Any hopes that our recent run of rather inclement weather might be over by the time we reached Sicily were quickly dashed – no sooner had we boarded the ferry for the short crossing from Calabria to Messina in Sicily’s northeast, than the rains started again. The morning had briefly looked somewhat promising but as we drove off the ferry into the crowded streets of Messina, it was raining heavily enough to dash any hopes we had of some sightseeing around the city. Beyond Messina, the plan for Sicily was pretty straightforward – start in the northeast of the island and head clockwise around it, taking in as many of the sights and attractions as we could, ending up in Palermo on Sicily’s northwest before taking another ferry on to Sardinia, the timing of which gave us almost 2 weeks here and just over two weeks there. With Messina somewhat of a write-off we headed directly south for one of Sicily‘s big drawcards, the historic coastal city of Taormina.
The drive south was a real nailbiter with the “highway” ( and I use the word very loosely ! ) at many times, running right through the middle of some very small towns where there was just enough room to pass vehicles coming the other way ( should you ever come to Italy, rent the SMALLEST car you can find ! ). Henceforth we will be taking the autostrada a little more often ! An old stomping ground of famed Irish poet Oscar Wilde, Taormina has attracted visitors for centuries – on the day we were there two large cruise ships were docked so the streets were absolutely packed. Good for the ambience, but made getting around somewhat challenging. Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the rains had eased.
Taormina sits high up on a cliff with breathtaking views up and down the coast. Camping is next to impossible in the town so we parked south of the city in nearby Giardini Naxos, and it was here we met a couple of quite remarkable Canadians travelling around in a van like ourselves. I say remarkable because Wendy and Graham are 80 and 81 respectively and have been roaming the globe in different overland vehicles for much of the last 20 years. They head home to Canada for part of the year , storing their van in various locations around Europe and other parts of the world as needed. Fascinating couple, and they shared some interesting tales from the road with us in our short time together. They were headed off to Greece, ironically to store their vehicle at the very same place we had used just a month earlier.
With the exception of one last day of poor weather ( which ruined our visit to Mt. Etna), the rest of our first week in Sicily saw the weather ( finally ) improve – bright sunshine greeted us in each of gritty Catania, stylish Syracuse, historically baroque Noto, and also while admiring the amazing Roman-era mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale. When you have missed the sun for a while, it’s amazing what sunny weather does to replenish your travel energy !
In addition to its natural beauty, one of the added benefits of travel in Sicily is that the cities are small and everything is so close – nice to be spending more time “doing” and “seeing” and much less time driving !
Till next week…
