Huge fully loaded container ship passing between the toe of Italy and Sicily dwarfing the ferry ahead of us!
From half way down the 400 meters we pushed our bikes up yesterday!
The landslide a day later, quite dramatic at the time.
Capo Vaticano
Monday 15th February
Coccorino to Giardini Naxos. Sicily
Back down the mountain in next to no time and on to yet another train towards Villa San Giovanni which is where the boat to Sicily crosses. We both felt bad about giving up on cycling down this coast but the forecast is much better on Sicily and we hope that the roads won’t be so crowded.
It was rather exciting boarding the ferry once we had been back and forth to get the correct tickets for us and our bikes. Some really smarmy police gave me a real once over as to why and where we were going in Sicily and told the ticket man I didn’t need bike tickets. But then the next fellow told me we did and on it went. Finally we had parted with the enormous sum of 1.50 euros each for us and 5 euros for the bikes for a 30 min boat trip. Pretty good price really.
The ferry also carries the ‘local’ train, usually 2 carriages long. It simply drives onto the boat on it’s rails straight into the hold. I would have taken a photo but as bikes are classed as cars on ferries I was in a long line of vehicles and have learned that Italians don’t stop for anyone especially cyclists wanting to take pictures.
We were able to buy my new favourite food to eat en route; ‘Naranjinos’ are the size and colour of an orange, but they are served hot and inside the deep fried crusty outside, there is a risotto trying to get out filled with mozzarella, tomatoes and everything else the chef couldn’t get rid of the night before. Really delicious and probably at least 2000 calories!
The sun was shining - Hurrah so we sat on deck with all the smokers and once on Sicily caught the train as it was getting dark to make our way down to Giardini Naxos which is just south of Taormina. A gang of young people piled on to the train beside us, all dressed in fancy dress so we thought they must be doing a performance somewhere, as they sang a lot. Just before we got off, they started chatting to us and it transpired they were going to the St Valentine’s carnival in Catania. They were a really nice bunch and one girl paid Alec the rather backhanded compliment of ‘when I’m old I would like to be just like you’! We think she meant the going off on a trip, unless it was our appearance! They spoke a mixture of Spanish and Italian and we never did gather where they originated from. They tried to persuade us to go to the carnival with them but common sense prevailed and we had a dull dinner on our own. How boring we are!
The temperature here is about 5 degs higher than on the mainland and we are staying in a pretty little hotel overlooking the beach.
Coccorino to Giardini Naxos. Sicily
Back down the mountain in next to no time and on to yet another train towards Villa San Giovanni which is where the boat to Sicily crosses. We both felt bad about giving up on cycling down this coast but the forecast is much better on Sicily and we hope that the roads won’t be so crowded.
It was rather exciting boarding the ferry once we had been back and forth to get the correct tickets for us and our bikes. Some really smarmy police gave me a real once over as to why and where we were going in Sicily and told the ticket man I didn’t need bike tickets. But then the next fellow told me we did and on it went. Finally we had parted with the enormous sum of 1.50 euros each for us and 5 euros for the bikes for a 30 min boat trip. Pretty good price really.
The ferry also carries the ‘local’ train, usually 2 carriages long. It simply drives onto the boat on it’s rails straight into the hold. I would have taken a photo but as bikes are classed as cars on ferries I was in a long line of vehicles and have learned that Italians don’t stop for anyone especially cyclists wanting to take pictures.
We were able to buy my new favourite food to eat en route; ‘Naranjinos’ are the size and colour of an orange, but they are served hot and inside the deep fried crusty outside, there is a risotto trying to get out filled with mozzarella, tomatoes and everything else the chef couldn’t get rid of the night before. Really delicious and probably at least 2000 calories!
The sun was shining - Hurrah so we sat on deck with all the smokers and once on Sicily caught the train as it was getting dark to make our way down to Giardini Naxos which is just south of Taormina. A gang of young people piled on to the train beside us, all dressed in fancy dress so we thought they must be doing a performance somewhere, as they sang a lot. Just before we got off, they started chatting to us and it transpired they were going to the St Valentine’s carnival in Catania. They were a really nice bunch and one girl paid Alec the rather backhanded compliment of ‘when I’m old I would like to be just like you’! We think she meant the going off on a trip, unless it was our appearance! They spoke a mixture of Spanish and Italian and we never did gather where they originated from. They tried to persuade us to go to the carnival with them but common sense prevailed and we had a dull dinner on our own. How boring we are!
The temperature here is about 5 degs higher than on the mainland and we are staying in a pretty little hotel overlooking the beach.
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