Adventures With Harvey

Fascinating but Filthy!!!

Leaving Maratea and heading down the coast, we Travelling Woodies had one destination in mind: Sicilia! It was somewhere neither of us had been and was like a magnet drawing us in, however, on the way we needed to take a deep breath. It had been a hectic couple of weeks before and after the farm, lots of people around and we had been making the most of each day. A couple of beautiful sunny days were forecast, followed by some cloud and rain so we decided to take a breather and make the most of the sunshine while we had it. The Woodies found a deserted carpark just south of the little town of San Lucido, backing onto the beach, and there your faithful correspondent and his lovely travelling companion did repose and breathe out. She in particular spent time sitting on her beach towel, reading a book and working on her sun tan, and he enjoyed some puzzles and general battery recharge time (and also writing/posting the last blog).

The beach was about a 20m walk from Harvey’s front door and each evening was the most beautiful sunset, the fishermen silhouetted against the ever-changing colours in the heavens. Earlier in the day the sunbather had got chatting with one of the fisherman’s partners, I say chatting, as much as 2 people can with hardly knowing a single word of each other’s language. Anyway, around 8pm that evening your author had just put a couple of chicken legs on the bbq when who should wander over but one of the fishermen with a gift of fresh fish for our dinner. Needless to say that the cooked chicken was put in the fridge for future consumption and 3 of the most delicious fresh fishes were barbequed and duly eaten – it was melt-in-the-mouth stuff, we were once again blown away by the generosity of strangers!

Allow me to share one of my favourite Dad jokes…

“How fresh were the fish?”

“So fresh their next of kin haven’t been notified yet 😊😊😊”

The previous afternoon we discovered that the most recent fill of water tasted a little funny so your faithful correspondent hopped onto his bicycle to go fetch a few bottles of drinking water. San Lucido was actually a most delightful little town with a statue overlooking the harbour to ensure the safety of sailors as they departed.

So down the coast we went, gorgeous coastline with little villages and the most pristine looking water of the Mediterranean. We hummed and hawed about a stop at Tropea but in the end decided to bypass it in favour of catching the 4pm sailing from Reggio Calabria to Messina. It’s only 20 minutes on the ferry so hardly enough time to get out of Harvey onto the deck however it was well worth it, such a beautiful day and so exciting to be heading for Sicilia!

In general the further south you get in Italy the rougher things become. Average incomes would appear to be lower and the general look and feel of the place gets just that little bit scruffier. There also become fewer rubbish bins and on Sicilia in particular, you can’t imagine the piles of rubbish everywhere! The central area of most cities actually don’t look too bad so if you just drove to your hotel, wandered around the town, and left again, you probably wouldn’t notice. However, park more than about half a km out of town and the walk in will be gross, as well as most of the free places a Harvey might park.

Most of the time we’re pretty well on top of water & waste requirements, however we needed to get things sorted and ended up driving about 30km extra than we intended along with a couple of wild goose chases and the resulting backtracks. We finally rocked up to our overnight parking spot in Messina which was at the local football stadium. We didn’t explore Messina much because we heard there’s not much to see there and Sicilia has very many more interesting places to visit. With dogs barking and cars driving by it wasn’t our most peaceful night but it was safe and free and was fine for one night.

Our next overnight stop was the little town of Naxos because it was about the closest parking we could find for what probably became the highlight of our visit to Sicilia, yes we’re talking about Taormina. Sadly it was a rainy and inclement day however a few drops of rain doesn’t stop we hardy Woodies from getting on with our exploring. This day we split tacks for the ride in, team blue riding the bicycle and team pink catching the bus, Google maps telling us it was around 8km into town but up quite a long steep hill. Blue team rode the 8km, the last of which was up a very steep stretch, only to discover that google isn’t as smart as one might assume, and that a bicycle doesn’t go very well up steps! Not to worry, we’ll just change it to car mode and recalculate – a further 6.5km to ride and mostly up hill. Again, not to worry, your author really enjoys exploring by bike so off he went… uphill. Thankfully the bike is electric! Sometimes it's hard to know exactly where one is headed, however we knew Taormina was at the top of a hill, so if one is riding up, that must be the right direction. Looking up to the top I could see that there was a castle and perhaps a church so up up up I rode and sure enough, arrived at the church (the castle sadly being inaccessible). Can you imagine the tiniest little church carved into a rock formation meaning that the back wall and ceiling were made from bedrock, with the rest of the structure built around it? It really was something quite unique and your author was particularly pleased he had kept the bike nose pointing uphill as long as he did! Team pink had actually missed the bus and the next wasn’t for an hour so thankfully there was plenty of time to explore and partake in a delicious gelato before reconvening.

Taormina is the most delightful little town, very tourist-centric these days with many souvenir and retail shops in which to browse. It was still raining off and on as we walked up to the most famous attraction in town, the Greek Theatre. Built originally around the 4^th century BC, this structure had been modified, added to and rebuilt over the years following one or another of the frequent earthquakes and eruptions that afflict anywhere within a radius of Mt Etna. On a sunny day one has an amazing view of the aforementioned volcano but not today, it was cloudy and rainy and it was hard even showing Anita the church I had just cycled to because it was now shrouded in cloud. You’ll have to check out the photos of this theatre, just a staggering place which is still used for concerts. Even on a bad weather day it was a most awesome experience.

Somewhere towards the start of this adventure, we came across a piece of artwork in a shop window somewhere in France (neither of us can remember exactly where it was). It’s not often that we both fall in love with a piece of art but we kicked ourselves that we didn’t take more time and actually buy the thing. Would you believe we found another shop in Taormina with work by the same artist and, you guessed it, the exact same piece we’d seen almost a year ago. For reasons of budget, storage space and getting them home at the end, apart from a fridge magnet from each country we visit and a few other small items, we’ve bought very few souvenirs on this trip. But now we have a whale. For those of you who have visited our house you’ll know we have a whale theme happening (partly as a nod to the history of the town in which we live) so now we have one very special piece of whale art – when you come to visit us, I’m sure you’ll spot him in no time. He’s our one very special memento from what has been the most amazing adventure ever!!!

Heading south the next stop was Catania, the second largest city on the island. It seems there is no love lost between Catania and Palermo, our walking tour guide happily explained that most of the industry and tax base came from this part of the island where it was cheerfully collected and ‘eaten’ she said by the politicians in the capital. Again, the central area would have reminded you of other towns in Europe, a lovely central piazza with the usual cathedral, town hall etc. However, the 1.5km or so between Harvey’s park and the CBD was disgusting! Rubbish everywhere, street upon street of derelict and abandoned buildings, everything looking rundown and generally in a poor state of repair. Do you want to know what part of the uniform is on this island? A Fiat Panda. Yes, almost everyone drives a version, from the clapped out little boxy shape from the 80’s and 90’s right up to the latest model of this tiny, poxy little car. I’d say about one car in 5 on this island is a Fiat Panda and about half the cars in total are Fiats.

Speaking of which… probably about the only ones who would remember this would be my immediate family however my first ever car, purchased when I was a spotty faced 15 year old, was a 1973 Fiat 132, black. I thought it somewhat unlikely but secretly hoped I might see one somewhere here in Italy and, here in Sicilia, that’s exactly what happened. I actually heard it before I saw it and, believe it or not, 36 years later the sound of the engine was still familiar. We were parked in an enormous, largely deserted carpark, and this afternoon several cars were being loaded onto a vehicle transporter, including a little Fiat 132. This one was a couple of years newer and blue, however your author found it extremely nostalgic to come across his very first ever car.

Back to Catania our walking tour was excellent and we learnt plenty about the various natural disasters which had befallen the city over the last couple of thousand years. The most famous and recently catastrophic of which was the eruption of Mt Etna in 1669 – let me briefly tell you the story. The volcano is around 18km away from the town however shortly after the eruption a lava flow was observed heading straight towards the town. Some brave townsfolk tried to divert it away from town which they were somewhat successful in achieving, only to be beaten back by residents of a neighbouring town who believed the diversion would cause their homes to be destroyed instead. A few days later the lava arrived at the walls of the city however, initially at least, they were strong enough to withstand the flow. But not for long, eventually the city walls were destroyed along with most of the town they were previously protecting and around 20,000 people perished who could have survived had they fled in a more timely fashion. When the disaster was finally over, an additional 800m of land had been created where the lava made it to the shore line. Amazingly, the castle in town survived however, previously where a moat of sea water stood, now it was located around 1km from the ocean and with a moat of lava. It took around 8 years for the lava to cool. As with previous earthquakes and eruptions, the town was rebuilt and is now a wonderful example of baroque architecture, the cathedral and other buildings around the town square are magnificent. As is often the case we made friends with some others on our walking tour and enjoyed a delightful couple of hours exchanging stories with our new friends and slaking our thirst.

Syracuse was our next destination, and the Harvey park that takes the award for the filthiest in Sicilia. Although we were around 40m away, the smell from the pile of putrid garbage nearby was nausea-inducing should one find oneself mistakenly downwind! Having said that, it was a lovely walk into town past an enormous cruise ship welcoming its passengers back after a day checking things out. Right in the centre is a large and impressive ruin from… who knows… most probably the Romans or someone 😊. The streets and alleys are quaint and narrow and, again, there were a variety of retail and culinary delights with which to drain one’s wallet. Due to budget constraints we rarely eat dinner out these days however our evening in Syracuse was a treat because we, after much research, settled on the perfect place, not too expensive but the food looked exceptional. And we weren’t disappointed, the most wonderful local cuisine: beautiful pasta, caponata and fresh seafood.

The next day was, how shall we say, an error in judgement. One of the European motorhome websites we follow suggested a detour to Cavagrande del Casibile which was apparently a hidden treasure and well worth a visit. Despite some reservations, we decided to take the 12km each way drive which would be followed by a walk of around 45 minutes down into a canyon, enjoy a picnic and some sunshine there, followed by a walk back up the hill of around an hour. All of which sounds good in theory however the road to get there really wasn’t the sort of place that Harvey should have been taken. The main problem was a handful of extremely tight and narrow switchback hairpin bends which Harvey couldn’t get around in one go, so at each, the co-pilot needed to alight, stop any traffic, then assist the driver to complete his 5 or 7 point turn to get us around the corner. On the way back it was worse, with Harvey’s tow hitch (he’s American so we need to use the correct terminology) and (more problematically) his waste outlet hose, being scraped on the ground, luckily without any terminal damage as far as we can tell. The walk itself was lovely and the lunch spot truly spectacular however not at the expense of our mate Harvey, we need to look after him much better than that!!!

What turned out to be our final stop in Sicilia was the small town of Noto where we found another lovely big carpark to stay for a couple of nights. The day in between was Saturday 6 May and there was only one thing for it, our own little coronation party – Travelling Woodies style. There was a supermarket just around the corner so off went your faithful correspondent to fetch a bottle or 2 of fizz, some strawberries and cream, and other suitable accompaniments for such a salubrious occasion. With our red, white and blue outfits, NZ flag hung, laptop and speaker setup and BBC live stream happening, we settled in to watch the once (or perhaps twice depending on when you were born) in a lifetime event. You have to give it to the Brits, no-one does pomp and ceremony anywhere near as well, and the coronation of a King has to qualify as maximum pomp, even for them! We had several other friends in the UK and at home doing the same thing so we were able to have some video chats and exchange photos throughout the day, it was such a lot of fun!! A little later in the afternoon when those representing team pink had gone for a lie down, some Italian police turned up and told us and a couple of our neighbours (as best I could decipher given my non-existent Italian) that the carpark wasn’t for camping and all chairs and other paraphernalia must be put away, awnings retracted etc. We were allowed to park but not to camp. The timing couldn’t have been better as the coronation was pretty much over and it was time to wind the party up anyway. No problemo!

Our plan was to visit 3 other little hilltop towns in the south of Sicilia, then travel north-west to Palermo before completing the circuit back to Messina and away. However, after the hard time poor Harvey had yesterday and the word ‘hilltop’ implying more of the same we Travelling Woodies decided that we had done Sicily well enough, and it was time to head back to the mainland. All of what I described above only involved around 200km of driving so we made the call to gas up our LPG and head back towards the car ferry. It’s another large & deserted carpark beside a small football pitch and church, from whence your author is penning the latest edition you are reading. About half an hour after we arrived a herd of goats were shepherded through and off down the way, and again there are piles of rubbish everywhere, however we like it here. It’s right on the beach, we’re looking over the water at Reggio Calabria on the Italian mainland (where we’ll visit tomorrow) and having a little breather before the next stage of our adventure begins.

So on that cheery note we Travelling Woodies shall again bid you a fond farewell and send much love your way from just outside of Messina on the Island of Sicilia.

off for another day on the road - where will our next adventure be?!

Harvey's parking spot at San Lucido

sunset at San Lucido

statue on overlooking the port and marina at San Lucido

some local fishermen gave us some fish they caught that day - so fresh they were almost still flapping!

talk about delicious (and so was the fish😊)

Harvey on the ferry on his way to Sicilia

inside the little church on the hill at Taormina

Taormina, looking back at the church I'd just cycled up to

the Greek Theatre, Taormina

Isola Bella, on the coast at Taormina

brioche al gelato and stuffed croissant for an afternoon snack. Yum!

My very first car at the age of 15 was a 1973 Fiat 132, black. Here is a slightly later model but almost identical to the little car I haven't seen in almost 35 years!

Catania had a cemetary so enormous you really needed to cycle around it. Many of the graves were for the whole family and were beautifully presented and cared for.

the town square at Catania with cathedral in the background

we found a street food vendor :-)

this ruin started life as a Roman bath house, followed by a church and probably other uses as well. It's over 2000 years old.

anyone for citrus?

the waterfront at Syracuse

right in the middle of Syracuse is another enormous pile of rocks. Maybe it's Roman, or perhaps Greek. It's hard to keep up sometimes!

this cathedral was initially built by the Greeks in the 4th century BC, then the existing structure was built over the old one in 700AD. I think this is the oldest church we've been inside on this trip.

these column are from the original church, bult in the 4th century BC

most cathedrals claim to have the bones of some saint or other but most don't put them on display!

cute little Fiat Bambinos

the record for Harvey's most disgusting parking spot, there were massive piles of rubbish everywhere!

massive piles of rubbish everywhere!

this little guy was happy to pose for photos on our walk down to Cavagrande del Casibile

rock pools at Cavagrande del Casibile #1

rock pools at Cavagrande del Casibile #2

coronation party, Travelling Woodies style

our regal refreshments for the coronation party

long live the King!

the bronze mimic is back!

steps of the cathedral at Noto

the famous main street of Noto

this has to be the world's smallest ute - and they're everywhere in Italy. Inside can only seat one person and most have motorbike handlebars rather than a steering wheel!