Messina to Tropea 5 July

Left Messina early in the morning to get through the famous Messina straits in less wind than when we entered. The sea was much much better and on,to a bit choppy.

Goodbye to Messina. Now to tackle the famous whirlpools!

The left side of the strait.

The right side (mainland) side of the strait. Went very smoothly. 

Next stop a most wonderful place, Trocea. The marina with the town in the background.

The town is build on a high rock/cliff. 197 steps to reach the town.

Apparently this area is known for read onions. And red anions were certainly in abundance. Tried said with red onions and they were nice and mild in taste.

Another view of the town.

View of our Marina from the town.

A street in the delightful town.

View of one of the many beaches.

Some sort of festival.

Beautiful boutiques in the town. Wonderful Italian design. Even the policeman seem to be in design clothes. Knee high leather boots! Did not manage to get the boots in the photo.

Trocea is a wonderful place and well worth a visit. We were there on a Sunday and it was full of tourist, 95 percent Italians. 

Messina 3-4 July

Left Riposta at about 9 expecting a calm trip to Messina, but ended up in a boiling sea and strong current. Leslie kept her head under the towel all the way. Entered the marina de Neptuna at about 14.30. Ferries and boats passing the marina all the time making continuous swells. But, after a little exploration we find that Messina is a pleasant town.

Passing the hillside town Taormina on route.

Safety in the marina at Messina with the mountains of the Italian mainland in the background.

Two enormous passenger ships slipped quietly into the harbour this morning.

Carl having an Italian haircut in Messina.

After the haircut we set off the hire a car to travel down the coast towards Palermo and up to the mountains. Found an Avis car hire but would have had to return the car by 1 pm and it was very expensive. Decided to take the train to Taormina instead.

Train to Taormina. At the station got free and unasked for advise from an American, with roots in Sicily, about which bus we should take. Turns out she was holding the timetable upside down and we missed the bus we should  have taken. Met Jimmy, from Ireland, who had lived in Africa  for many years.

Taormina is a beautiful but 100 percent tourist town  high up on the mountain.

An archway in Taormina 

After a trek through the town we found a suitable restaurant with a view.

And good food.

After lunch, down to the beach.

Relaxing Italian style.

A beautiful station at Taormina.

Jimmy spent the whole day with us. He got stung by jelly fish. Jimmy spent many many years in South Africa and Botswana. At the moment he is a crew on a mission boat, Next wave. We were invited on board for supper and met the Dutch captain, his wife and 6 other crew members. Very interesting. 

Riposta to Syracuse by train 2 July

Up at sunrise to catch the 6.22 train to Syracuse. Looking so forward to visiting this town.

Riposto is the most southern place in Italy for LelleBelle. The furthest south we have been with LB was when we rounded Ag Sunnion on the Attica peninsula in Greece. That was 5 NM more south than Riposto. Syrakusa will be the furthest south we visit on the Mediterranean leg. It is 40 NM south of Riposto. 

Early morning view of Mt Etna and Carl.

Peter has been talking about getting a haricut at a barber shop by  singing thin-moustached Italian hairdresser. This enthusiastic toothless gentleman without the thin moustache promised to arrange the barber to come promptly, within 5 minutes, so we waited but time ran out and Peter has to look scruffy for a few more hours, days?

In memory of a journalist killed by the Mafia. This sign was at the entrance to the archeological museum. 

Visited the Archaelogical park, Greek and Roman period. We met a tour guide on the train to ?Syracuse. She was Polish, living in Italy. Gave us a lot of tips and directions of what to do.

Most of the park was an enormous quarry. Here the cemetery graves. 

The bottom of the quarry is now a tranquile park with exotic trees and other greenery like bamboo. 

One of the highlights of the archeological site is the Dionysis Ear. A massive man made cave with enormous dimensions and very special aukoustic 

Inside the ear. We are unsure as to whether they started quarrying from the top or the bottom.

Outside the tomb of Archimedes

At the technical park displays of Archimedes genius was demonstrated to us by Elena and Giovanni

The principle of Archimedes. Eureka!

In the old town of Sirakusa we found the cathedral  St Lucy. (Santa Lucia in Swedish. The famous painter Caravaggio  captured the sad moment of St Lucia's death on a painting in the church. 

The St Martin church is built on the remains of a Greek temple. Two pillars from the Greek temple are still standing.

Hot, hot, hot! Drinking granite limone on the steps of St Lucy.

A selfie of the travellers on the waterfront of the Oritigia, Syracuse.

Antipasto at the restaurant Athene. Restaurant was recommended by the man who cared for the toilets at the Archaelogical park. Turned out to be fantastic, reasonably priced and great service.

Grilled Swordfish and gambo as secondo. 

The staff at Athene were so concerned about us enjoying the meal.

Rocella Joanis to Riposto, Sicily 1 July

Spent two nights in the Marina in Rocella Joanis. Decided to stay, partly because of wind predicted between the mainland and Sicily, partly to check the turbo but mostly because Rocella is such a lovely, friendly relaxed town.

We plan to travel 10 hours today to Riposto on Sicily. Preparations for the trip, Pete making breakfast, Leslie hoping for calm waters

Leaving Rocella Joanis at 5.30.

Unbelievable, calm sea almost all the way.

The Guardia Costiera patrolling the coast.

The southern most point of mainland Italy. The coastline from Rocella was very pretty, many small towns.

And as we left the mainland we spotted Mt Etna

Getting closer to Etna.

Relaxing in the marina in Riposto with Etna in the background.

Went to look for a laundromat in Riposto, passed the fish market on the way.

Found the laundromat, the station and some lovely old houses, but in need of some paint and repairs.

The beach and a refreshing swim in Riposto.

At 21.30 when we finally went out to look for supper, the church bells started ringing crazily and fireworks espxploded. We heard that they were practising for a festival on Sunday. Maybe the same as in Rucella where they told us there is a festival the first Sunday in July, 

After yet another excellent pizza, excellent ice cream!