Drove down to Reggio di Calabria this morning (the toe of the Italian boot), to catch the ferry across to Sicily. We did the usual unintended scenic route when leaving Briatica. Jenny GPS directed us to an onramp onto the autostrada that was having a refurb and was completely shut down, so after many detours and two hours of driving through some pretty countryside, dodging tractors and other farm related implements, we finally hit the autostrada. Although the autostrada was no quicker than the country lanes that we had been driving down previously, due to roadworks. But we did manage to catch the 1pm sailing of the ferry across.
We have heard that one of the presidents here has promised to build a bridge between Sicily and the mainland. A huge undertaking. Not sure if the towers that we saw were the start of it, but if they aren’t, they make a good story anyway.
We crossed over to Messina at the cost of 12 Euros. It was very cool being out on the beautiful blue water. Unlike home, the water here really is blue. After 40 minutes sailing we drove off at the other end (we’re now on the ball), and drove on to Taormina. The intention was to stop and have a look around, but this is another one of those medieval towns where entry by cars to the centre is forbidden and parking is a nightmare. So we drove up the hill and got a few photos and then moved on. An extremely pretty place though. You can understand why it is a regular stop for the cruise ships, of which two were in the harbour the day that we were there.
We drove the 50-60kms from Taormina to Catania and found our Hostel, without too much problem. They take their security here pretty seriously with the car locked in behind two sets of double doors and the windows to the room have steel plate shutters to close over them. But beneath the grubby exterior street façades to the buildings there are some hidden gems. You see people open these huge thick wooden doors to park their cars and you are likely to see a beautiful courtyard with statues and fountains, or perhaps you might see a panelbeaters workshop with a spray booth included. It’s like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get.
We went for a walk after we arrived and found the Basilica and some old Greek/Roman ruins of an amphitheatre. The Basilica has been built on top of the existing foundations of the original church that dates back to the third century (you can still see the original foundations). Not sure if it is this church or the one across the road that holds the remains of the cities patron saint, the young virgin Agata. According to the story she ‘resisted the advances’ of Quintian and was horribly mutilated for her troubles.
But before we went there we walked in the opposite direction and came across an area set up with card tables, with groups of old men playing cards and spectators standing around having their evening catch up. We stood back a bit to watch, and one old man made a point of coming over to us and rattling off every form of ‘Hello’ and ‘Good Evening’ to us in Italian (of which there are quite a few) and then shook hands with us both. And this is something that we have noticed about Sicily, that despite their reputation as depicted in movies, despite the grubby exterior, they always seem to go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Our first impressions of Sicily are good ones. We haven’t seen anyone in a pinstripe suit carrying a violin case yet, although we did see a fat kid get off a bus with a tuba case … hmmmm … wonder what he was up to :-)
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