Off to Cefalu

Monday, 4 July

We decided to scrap the idea of Monreale and go shopping and visit the Ballaro markets instead. At first we were told the shops are usually closed Monday morning until 4pm. But as we wandered the streets, we saw some that were open. Thus we shopped in a few streets. I mainly looked at Zara. Anders helped me a bit, but got a bit bored and discouraged after noticing how big the shop was. Thus, he went off on his own. By the end of the shopping I had bought some things from Zara, and Anders was emptied handed.

The Ballaro markets were the same as the other food markets. Fish, meats, veggies, fruits, olives, and spices. I wanted to buy saffron because I figured it would be cheaper. I found a shop that had it. It had a bag for €2 or a small container for €3. I picked the cheaper one, but Anders started saying he thought I would want the threads for cooking. We both really didn't know, so he called his dad, who by the way knows everything. He has answers to all questions, not made up answers, but true genuine facts. Extremely knowledgeable. Anders calls him when he is in doubt. We were in doubt and he answered our question. Go back and exchange for the expensive one. The lady was kind enough to let me do that.

We drove off after that to Porticello, a working fishing port. We arrived there around 2pm to look for this restaurant, which ended up being closed during lunch! We seem to never get the timing right for lunch. Always too early or too late. We then went to the port to see the boats selling their fresh catch. One fisherman found Anders amusing and gave him a baby octopus to hold. And said photo. Then handed him a scale and said photo. Then got a fist and put it on his shoulders and said photo. Yes, lots of photos. That alone was worth the trip. We drove around the port trying to find an open place, but had no luck.

We drove off towards Caccamo, in search for some food along the way. We finally stopped by this cafeteria and got some panini in our tummies. We also got two huge scoops of gelato to share.
Caccamo had a huge Norman castle on the edge of the hillside town. It was really cool to visit it. There weren't many visitors, so we had the whole place to ourselves to explore. There wasn't much to explore besides imagining the rooms and the view points. It was definitely worth the visit. Anders found serenity in the kakooings of the pigeons. He thought it was "cozy"...hee hee hee.

We arrived at Roomantic B&B around 7pm. The owner greeted us and showed us our room. We had a balcony with a view of the town and the water. It's nice and cozy. The bed was comfortable too. We've been rather lucky with all these stays. After the introduction, we quickly showered and changed to head into town. We made reservations at le chat noir in town. I read on trip advisor they are supposed to be #1 recommended, and after the feast, I totally agree.

Our food was delicious. We had the rustic antipasti and rigatoni al norman. They were both tasty. Crazy how a simple rigatoni with eggplant and salted ricotta in a light tomato sauce can be so savory. For main Anders had delicious mussels. I had some local grilled fish that tasted a bit dry. We think it's the same type of fish Anders snorkeled with at Taormina. Anders was a sweetheart and removed the bones off the fish for me. I'm pretty horrible at that. The house red and white was also very delicious. We had a fantastic meal.

After dinner we tried to party it up through town. Unfortunately not much was happening besides some puppies by the beach. This couple (asking for money) had dogs with puppies. We spent some time playing with them. Anders actually gave me permission to touch them...he touched them too. However after we were done, he told me to not touch anything until we wash our arms. Not hands. Arms. This required us to walk back up the hill to our B&B.

At one point in the road there were three paths. Neither of us could agree on which one to take. Anders said far right and I thought it was the left. We ended up taking the middle and went far out of our way. The hills were so steep that I was slipping off my sandals. It was also extremely dark, so I got scared. Being lost on a hill where there's lots of dead ends is not ideal. Eventually we walked back to the start and with the help of the iPhone gps, we found our way back to wash our hands and go to bed.