It was a quick 50 miles or so to the shores of Sicily from the Aoleans. We shaped our course for Cefalu which was the nearest town on the northern coast. The beach off Cefalu has a wonderfully sandy bottom and we weren't shy about dropping our hook right outside the old town. We visited the old Norman Cathedral and struggled up the Rocca, which is the giant rock overlooking the city.

Cefalu, Sicily

The tourist information office, when asked about anything that might be of particular interest to the kids, told us about a newly opened water park close to the Costa Verde hotel, a few miles down the coast. After our morning hike up La Rocca, a coffee and granita in the Piazza Marina, we rolled out the genniker for the short trip to Capo Plaia.

The water park was small but brand new and the girls had a ball. Cassie and Juliana had charmed the entire staff of the place and were ready to enjoy all the attractions, including the wave pool.

The highlight of the week was our visit with Vincenzo and Paola, and their children, Gloria (8), Bianca (7) and Alessandro (5) in their castle. That's right, the family lives in an honest to goodness castle know as Castello di Solanto near Palermo. We had gotten an email introduction to the family from one of Christina's old friends who is distantly related to the family and of course we jumped at the opportunity.

Sitting on Zia the night before, gazing up at the castle, we naturally speculated about what it was like. Of course we speculated on whether there was a dungeon in the basement or perhaps ghosts lurking in the halls. We were to meet the family in the morning and we were all pretty excited.

Castello Di Solanto

We discovered quickly that it was even more wonderful than we had imagined. We enjoyed a wonderful day of touring the castle, swimming in the castle pool, eating lunch on the terrace, and boating around the bay. We topped it all off with fantastic fish dinner at a nearby restaurant. During our day, we learned some history of the castle and the family. Originally, the castle was just one small asset that, along with much of the surrounding countryside and sea, made up part of the royal holdings in Sicily, and the Barony of Solanto.

One of the castle terraces

With the Normans in power, properties were awarded to noblemen that had distinguished themselves in the service of the crown. The Kingdom of Sicily saw many different monarchs from a wide variety of origins, and possession of Solanto followed the same pattern. The history of the castle itself goes back to the time of Arab domination of the Mediterranean in the early 9th century AD. But the castle itself was merely an afterthought, a defensive measure to protect the primary resource of Solanto, la tonnara or tuna station. As early as the 8th century BC, the Phoenicians had established the town of Solunto on the adjacent hillside, to support the tonnara's activities. Tuna fishing brought steady prosperity to the area, making it a highly sought after asset. The list of ownership is long, starting with the Phoenicians, and going through the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish and numerous kingdoms of the Italian city-states. It was even subject to frequent pirate raids by Ottoman forces during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Vincenzo, Paola and the kids

Tuna fishing was the largest economic activity for much of the time. They were killed on a massive scale. The migratory pattern of the huge fish follows a predictable path. They enter the Med through Gibraltar, where they follow the currents along the coast of Spain, France and western Italy, cutting west along the Aeolians to the northwest corner of Sicily, and around the southern coast on into the eastern Mediterranean. Huge net traps are set to herd them into the death chamber where they were slaughtered in vast numbers. It is fascinating to read about the laws and customs that determined how the catch was divvied every year and how these rules changed with the various rulers.

The original part of the castle dates back to the Arabs in the 11th century. The structure has been built, modified, destroyed and rebuilt time and time again. It is constantly under renovation. It is even more beautiful than a museum, in immaculate condition with the family's personal memorabilia, photos, coats of arms, paintings, ceramics, carpets, furniture, making it feel like a well maintained home as well as a castle.

When we departed for Trapani the next day, we were thinking of the old saying that every man's home is his castle. Well, our floating castle is different from most but we love it all the same.