Cefalù is a beach town east of Palermo, and we spent one night there. The town is sandwiched between a beautiful beach and an 885-foot-high rock. In the early 12th century, the Norman King, Roger II, wanted to move the Norman capital from Palermo to Cefalù. Palermo was the center of Norman power in Sicily, but the Catholic Norman king wanted to move closer to Taormina, to check the power of Byzantines practicing the Greek Orthodox religion. Roger died before he could relocate his government, but he did start construction of a massive cathedral. It was this cathedral was our main destination for our time in Cefalù, because of its reputation for having the most elegant mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in all of Sicily. Unfortunately, on the day we visited … 

… the mosaic was behind scaffolding and a curtain.

So we walked around the charming old center of town, and did some shopping.