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Where's Mike?
Section 25: Italy 2006--Part due
Click here to see Section 24: Italy 2006
 Friday November 3rd
Pompei, Italy:
A lazy day of putting away gear, cleaning the rig, and
stocking up on food/wine in preparation of the girls arrival.
On
the advice of the campground host, I left for the airport one and half
hours before the forecasted flight arrival...even though it is less than a 30 click drive.
Happily, traffic was not as bad as typical so I arrived with 30 minutes
to spare before I saw Arden and Lyn, her winemaking friend from Canada.
We piled in the MoHo, quickly got lost in the
maze of Naples,
 and
spent an hour doing slow, disorienting,
laps before finding the autostrada which took us quickly to our campground in Pompei.
I already knew that driving
in Naples is insane! I now know it's even worse after dark, regardless of
the arrival of two navigators.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 10.5e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 3.5e
Food/Drink: 97e
Supplies: 15e oil
Misc: 0
Odometer: 122774
Saturday November 4th
Sorrento, Italy:
Having seen Pompei last year, I spent a few hours re-packing the rig to
accommodate all the girls stuff (and a boat load of new books that Arden
brought over for me!) where it could be securely hidden from view,
while they headed into the ruins for a few
hours. Jet lag had them
awake by 04:00, so they were itching to get out.
When they returned from exploring the ruins, or at
least partially, as a thorough exploration could take days, we headed out of town along the
Gulf of Napoli on SS145 to Sorrento. The cold front which swept in over
the past couple days gave us mostly clear skies despite the unseasonably cool temperatures.
This slow, twisty, and hilly drive is quite scenic
and I would have loved making multiple stops for photos, but the pullouts were few and far
between.
Once to Sorrento, we found
Camping Nube
d'Argetnto, which Arden had located on the web
earlier, and is also listed in my
Guide to European Camping.
It is the only campground still open at
this time of year or we never would have stayed. It is dirty, unkempt,
and expensive. The only saving grace is it's close proximity to
town...about a five minute walk.
After getting cleaned up, the three of us walked
into town to meet Clare and Sue, British friends of Arden's and Lyn's whom they
arranged to meet for a weekend of partying in Sorrento.
We started out with a glass of bubbly in the hotel
bar and then headed off for dinner. I had heard horror stories about
Clare, and her ability
 to
party, so, as dinner was wrapping up, I was thinking we were all going
to get off easy since we had only consumed a few bottles of wine so far.
No such luck. Out of nowhere our waiter shows up
with another red and pops the cork...still within reason, and, on our
way out, everyone was still walking a straight line. Unfortunately, Clare,
who may very well be the devil, then decided to drag us all out to
a piano bar for more drinking,
dancing, and general mayhem until after four in the morning!
The bar was GREAT! When we arrived it was crowded
with locals and the back dance floor was packed as well. Of course, one
lemoncello led to three lemoncellos, which led to lemoncello martinis,
which led to one am, which led to all of us stumbling our perfected
(some not-so), gyrations on the dance floor with the terrific bar staff and
few other remaining patrons, which led to the one man band playing till we
finally closed
 the
place down
at four am.
Tough girl to keep up with, but it was fun to try.
On the sidewalk outside, as we tried to
say our goodbyes, it became clear that Roberto was going to do his best
to woo Clare and Sue. We wound up walking them back (duh, not sure why
we weren't already doing that), with love-sick Roberto trailing the
entire way to their hotel where Sue finally, and firmly, told him to piss
off.
Poor Roberto left with his tail between his legs and a
mournful air about him, but personally, I have to admire the
Italian sprit all these guys
 seem to
possess...despite the lack of
any obvious success. :-)
Arden, Lyn, and I ultimately made our five minute
stagger back to our camp, but I have no idea how?
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 65e plus (60/3e for drinks & 45/3e for
groceries)
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 122804
Sunday November 5th
Sorrento, Italy:
Ouch. Any possible ambiguity regarding Clare's status as the devil has been solidified.
Slept till after two in the afternoon, and, apparently, scared all the
other campers away with our early morning, and noisy, return...all of them
were gone by the time we woke up...and, although everyone was hanging low, we
managed an evening walk into town to meet up with Clare and Sue. When
all the girls headed out for dinner (and some bubbly hair of the dog), I bowed out and
returned to the MoHo for a bowl
of soup.
Nothing else of much interest today except for a
surreal talking to regarding not having enough photos of myself in my
journal and that my snap-happy habit of taking candid photos is not
preferred over fully aware photography. I don't quite get it, as I think
I have too many pics of me already, and my theory on picture taking has
always been that film is cheap (pixels even more-so) and if I can get
one good shot out of a roll...it is a success. Regardless, I'll play
along, so the girls get credit for any shots of them/me while they are
here in Italy.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 0
Supplies: 0
Misc: Odometer: 122804
Monday November 6th
Sorrento, Italy:
To be fair, in addition to its close proximity to town,
Camping Nube
d'Argetnto also has some great views, over the bay of
Naples, of Mount Vesuvius... The bathrooms are still a sty, the showers
don't drain, and the dishwashing area could use a few liters of nitro
and a good shake.
So, we wandered into town, met Clare and Sue at the
hotel, snagged some tickets, and jumped the first ferry to
Capri...pronounced cap not cup, with light emphasis on the first syllable.
There are both high speed catamarans and hydrofoils
making the trip, and the time and money difference are negligible so the
only factor to consider is their departure schedule. We took the cat
over, and the hydrofoil back.
Arrival is on the north side of
the island in a busy, albeit small, harbor with touts lining the docks...ride
into town, guide for the day, worthless knick-knack? The possibilities
are endless.
Being a beautiful and warm day we chose to take
the 20 minute walk up the countless stairs into the heart of town, instead
of dealing with a bus or taxi. The coastal views, in addition to the steep and
winding alleyways, were quite rewarding, as was the coffee and
wine in the sunny Piazza Umberto. Being the
shoulder season, there were crowds, but they were tolerable. A great
time to visit Capri.
After our rest stop, we all took a bimble (an
odd English term for an aimless wander and/or window shopping) through town which was productive enough to produce a picnic lunch to go along with what
 snacks and wine I was
already
carrying.
Fully provisioned, we wandered down to the sunny
warmth of the beach on the south side of the island for a relaxing
afternoon of eating, drinking, and soaking up some rays. For me, this
was a perfect way to spend a day of my vacation!
As the afternoon waned, we grabbed a bus back up to
town, took another bimble, and then sauntered down to catch our
overbooked ferry...which barely possessed enough standing room on the
stern open deck.
As we are enjoying the sunset and stiff breeze from
the
 hydrofoil,
Lyn pointed out that some Japanese guy was taking my photo. That's odd. When he noticed that
we saw him, he came over,
apologized, and told me, "You are very handsome." I said, "You should
see me naked." but was wondering if I would wind up as his close and
personal "friend"
back in Japan!?
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 15e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 21e ferry to/from Corfu, 2e bus
Odometer: 122804
Tuesday November 7th
Agerola on the Amalfi coast, Italy:
We had discussed leaving by eight or nine in the morning so we could drive
the Amalfi coast (only open to MoHo's in the off-season), make it
through Salerno before rush hour, and get all the way to Paestum before
sunset and, until last nights bimble, calling for some mid-morning shopping,
we were all on track.
As the girls were on their shopping spree, and
saying farewell to Clare and Sue, I put stuff away, cleaned up the rig, and battened down the
hatches. As the driver, I was a bit stressed...as
I would prefer being in camp before sunset. Daylight makes it easier to
find a good spot to stay, easier to see the street signs (especially
since my MoHo's adjustable headlights are permanently in the down
position), and it is much more attractive and interesting being able to view the
scenery we are driving through...which is sort of why we're here! :-)
Anyway, Chuck and Lee, a couple of Californians who
struck up a conversation, and the inevitable note comparison on where we were both
headed for the day, pointed out to me that making it all the way to Paestum
would be difficult, but what does it matter? Just stay someplace else.
Duh, and I guess that is the beauty of having a MoHo you can just park
when you get tired of driving. There is no reason for me to be stressed if we don't
make it to Sicily on a given schedule.
When the girls returned, I ran into town to (not) use a
non functional WiFi connection, and then we headed out around the
Sorrento Peninsula. Not a long drive click-wise, but the nature of the
terrain makes it a very long drive time-wise. Beautiful though!
 
By mid afternoon we made it to the Amalfi
coast, almost killed each other, had lunch with Chuck and
Lee...whom we caught up to on a scenic pullout, and then headed
up the ridge to a campground I remembered from
last year.
Our new and improved plan is to relax and
not worry about making any specific destination as we travel,
but to at least make it there at a reasonable hour.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 108/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 3e internet
Odometer: 122868
Wednesday November 8th
 Paestum,
Italy:
We got a fairly early start this morning and, since we were WAY above
the coast and it was going to take a while driving down, I offered to do
the drive solo so the girls could enjoy the hike into Amalfi. I did it
last year and it was great despite the rain I had then.
I checked out of
Beata Solitudo, a fairly interesting campground, located
inside the ruins of a castle, with the entrance being the old gatehouse,
and headed down the hill to catch the girls in Amalfi.
Hard to believe it, but they ultimately fessed up
that they took the bus down instead of walking! More time for a bimble
in town, I guess? :-)
Happily we arrived at the very clean
and very comfortable beach-side
Camping Villaggio Dei Pini, located in Pasteum, before sunset
and enjoyed SEVEN bottles of wine throughout the evening! There
were so many bottles, and plates of food, it could theoretically be the
reason the legs on my TopShelf table Broke. Good times!
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 18/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 72/3e
Supplies: 25e cups/sponges/etc
Misc: 7e lemoncello gift
Odometer: 122968
Thursday November 9th
Paestum, Italy:
Last year I
blew past Paestum with other things on my mind. I am happy we took the
time to check it out during this trip.
The site is large, relatively flat, and has many
things to see. The most interesting are the three temples of Doric
colonnade (6X14 columns) with the southern-most one, Neptune, mostly
intact. Shy a roof and a few stones from the pillars, but impressive
none the less.
The other temples are also impressive, as is the
rest of the city and it's layout. Altars, monuments, and pools abound.
Worth a half day, especially if you tack on the museum. The girls did, I
didn't.
Another interesting thing about this area is that it
is located on the Piana del Sele...home to the buffalo providing the
milk which produces a large quantity of Italy's mozzarella.
Fresh mozzarella (best consumed the day it is made),
sliced tomatoes, basil, a drop of aceto balsamico di Modena and a pinch of salt
makes for a terrific lunch or snack!
Of course Pringles and a diet coke are another lunch
option... and, in the Italian spirit, these three girls left behind
some artifacts for the next intrepid explorer, budding architect, or
hapless tourist to discover.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 4e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 4e Paestum entrance
Odometer: 122968
  Friday November 10th
Paola, Italy:
Realizing time is flying, and Sicily is a long drive, we got
another relatively early start, enjoyed the scenic deviation around the
thick peninsula south of Paestum, and, once back on 18, made pretty good
time down the uninteresting coast to Paola.
No open campgrounds so we free camped on the
beach... arriving just in time for a sunset glass of wine. VERY windy,
and Arden (all of us, really) was wishing for a shot of Scotch by bedtime.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 45/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 0
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 123182
Saturday November 11th
 Tropea, Italy:
The strong wind, and rough camping for the first time, afforded a
restless night for the girls...free camping for the first time is always
a bit stressful. Of course I slept better than ever, knowing that any
boogie man would have to get past two people before making it's way to
the upstairs master bedroom.
Once up and going, we took the quite attractive
drive out on the Tropea Promontory extending into the Tyrrhenian sea,
and found it to be pleasantly undeveloped with a natural beauty to it.
In Tropea we wound up at the beach-side
Camping Marina dell'Isola,
essentially deserted for the season,
but it is located was directly across from the the
steps up into town.
Together we took a walk around town, admired the
views, enjoyed a church square overlooking the harbor, and then split up
for some solo exploration and shopping.
Tropea is a beautiful town, but sleepy at this time
of year.
Lyn and I met up a bit later for a glass of wine
with a large German tour group. The cafe was packed, but one 80 year old
guy invited us to join him at his table. I think was more interested in
having Lyn there than he was in having me there...of course.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 70/3e for 61l at 123187/563km
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 4e, 39/3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 123307
Sunday November 12th
Alessio, Italy:
Another incredibly twisted drive along the steep coast, but we managed
to perfectly catch the 12:15 ferry to Messina...just
showed up, drove on, and sailed.
We decided to sample some of the local ferry fare and
had a choice of deep fried breaded cheese or a deep fried breaded rice
ball. They actually LOOKED really good! I got the cheese and the girls
each got a rice ball and, to Arden's chagrin, the rice ball had meat in
it. Both tasted great, but I was left with a lead grease ball in my gut.
As soon as we docked we jumped on the autostrada
south to Taormina...which supposedly has several spectacular beaches.
Taormina is a essentially a resort town now, but the
ancient city is located atop Monte Tauro and affords an excellent view
of Mt Etna and a couple of bays below. In an attempt to find a place to
park, we drove up, and down, and around, for what seemed like an hour,
but were not able to find any parking near the town...and this is
arguably coming into the slow season in Sicily.
The one thing we DID see was a motorcycle wreck which,
despite the girls thinking I am morbidly disgusting for taking a photo,
I find interesting just because I don't see MORE of them. I guess the
Italian drivers are pretty good, regardless of how crazy they initially
seem to be.
We all would have been up for another night of free
camping, but last night's campground did not have a place to dump the
Thetford...and it was overdue. Stayed instead a bit north of Taormina at
Camping La Focetta Sicula
where we had a view of the coast, but, since they were working on the
seawall, it is sort of ugly right now.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 20/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 3/3e
Food/Drink: 2e and 7/3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 34/3e ferry to Sicily, 4e meds
Odometer: 123490
Monday November 13th
Mt Etna, Italy:
We got a late start and only made it to Giardini Naxos before finding
both an internet connection
and a great marina for a picnic lunch. As we enjoyed lunch, a large storm cell rolled over
Etna and past Taormina so, although we couldn't see the mountain, the
weather was fun to watch.
This marina would be a good place to overnight as it
is within walking distance of countless waterfront cafes and the
internet shop...in addition to having a good view of Taormina and, when
the clouds lift, Etna. However, with time ticking on their vacation
clock, a late afternoon decision was made to drive up toward the
mountain.
Before we got far, the sun had set and the rain
began dumping in buckets. Not a lot of fun driving, and the girls were
having an even worse time of riding in it, especially as we climbed to
cloudbase and became immersed in thick fog.
We wound up at a large turnoff and picnic area a few
clicks shy of the gondola car park. With the night black and scary from pouring
rain and soupy fog, the few cars periodically pulling in certainly
added to the free camp fright factor.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 20/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 27/3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 4e internet
Odometer: 123558
 Tuesday
November 14th
Catania, Italy:
The skies were clear and cold this morning and we were all very
pleasantly surprised to see that we had a great view of Etna right from
our camp. From the aged lava and autumn colors around us,
to the fresh snow mid-slope, to the steamy top...it was an attractive, and
exciting sight.
Inspired, we quickly packed up and finished the
short drive to the trailhead. As I tossed some things in my pack, the
girls went over to sort out the details on the gondola, jeep trips, and
the such.
Leaving the rig, I ran into Mike and Caroline, Brits
I had met in Croatia, who told me they attempted the trip yesterday but
were weathered-out. They did give me a bunch of info, which was all
confirmed by the girls; this is a costly tourist attraction that will
run 45e for the gondola up to where the "jeeps" take you a bit higher,
and then a guided walking tour takes to to a smaller crater on the
eastern flanks of the main crater.
 Wanting
to get a bit of exercise anyway, we saved some euros by choosing to hike
(~2 hrs) the gondola section and then take the "jeep" from there. To do
it again, I would take the gondola
 up
the less interesting lower slopes and then hike from the high station to
the
small, and active, cone. Skipping the guide will also save 7e and he
doesn't add anything anyway...no commentary, if you don't
speak Italian,
nor any additional safety, since the walking route
is marked by the park service. Too, getting away from the LARGE group
would be nice, although there will always be a few people around.
Regardless of how you venture up Etna, the trek is
well worth it!
We were lucky enough to have climbed through
cloudbase which produced a nice sea-like cushion of clouds as our
backdrop with the
occasional wisp blowing over the barren volcanic landscape.
Once the "jeep" dropped us off, there was a well
marked trail leading toward the nearest active cone...the steam of which
is obvious even from down at the
upper gondola station
As we approached the cone from the south, I thought
that was as close as we were going to get. You could now hear the
hissing, and see bits of molten rock being tossed into the air. Just
that was pretty darn cool, but then we began skirting the edge of the
spitting cone (One guy, who ventured a few meters up the cone for a
photo-op, almost got hit with a golf ball sized projectile!) to the NE
side where we could see the lava flowing out. Simply
 AMAZING!
:-)
We spent about 30 minutes mesmerized by the flow, and
getting to within 2 meters of still red lava, and 4 meters from
the fast flowing main stream. It was incredibly hot, exciting, and
scary! I got as close as I could, but it was just too hot to get close
enough to poke it with my walking sticks.
Just as were were leaving, and having to climb back
up the steep, rocky, high altitude, embankment, the wind shifted and
choked us
with the sulfurous steam which had been blowing off
to the east the past half an hour. Everyone was choking, just a bit,
and I was trying to sort out if I would be better staying put for a
while so as to not have to gulp air, or flashing out of it. The wind
change also started bringing those hot projectiles a bit closer, so I
skedaddled. :-)
Back at the gondola, the girls decide to buck up for
a ride down while I skied the loose volcanic rock that had been crushed
for the one ski slope. It was fast, and as I arrived, the girls were
just getting settled in the rig after their ride down and a bit of a
bimble around the parking lot kiosks.
Instead of once again having to drive through the
fog at night, like we did coming up last night, I suggested we stay up
top which would both enable us to enjoy daylight and fog-free morning
views, and avoid night time driving. My idea was vetoed on account of us
being too secluded, which it surely is, so we made haste down the
slopes.
We popped out the clouds just before Zefferana and
found a campground at dusk! Honestly, I was amazed we made it down so
quickly, but the girls had been confident. The campground, too, was a
little secluded so we drove into town to find a store, but it was a LONG
way down the hill. Now dark, we enjoyed a hellishly frustrating (I was
actually relaxed, and more than a bit amused) two hour entanglement in,
and around, Sicily's second largest city of Catania.
With both navigators working overtime we ultimately
made our way to the coast where
Camping Jonio welcomed us with open
arms.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 28/3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 22.5 truck ride up the hill and a guide
service.
Odometer: 123661
Wednesday November 15th
Finale di Pollina, Italy:
Camping Jonio
set us up with a camp site right on the edge above the sea, and the
sunny morning views were terrific. Since it was such a great spot and nice day,
the decision was made to laze the morning away here and leave for the
north coast at noon.
Reading in the sun was too hot if a swim was not
periodically tossed in. My kind of morning.
At noon, the plan to go inland to Enna was changed
to a trip south to Ragusa which was then changed to a trip north to
Cefalu. We wound up
driving about 3 autostrada hours (with a couple stops) past Enna and
onto Cefalu on the north coast. The girls did not feel up to free
camping tonight, so we found
Rais Gerbi about 15 clicks to the east.
Great camp spot and a nice little private beach we will check out in the
morning.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 30/3e
Fuel: 63/3e for 55l at 123633/476km
Tolls: 3/3e
Food/Drink: 8e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 123872
Thursday November 16th
 Finale, Italy:
Another nice day had the girls deciding on spending another night so we
could enjoy the beach and a swim. One of the most relaxing, do nothing,
days of the trip...although I did get some laundry done and we all
managed to waddle into Finale for a look-see.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 2.5/3e
Food/Drink: 49/3e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 123872
Friday November 17th
Cefalu, Italy:
In order to facilitate some more swimming, reading, and relaxing on the
beach, we asked for, and got, a late check out time. The water is fairly
warm, but by mid afternoon, the beach is in shadows.
In Cefalu, we contemplated parking on the wide
waterfront boulevard, where there were already a couple vans, but
ultimately decided to pay the 10e for a camper parking lot right next to
it.
Cefalu is a great place to bimble, sip wine, and eat
at outside café's. While the girls shopped, I found a great little wine
bar with a variety of sparkling wines by the glass. Heaven! A) I don't
have to shop, and B) I get to drink bubbly!
When they were done shopping, they wound up taking
me out to eat. Thanks again! We had some antipasto at one café and then
moved on to another for our main. Both were great, and that's one of my
favorite ways of eating out. The spice of life!
Being well lubricated, and not really finding any
"piano bars ala Clare", we made it home by midnight.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 46/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 15e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 123891
Saturday November 18th
Palermo Airport, Italy:
Around three in the morning Lyn and I (Arden is a heavy sleeper,
luckily!) began periodically waking up to the noise of street venders setting
up. VERY happy we did not chose to park on the waterfront where the
Saturday morning market will be! It was nice to be close to it, however, and
we all enjoyed a bimble and picked up some great things for lunch.
As we ate, the girls were contemplating their last day in Italy and seemed quite confused as to to where to
to and what to do. Hang out here for a while, make the short drive into
Palermo and party hard (I offered to abstain from drinking and get them
to the airport) until four in the morning, or just go find a campsite
and spend the afternoon packing up.
It was looking like we may spend a large part of the
day just deciding this, so I finally suggested something I had
planned on doing tomorrow after dropping them off...the Cathedral at Monreale.
Surprisingly, not only was the idea not rejected, it
was a hit! We quickly headed to Palermo and then followed the signs up a
very tricky one to two lane wide (still two way) road for 8-10 clicks
into the mountains SW of the city. Lyn had to get out and stop traffic
for me after a particularly insidious jam and Arden mentioned that she
would have been in tears if she were driving...I was crying on the
inside.
Arriving during Italy's long lunch break, we
wandered around the courtyard, had terrible lunch, with one sip of foul
wine, and some OK gelato before the cathedral was open for the
afternoon.
The photo does not do it justice, but the entire
place is covered with medieval mosaics. The head and shoulders of Christ
shown here are almost 20 meters high! Awesome, yes, as are the nave
mosaics depicting a series starting with the Creation, as God changes
his dark world to light and fills it with water, animals and people. Of
course Adam and Eve, and Noah's' Ark are obviously recognizable. Well
worth a couple of hours!
By the time we were done there, it was getting dark
so we headed to the airport for packing, showers, dinner, and
wine...although we kept it sane on account of our 03:45 wake up call.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 10/3e
Fuel: 0
Tolls: (1/3e)
Food/Drink: 35e
Supplies:
Misc: 1.5 Cathedral entry
Odometer: 124014
Sunday November 19th
Castellammare del Golfo,
Italy:
As decided, Lyn's alarm was ringing at 03:45, although I was already
awake as a result of the commonly fretful sleep of one who knows they
have
an early morning appointment. It took a bit longer to get moving than
anticipated, but I finally dropped the girls by four-twenty and
then headed back for a few more hours of sleep.
An
hour after hitting the road, the rain, which began after dropping the
girls, ended and it cleared to a beautiful day.
Instead of hitting a campground for cleaning up the
MoHo, I opted for a relaxing visit to the Zingaro nature reserve where I
enjoyed a nice hour long (round-trip), hike, a swim, and some sun...until the steep
mountains to the west shaded my rocky cove in the mid afternoon.
 After a great day, I backtracked a bit to
Castellammare del Golfo, found a nice place to camp right on the beach,
and had a FUN time going out and relaxing. A great old town (filled with
tons of little cafés, coffee and wine bars, and live music venues) extending out
on the harbor peninsula...Even on a
Sunday it was hopping! Will have to get back on some sort of a health plan soon!
On departure the girls left me the remaining 43e
left in the kitty for laundry, fuel, etc. So, by my calculations we came
out brilliantly! We each put in 270e (100/100/50/20e) for a total of
810, spent 800...which means 33 euros materialized out of the ethos! Or,
perhaps I forgot about a 10 or 20e deposit?
Regardless, anything within a few hundred bucks is
close enough for a trip like this. Not that it matters anyway.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 40e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 3e park entry
Odometer: 124102
Monday November 20th
Mozia, Italy:
Just how good is it to be wakened by horses running on the beach? :-)
Darn good!
It was early, and that gave me the incentive to hit
Capo San Vito, the most northwestern peninsula of Sicily. Difficult to
decide if it was more of a yawn or waste of diesel. Regardless, it is
worth a skip as the unattractive landscape, and resulting seascape, is
less than interesting.
After that diversion, I headed south along the west
coast...knowing, now, that there was an extreme urgency in dumping the
Thetford. Should have taken the girls advice the day before when they
told me I should head back to Cefalu, camp, clean, and sort things out,
after they left. The tank is full, hissing, and
going septic, but I refuse to just dump it in the trees--yet am unable to find an open campground.
 Wound
up following a campground sign out to a marina north of Mozia where it
was, of course, closed. I sniffed around, found the outside dump site,
and trudged the Thetford over. Darn. Failed to grab a photo for the
record and don't have the stomach for further description.
Found a great beach on the salt plains for the sunset and
a shower!
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 68e for 61l at 124188/525km
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 22e
Supplies: 3.2 screwdriver and bolts
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124285
Tuesday November 21st
 Mozia, Italy:
I had planned on doing the boat trip to Mozia Island today, but by 1pm
they were closed for lunch and at 3pm, when they returned from lunch,
they said they were closed for the day.
Instead I headed into town and caught the Museo Archeologico
Baglio Anselmi which is rumored to be great and have a spectacular
reconstruction of a Punic War Ship. Well, you be the judge. I've seen
mouths with more reconstructive surgery than this.
There were a few other nice things to see, however,
and the ships story IS fairly interesting. I just wish the "Rough Guide
to Italy" was a little less rough in it's descriptions and claims to
excellence.
The museum did put me in a frame of mind for a tour
of a Marsala winery so I spent a couple hours wandering around listening
to an Italian girl describe Florio. I caught a bit of it, and really
appreciated the tasting...although I have to admit, I am not a huge fan
of Marsala. I picked up a bottle anyway, since the tour was free, and it
will be good as something to sip on after dinner.
Although it was now late, I still had time to catch
the Museo degli Arazzie, solely made up of eight massive tapestries depicting the
capture of Jerusalem.
Shown is Vespian, leader of the Roman legions,
ordering Joseph Flavius, defender of Jotapada, to be set free. The
story, with each tapestry, is interesting and only took me about an
hour to enjoy.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 14e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 4.5e museums, 25e Marsala
Odometer: 124315
 Wednesday November 22nd
Mazara, Italy:
Incredibly strong wind and rain all night long and into the day.
Having missed my opportunity to visit Mozia
yesterday, I was at the ferry dock early this morning...just to have an
hour long wait as they decided if they were going to open today or not.
I guess the WX is fairly strong.
It was just to cold, wet, and windy to explore the
whole site, but the museum was very good. Lots of artifacts in good
condition and Il Giovanneto di Mozia is the main attraction.
Back on the main Island, I made the short drive to
Mazara and holed up in the rain and wind.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 50e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 3e ferry, 6e Mozia entry, 3e inet phone card
Odometer: 124361
Thursday November 23rd
Marinella, Italy:
At some point in the early morning, the rain ceased,
the wind subsided, and the MoHo stopped whistling and shaking. This
paved the way for a very sunny and warm day. I made a short morning
drive to Marinella and the ancient Greek site of Selinute (for all the
wild celery growing here) where I finally took the time to start all the
laundry, clean the rig, repair some things and complete a bit of general
maintenance.
Of course a campground makes this a bit easier, and
Athena Camping is not a bad place.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 14e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124396
Friday November 24th
Marinella, Italy:
Continued my repairs, washing, and drying under sunny skies. Everything working
out well except for bonking my head, and causing a significant slash in
it, while walking into the open window. Now I have lots of blood to
clean up too.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: --
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 0
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124396
Saturday November 25th
Sciacca, Italy:
I had planned on bucking up for Selinunte this morning, but the drive
into the gate gave me a great view of the main attraction. Hell, I have
seen plenty of piles of rocks the past 18 months, and this is close
enough.
It was a nice day...too nice for looking at columns,
so I hit the beach near Sciacca for a swim, some sun, and a bite before
finding a spot west of the (disjointed along the entire waterfront) port
for the night. I think it will be fairly dark here for viewing the
meteor shower. The thick sliver of moon may be the worst of the light
pollution.
Grabbing a nap to prep for the early day.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 20
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 38e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124445
 Sunday
November 26th
Eraclea Minoa, Italy:
In mid morning I dug out my lawn chair and planted it on the boardwalk
in the hopes of seeing a nice meteor shower.
The Tempel-Tuttle Leonids were forecast to peak at
05:45, but after three hours of star gazing nonsense I had only seen
two, which is not really any more than I feel I could normally see at
night. At least it was pleasantly warm.
I had been hoping for a repeat of the display of '69
as we again passed through a dense dust trail left in '32, but it was
not to be. Not sure if it was just the light pollution from Sciacca, or
perhaps simply the inevitable diffusion of the trail as we rush
though the cosmos?
Regardless, I snagged a couple more hours of sleep
and then took a walk from my quiet boardwalk up to town on this sleepy
 Sunday
morning. Despite the crazy jumble of the seaside, the views of the port,
marina, sea, and coastline, from the town
square are attractive enough for a quick
stop.
By the time I returned, it was already very warm so
I adjusted my plan. Instead of hanging out
here for the day and hitting the hot springs in the morning, I headed for
a swim at the beaches southwest of town.
Secca Grande is clean, deserted, and pebbly, but the
visual aspects were fairly uninteresting, so
another 10-15 clicks got me to Eraclea Minoa, yet another Greek site,
sitting above the coast on some cliffs that could work (?) as a nice
paragliding site if the wind would kick in a bit. The beach below, too,
was spectacular. Again clean and deserted, but this time framed with pine
forests and the grayish-white cliffs of the broad bay.
I took a long swim on this (almost) too hot of a
day, and then lazed the rest of it away with a book.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 2
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124497
Monday November 27th
Eraclea Minoa, Italy:
Once again very hot, so I decided to stay again for more swimming,
reading, and relaxing. Clouds did start to come in late in the day
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink:
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124497
Tuesday November 28th
San Leone, Italy:
Clouds and sprinkles force me from the beach so I head up the hill to
check out Eraclea Minoa. Despite the rain, the views are gorgeous and,
after enjoying the past two days basking in the sun on the sandy beach
below, I can understand why the Greeks built here.
I then drive on toward Valle dei Templi and hit a
very clean, organized, and car-free marina just below the site. Very
nice, and it looks as though there will only be one other MoHo and me.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 0
Supplies: 0
Misc: 2e Eraclea Minoa museum and site
Odometer: 124556
 Wednesday November 29th
San Leone, Italy:
Ancient Akragas was founded in 581 BC and protected by a massive
wall formed partly by a high ridge to the north (where the current city
of Agrigento sits) and lower ridge facing the sea to the south.
On this southern ridge, the city planners
erected a series of Doric temples for their various worship, recreation,
and governmental tasks, and now this Valle dei Templi is a major
archeological site and is incredibly impressive.
 The
grandeur of the place really makes photography a waste of time...as
there is just no way to take in the entire line of temples
at one time...and the massive, although never
completed, Tempio di Giove is the largest Doric temple known to exist.
Most certainly worth a full day of wandering around
both the western and eastern sections.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 23e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 6e Valle dei Templi entrance
Odometer: 124576
Thursday November 30th
Ragusa, Italy:
I took a slow, ugly, drive along a coastline decimated by industry until
I was sick of looking at oil rigs leaking goo, refineries pumping out
tons of waste, and plastic covered greenhouse after greenhouse. Finally,
I cut inland and up to Ragusa in the hopes of having a great meal at
il
Duoma. Arden had researched this as the best restaurant on Sicily, and I
figured it was about time for a fine gourmet meal.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 73e for 65l at 124761/573km
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 6e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 110 oil change
Odometer: 124763
Friday December 1st
Ragusa Ibla, Italy:
Ragusa is quite an odd town and is made up of two main sections...after
a large earthquake literally split the city in two.
The newer "upper" town was created along planned
lines in a grandiose fashion, but the smaller, older, and "lower", town
is grandiose in its own right, and rebuilt amongst its medieval ruins.
It is much more pleasant to stroll around in in addition to being home
of Il
Duomo Ristorante...in the alleyway right next to scaffold
covered Duomo.
Arden's research, which I am guessing consisted only
of reading The Lonely Planet's Guide to Italy, and which is also a lot
more than I have done, pointed to
il Duomo
Ristarante as the best gourmet dining experience on
Sicily. They were supposed to have a fixed price, five course, menu for
65e including wine. Well, things are never up to date and the menu I saw
was for either 75e for carne, or 85e for pesce. PLUS the cost of wine.
Regardless, I was going to do it, and decided on the 95e taster
including smaller amount of seafood appetizers and meat for the main.
All paired with carefully selected glasses of wine for another 45e.
Although the venue is pleasant, clean, attractive,
and exudes a certain "upper class" feel, the food is lacking. Not in
volume, but definitely in quality. If you are going to serve me raw
shrimp and scallops, make sure they are fresh. For God's sake the ocean
is only 30 clicks away! In addition to that complaint, the dishes, often
wonderfully presented on fresh basil, or chive, oil, were not freshly
assembled and left some of the puff pastry soggy. The local black pork
chop was grilled to perfection and scrumptious, but it was already
getting to be too many courses to appreciate this one VERY GOOD course
of the meal. The desert of an INCREDIBLE canoli (deep fried crepe-like
object stuffed with Ricotta) resting on a bed of almond gelato was
To-Die-For, but was unfortunately accompanied by a tray of little
store-bought, stale, cookies and flavored double hard Jell-O cubes.
The entire event left me a bit jaded, and I don't
see a "treat" for myself in the near future.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 179
Supplies: 0
Misc: 4e internet
Odometer: 124770
Saturday December 2nd
Siracusa, Italy:
A quick weather check on-line showed another quick send/receive on line to
check the weather....wind
light out of the NW and temps on the coast in the low 70's through Wed,
and maybe even Thursday. Then a slight chance of rain develops at some
point over the weekend.
With this in mind, I wandered back to the
unattractive coast, and found my way to Siracusa for the night.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 88e
Supplies: 0
Misc: 1e internet
Odometer: 124948
Sunday December 3rd
Peninsola Magnisi, Italy:
A wander around the old town of Siracusa is pleasant enough, but I had
no intentions on trying to leave town during the week. I was gone today.
 Decided to find the ugliest place,
on this ugliest of coasts, for camping tonight, so I made my way out on
a peninsula looking back on mainland's many oil refineries. This was the
best/worst I could do, but even at that was a bit disappointed to see
how beautiful the lights are after dark.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 0
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 124973
Monday December 4th
Near Cifelli Refuge on Mount Etna, Italy:
Again, the east coast of Sicily, at least from Catania south, is UGLY,
and, since I didn't have anything to look at, I was contemplating
either hitting the beaches of
 Taormina
or heading up to Etna for another look at that. The WX into I got a couple days
ago sounds great for either. Warm and light wind out of the NW.
When I got my first good view of Etna, I saw a huge
white cloud of sulfurous steam, in addition to another, darker, cloud of
ash filled smoke. This was a WAY larger eruption than had been happening
while the girls were here, so my decision was made!
I arrived at the south side of the mountain and then
skirted west, crossing the private rail lines, offering incredibly
scenic "Round the Mountain" tours, countless times.
121 took me through Misterbianco and Paterno where
the warning sirens were silent, yet obvious, and then I caught 284
through Adrano and onto Bronte, the only real town on the west slopes.
From the map, I had considered staying in Bronte, but the eruption is
taking place on the northeastern slopes and this seems to be an
uninteresting area with worse views (farther away) than I had
anticipated from the map.
I continued around to the north side and then headed
up the steep switchbacks of Etna North above Linguaglossa.
The one thing which suddenly, yet not quickly,
became apparent was the lack of cars. No cars overtook me on the entire
series of switchbacks! Not only that, but for the first 20 minutes, none
were coming down either. About the time I am realizing this, I see a few
descending. Then another 20, another ten, another few, another
dozen...all within the course of about five minutes. Odd. Even in
Mareneve, a tiny village high on the NE slopes of Etna, there were no
cars and no people out and about.
I continue almost to the Linguaglossa refuge and stop
for another shot of the dark gray smoke, and can now HEAR the volcano
going off! I am still, what I consider, a long way from the action, but
the occasional thunderous bang, underlying rumble, and the continuous
wheezing and sputtering hiss are telling me otherwise! I am amazed that
the noise level from this distance as high as it was when the girls and I
checked out the little cone last week!
One other car pulls into my little turnout...the
first I've seen not descending. Soon he turns and heads back down the
hill and I continue up a few more clicks to where there is SUPPOSED to
be a tourist info center, some shops, and the refuge, but everything is
closed and the only people around are five guys with a dump truck,
backhoe, and a few shovels. Oh, and four cops...which I think is WAY
over kill since no one is here.
The view of the eruption is great from here so I
stop for about an hour, have lunch, and watch Etna and the work crew,
before deciding to explore a bit more for an even better view.
I continue to the east side
and take the road spur to Cifelli refuge. Strange again. The sign said
it was open all year, there are lots of fresh tire tracks in the dirt,
the flag is still flying, the entry door is unlocked, although the next
door actually into the building is locked, the shutters are open, and
the place LOOKS like it is open for business! Things on the bar, chairs
around the tables, etc. The only problem is that NO ONE, nor any vehicle,
is here. Very strange.
I sat around about 20 minutes, contemplating
free-camping in the lot, but decided the view would be better about a
click down the road where I saw a rough road into the
middle of a large lava flow. It was perfect. Good view of the steam
and smoke and I could still hear the thing going!
As darkness set it, life became a bit hair-raising,
however! Without the sunlight, even with the almost full moon, there was
a very bright orange glow coming from the other side of the near ridge. Now
the hissing, popping, and periodic booms were seen in a new light as I
began to freak myself out about some major eruption happening....maybe
that's why the cars were driving down? Maybe that's why there was such a
large police presence? Maybe that's why I only saw ONE other
tourist car coming up the road? Maybe that's why the nearby refuge
appeared hastily
deserted? Out my bedroom window I kept a close eye on things through the
night.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0
Fuel: 0
Tolls: 0
Food/Drink: 2
Supplies: 0
Misc: 0
Odometer: 125134
Tuesday December 5th
Etna South--Gondola base, Italy:
Despite, or perhaps because of, my frequent wake-ups, I slept fairly
well last night. I continued to hea |