Yesterday, Easter Sunday, was a really lazy day as far as riding bikes was concerned.
Regardless of the defunct WLAN, we really enjoyed the luxury of the Grand Hotel Commercio this morning.
Since the weather was not all that fascinating – gusty winds and a mixture of sunshine, drizzle and diverse rain showers of various intensity – there was little motivation for us to ride our bikes, anyway.
Then we found out that the distance between Messina and Palermo is only a little more than 230 kilometres on the motorway.
Taking roads suitable for us, however, it would always be more than 300 kilometres.
And on the maps, the terrain in Sicily looks all but easy. Having to ride three hundred kilometres in three days – with a fixed arrival time of 5 p.m. at Palermo harbour – might easily mean stress.
So we see reason, bow to the inevitable and look for an alternative. There is one. At 11.25 a.m., there is a train from Messina to Palermo. You can even take your bikes.
It is scheduled to arrive in Cefalù at 1.54 p.m. According to our guide, this place is a “must see”. Palermo is about 80 kilometres from Cefalù. We can certainly do that on Monday. That gives us all of Tuesday to fall back on, or else to explore Palermo.
So we ride the 500 metres to the railway station and buy tickets. It is 9.10 € per person, in addition to 3.50 € for 24 hours of bike transport. We decide in favour of this luxury.
The train ride is quite fun. A true appetizer for Sicily. It is a modern, clean train. The conductor is nice, there are many tunnels and, of course, there is beautiful scenery.
And Cefalù is a truly great city. We arrive hungry and first want to find something to eat. Again, we are lucky. We eat a great fish dish.
The owner of the restaurant recommends a nice hotel, the LA GIARA directly at the town centre. It has free WLAN, without password nonsense.
And then we stroll through the small alleys, enjoy the beautiful view, the delicious ice-cream, the good wine, the tasty goat cheese and the crazy signs.
We also look forward to the last long bike day and the return trip home into the Bavarian spring.
And we decide that Sicily is a place we definitely will want to re-discover and re-experience some other time. Perhaps in September?
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
This time, I took all the pictures at Cefalù
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