We have been off the boat for the last three
days and we have discovered that driving in Sicily is more frustrating,
worrying and dangerous than sailing has ever been! But perhaps I better go back to the beginning.
By last Thursday we got most of the preparation
of the boat done. Richard got the
last of the lines off including the lazy jack lines, the main sheet and
swapping over main halyard, so the old one is being used to hold up the
passerelle. I got the washing done
(though I did leave a few things over, which I shall have to take home) and I
cleaned out all the food cupboards, getting rid or all my spare food. Then we wrapped all the winches and
spare lines up in plastic bags and taped them closed to stop sand getting in.
We were now ready to get the car. The idea to pick up a car at Catania
airport turned out to be a big mistake.
Richard had made enquiries locally about hiring one here and returning
it to the airport. They wanted a
75 Euro charge for that and Richard decided that was too much. He also went to a cheap website to find
a car. He had a terrible time
collecting the car. The two bus
rides took over 2 hours with a half hour wait between buses. Then he had a two hour drive back,
making a total trip of nearly 5 hours!
After taking bus fares in to account, 75 Euros would have been well
worth it to avoid that journey.
Also when he got there he found that he had hired from rent a
wreck. The car is awful. There are at least 4-5 bashes in it, it
is rusting at the front and the offside wing mirror fell off! But he said he was just too tired and
anxious to get back in daylight to do anything about it. You live and learn.
We finished off the last jobs on Friday morning,
packed up and went on our way. It
was quite a long drive to Taormina, but fairly uneventful. Driving around Taormina was a bit
fraught, with restricted access to the roads, but it was very well sign-posted
and the signs took us to the hotel, albeit in the most round about manner to
avoid the pedestrian streets! The
hotel is very smart and they took the car away to park, much to our relief.
We had a lovely two days walking all around
Taormina, which I really do remember from our last visit over 6 years ago. We spent both late afternoons by the
pool cooling off. We had our posh
two Michelin star dinner on the second night.
Then we were off to Ragusa. This was where we discovered our travel
plans were not so clever. The
journey from Taormina to Ragusa town was very difficult. We did not have a proper map and it was
much longer than we expected. It
was not helped by a half an hour queue to get through the toll booth just
outside Catania! We did stop for
lunch in Noto, a beautiful Baroque town and had a little walk around. We did not want to eat much because there
was to be another 2 Michelin star dinner that night. We tried to follow the road signs out of Noto to Ragusa, but
we were sent off the route by a diversion. We misunderstood the diversion signs and after an hour wound
up back in Noto!
We did finally get to Ragusa, but then we had a
terrible time trying to find our way to the old town called Ragusa Ibla. We had a map, but we didn’t understand
it because we did not realise this part of town is all tiny streets, many with stairs! We tried to use google maps and it took
us part way, but then seemed to give up.
We followed signs to the hotel, which were in appropriate places, but
that just took us up narrower and narrower streets, where we were sure we
should not have been driving (although there were some other cars there). Eventually we knocked the broken wing
mirror and it fell off again and is now in pieces (though Richard says it is
not much different than when he last put it together). Finally in desperation we telephoned
the hotel, only to be told they have no parking and we should park on the road
we were on and walk up. It was
only around the corner and we realised then that we had driven right past it as
we first entered the old town about half an hour earlier!
By this stage both of us were wound up and it a
bad mood, so it was just as well that the hotel was nice and the room very
attractive. We finally walked
around the city a bit and relaxed and had a drink. Dinner was excellent.
For a change we didn’t do the tasting menu and had their specialties as
set out in the guide. It also
turned out to be really good value at just over 200 Euro including drinks and
coffee.
This morning we had a proper walking tour around
the town, seeing all the UNESCO registered buildings. I particularly like one building on the Cathedral Square,
not listed, but very pretty that houses the local Conversation Club! We have a last Coffee Granita and then
set off to Modica.
This time we are able to work out what roads we
are supposed to drive on and find our way out of town and on the direct road to
Modica, with much less hassle. We
get to Modica which is another old city with a lower and upper town. Richard is sure it is in the upper town
and just drives up. Luckily we
find the hotel with little drama and dump the car in front, creating a traffic
jam, leaving it to the hotel to park.
After a freshen up we go in to town. We have another lot of walking to
do. This town, unlike the others
has its main sights in the lower town and our hotel (in a lovely palazzo) is in
the upper town! There are said to
be over 300 steps between them.
But intrepid as we are we walk down. Richard thinks we might be able to take a bus back up. We walk around, have a little bite to
eat and find the shop the town is famous for - a confectioners. There we buy a huge amount of
chocolate, though Richard is too chicken to buy their special biscuits filled
with chocolate and beef! Then we
make the walk back up to our hotel.
It turns out that there are 420 steps back up! My Nike band is loving it.
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