and big arches inside. (I apologise if the architectural wording isn’t correct, my brain can’t contain it all ).
The old town consists of one main street that leads you past the cathedral to the sea and lots of little roads off, filled with lovely little neat shops, selling brightly coloured clothing, souvenirs and ceramics. There was even a potter making things at the entrance to his shop .
One of the special sweet treats in Sicily is Cannoli , a sweet fried pastry shell (looks a bit like Brandy Snap) filled with Ricotta cream, or gelato if you like. We had it with Ricotta, and yes it was delicious – apparently sharing one halves the calories 
. Meg had a bit too .
It was getting very warm now, so we looked for somewhere for lunch, with a breeze and in the shade. The perfect spot was found just outside the old town, on the promenade, so we could watch the beach hawkers selling their wares and people going to and fro from the now very busy beach.
We bought a big beach blanket from the beach hawkers before we made our way home. We were going to get the bus, but thought we needed to walk off our lunch 
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Back at the campsite we stopped for a Radler at the bar – resting our weary legs and sweaty bodies .
What a lovely little spot this is, we have really enjoyed our stay in Cefalu and know that we will return another day.
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