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Published: March 9th 2010
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Capo Vaticano
Island of Stromboli in the far distance 27/28th Feb.
We stopped at a campsite near Tropea on our way to the ferry to Sicily. We had only intended a one night stop, however the coastline was impressive and we took an extra day and cycled out to the headland at Capo Vaticano where the views were superb. The entrance to the campsite was a 1 in 10 hill which was incredibly narrow with hairpin bends. Upon arrival the owner saw the worried look on my face and explained that they close the barrier at the top of the hill to allow you and unhindered passage back up as if you met another vehicle it would take a week to sort it out. I might have looked a bit stressed as we had also come through an old hilltop village with tiny roads and if you drive Campers or caravans you’ll know that once you are so far into the road system retreat is not practical and not knowing how much tighter or perhaps impossible the road will become does get the adrenaline flowing.
1st March
Taking the ferry to Sicily proved pretty straightforward as we simply headed for the port and saw the ticket office
Costa Verde
View from campsite. (near Tropea) on route, stopped and got a return ticket for 65 euros, then straight onto one of the numerous boats for a 20 minute crossing to Messina. We headed for a campsite at a fishing village (Santa Maria La Scala) near Acreale where we were parked on a cliff edge overlooking the Mediterranean and the tiny port. As luck would have it we met a Danish couple who had just spent the last 6 weeks on Sicily and gave us some great information on what to see/where to camp etcetera. We put this info. Straight to good use and moved up to a camper stop for motorhomes only near Taormina. It was a great spot with plenty of other Motorhomers for company and at only 5 Euros per day is the best value site we have had on this trip. With Mount Etna as our backdrop which is snow covered from about 6000ft upwards it was a great spot.
4th March
Still at the Camperstop we took the local bus to Taormina which is an old town perched on a cliff over the bay. We had a stroll round the sights in the sunshine and then Pizza and wine
for lunch. Buoyed up (aka intoxicated) we decided to follow our guidebook and found the steps leading up to the Castillo Saraceno which sits on a prominent hill high above the town. It certainly worked off the Pizza as it was about 300 metres of climbing and our reward were some great views across the town below and Mount Etna in the backdrop.
5th March
We travelled to Siracusa and stayed in a camperstop which was pretty much a car park in the middle of a housing estate, added to this it has been raining non-stop all day so it didn’t give us a great first impression. Despite the rain we took a stroll to the old city of Siracusa (Ortigia) which was full of very old buildings hidden in a maze of twisting alleyways. Being a Saturday afternoon all the shops were closed and the place was like a ghost town, so we went back to the van to dry off. Unfortunately after two weeks of really good weather the forecast was for heavy rain for the next few days and as it was pouring all day on the Sunday and into Monday we decided to leave
our car park location and headed for a camp site near Avola on the East coast. It’s still raining persistently and Liz is getting pretty bored sitting in the van doing not a lot. She has even made up our miniature fish tank (see photo) and is considering building our ship in a bottle kit which was reserved for emergency boredom only. It is still forecast to rain tomorrow (Tuesday) but as we are running low on supplies we will have to get kitted up and walk the 4 kilometres to the nearest shop, so you see it’s not all sunshine and leisure.
Ps Although we had heard about Italian driving it has come as a surprise just how the Italians behave on the roads. I have made a list of the most notable differences compared to the UK. It seems to get more deviant the further south we have travelled, what is most surprising is that the police are completely oblivious to it all.
Top 10 Italian driving observations
1) The wearing of seat belts is discretionary.
2) Maximum number of passengers is also discretionary.
3) Red traffic lights should be regarded as a filter lane.
Capo Vaticano
Island of Stromboli in far distance 4) Courteous behaviour towards other road users is unacceptable and should be treated with contempt.
5) Children and pets are encouraged to get into the front of the moving vehicle to learn firsthand their future driving skills.
6) Crash helmets on scooters are only required once you are over 25 years of age.
7) Be aware that oncoming buses never slow, now matter how narrow the road.
8) Always use predictive text whilst driving as you can send and receive more easily.
9) Cars should not drive the wrong way down one-way streets, unless reversing. Two wheeled vehicles are exempt from this rule.
10) When overtaking on a blind bend it’s best to consider yourself immortal.
We can honestly say that all the above have been witnessed many, many times in the last few weeks. You have to experience it to believe it!
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Mike Cartwright
non-member comment
Hi Alan and Liz Taormina looks lovely , just the kind of place Fiona and I love ! You're spot on about Italian drivers , we were also convinced that all Italian cars had no indicators fitted ! And Italians park by bumping their way into their chosen gap ! Hope you've found a suitable bar to watch the Calcutta Cup : 3 nil to Scotland after 14 mins...... Shit , 3 all now ! (Damn that Jonny Wilkinson!!!) Love Mike , Fiona and Rory xxx