The apartment on Via Madralisca is in an old stone building in the middle of the historic old town, which means the streets are very narrow, made of cobblestones, with limited vehicular traffic, so it’s very quiet, at least this time of year.  Cefalu is a beach town, and we understand it’s quite crowded in the summer.  We are a half block downhill from the “main” street, Corso Ruggiero, and the waterfront/beach is a 5-minute walk in the other (downhill) direction.  We spend these first days simply walking all around the town, taking in the sights and finding the necessities like grocery stores, butcher shop, bread shop, fresh pasta shop (surprisingly, we only find one of these), reliable ATMs, etc.  Also surprisingly, most of the gelateria are closed, presumably since it is still winter by local standards (but feels fine to us).  That’s too bad, because there’s nothing better for a walking lunch than a huge cone of chocolate gelato (no small ones available, it seems).

On one of our walks we discover an old elaborate Club Med, now closed – we think -- and certainly overgrown (small tree in the middle of several of the tennis courts), occupying prime waterfront just outside town.  What a waste of a great location.  We do not, however, yet climb La Rocca, the signature physical feature of this town, a looming stone peak capped with the remains of a Norman fortress.  After all that riding around in jeeps in Africa, we need to get our legs back in shape first by walking.

Phyllis finds that she will have to adapt to the local customs, which do not include mochas, and settle for a cappuccino in the local coffee shops.  She refuses to stoop to ordering an Americano in this setting, although she makes them in the apartment for herself once she learns that good paper towels can be used for cone filters.  (Drip cone filters are NOT sold in the stores here and, after repeated inquiries made in her non-existent Italian, someone finally politely told her that they just don’t drink coffee made this way.)

Thanks to some tips from Nancy, the apartment owner, we eat spit-roasted chicken a couple of nights from the frigeteria (fry shop) a couple of streets away and we visit Todo Modo for more beer and internet.  Other housekeeping is accomplished, such as finding a parking lot for the rental car and buying a SIM card and a one-month internet package for Phyllis’ iPhone (having an unlocked phone is a wonderful thing) so we can make local phone calls if needed and check emails etc.  The weather is a mixed bag, daytime highs in the mid-50s, but the tendency for occasional rain means we have to take our rain jackets on all our walks.  Springtime showers…