It was Monday last week, and on our way back to Polizzi after spending an afternoon in the lovely old seaside town of Cefalu, we (my travelling companion and I) past Bar Santa Lucia not far out of Cefalu on the SS113.

The bar is just after a bend in the road which gives one of the best views to this charming town.

Bar Santa Lucia was busy as usual and I wanted to stop. In fact, I have been wanting to stop at Bar Santa Lucia many times over the years and never have.

The temperature was still hovering around 30 degrees C and a gelato seemed like a perfect antidote to the heat of the Sicilian summer.

A classic villa and a long standing cafe

We overshot the bar, noticed a majestic villa nearby and did a u turn. We pulled into Santa Lucia's dirt carpark and in behind the carpark, next to the rail line, stood the villa. It faced the sea.

The doors were recklessly ajar, no one was in sight. What a lovely example of Sicilian architecture when villas were built with confidence and perfect detail.

I would love to just wander the rooms of this lovely building.

We entered Santa Lucia; cabinets were filled with wonderful looking Sicilian sweets: cannolo, richly decorated cakes and cassata plus more; I took a few photos.

It has been operating in Cefalu since 1950.

An older couple ordered a tray of extravagant dolce to take away and people were enjoying gelato at the shaded outside tables.

Cool relief

I ordered an amarena gelato (top left in the gelato snap below) and my travelling companion, a Sicilian nougat. Both were delicious and the perfect letup from the heat.

We headed back to Polizzi and when we arrived in the village the cooler temperature of the Madonie Mountains was welcomed.

As I finish this blog in Polizzi the door to the room I am in is open and I can hear voices singing in the small church of Sant'Orsola, in the tiny piazza next to the house.

A note: Bar Santa Lucia is part of Hotel Santa Lucia Le Sabbie D'Oro

Salve,

Suzanne

Edited 7/7/2016