38 02.3 N 14 01.9 E

CEFALU

We had a straight forward trip along the coast to Cefalu with no wind and a flat sea almost the whole way - 30 miles. The sun shone and it was warm too. The scenery is striking with jagged hills and higher peaks behind;small coves and some lovely coastal villages and everything is very green at the moment.

We arrived in Cefalu to find a T shaped concrete mole with smaller fingers sticking out and on the east side nearest the beach a fairly new wobbly wooden pontoon' where we were directed to berth! It was very shallow and it took a while to get the mooring lines sorted out as we think we were their first visitors of the season! Later a German flagged yacht (probably a skippered charter) arrived and went straight to a place on the concrete jetty with out any assistance - a much better place to be we thought!

We walked into town which is very quaint and boasts and amazing history dating from ancient Greece through Arab and Byzantine periods to the Normans and beyond.It was very buzzy and busy as it was a Sicilian holiday - Independence weekend! with many narrow streets and lovely shops, cafes bars and trattoria everyone seemed to be eating ice cream.

The main square with the huge church and its twin towers was very impressive. Inside this ancient building (built by the Normans and started in the early 12th century)was a stunning alter area with beautiful carvings on the sides above the choir and amazing frescos covering the dome and panels around the nave. They appeared to be inlaid with gold and apparently are mosaics.

On our way back to the boat we stopped for a light supper sitting on the pavement overlooking the sea looking down towards the old town. The sunset was beautiful and we enjoyed some very good food. Thanks to the post on the CA Med net Captains Mate app for the recommendation of the restaurant El Faro.

We decided on an early start to get to Palermo before the strong winds forecast for later on Monday arrived.