Sicily by Land and Sea

Cefula Sicily

Our first stop as we arrived in Italy was in a marina in the city of Reggio Di Calabria.  Our plan was to stay for a few days to recover from our two day sail from Greece.  Knowing nothing about this city, I consulted our trusted Italian Water Pilot book which informed me that, “Reggio is not the most attractive place but it is the safest and most convenient harbor of the East side of the (Messina) Strait.”  Sort of the way one would describe a pair Birkenstock sandals or a homely cousin you are trying to fix up on a date. (While Biff may not have it in the looks department, he does have a steady job, isn’t a drinker, has his own teeth and is thoroughly reliable and available. One could do worse!)

Brief history of Reggio-invaded, pirated throughout history, heavily bombed in WWII, and lots of earthquakes. The most destructive occuring in 1980 which pretty much leveled the place. For us cruisers, Reggio’s most notable feature is a native named Saverio who is a taxi driver ( the only taxi driver) who services marina guests and also a consumite hustler. You ask him to take you to the store to buy wine and/or beer- he takes you to his garage where treats you to a glass of wine/beer and then goes in for the hard sell on purchasing cases of cheap wine/beer from him.  We ended up purchasing multiple cases of red wine and beer so we could be assured he would drive us back to the marina! 

Happy to leave Reggio and Saverio, we sailed to fabulous Isola Vulcano (Volcano Island) and Isola Lipari (Island of, you guessed it, Lipari) which are off the coast of Sicily.   Isola Vulcano has one active crater called the Gran Cratere which last erupted in 1890. Beach goers here can be seen slathering on thick volcanic mud all over their bodies which is supposed to have some therapeutic powers. My thought was that Saverio’s cheap wine would probably have the same effect so I passed on the mud application and waited to imbibe some vini when we got back on the boat.  Lipari is a more populated island with a hip vibe, plenty of cool shops and eateries for tourists to enjoy.  The town center’s streets are narrow and paved with smooth rocks.  FYI to future male travelers to this island, men cannot go shirtless through the town. This is well posted!  No such signs for women…weird!

Interesting Rock Formation, Volcano Island

From Lipari we headed to the mainland of Sicily to Cefalu. The view from the sea is breathtaking with a huge rocky hill dominating the view that is hugged by a picturesque village full of Italian tourists enjoying the beaches, shops and many restaurants. We had a 

great dinner in a local restaurant with a lovely ocean view from our table.  Sicily is all about seafood, with prawns the length of my hand and tuna and swordfish caught right off the coast.  

No Legal Seafood or Red Lobsters establishments here, food is fresh and restaurants are small and cozy. Mangiare!     

From Cefula we sailed to Termini Imerese. My first impression prior to consulting the Italian Waters Pilot, was that we had another Reggio situation… “Termini Imerese is not the most attractive place….” .  It appeared to be industrial looking with a lot of litter. The Pilot indicated that one should overlook this and concentrate on the large cathedral and mineral springs which were frequented by Romans back in the day and continued to be enjoyed by those seeking treatment for arthritis. We found ourselves unable to do this so we hopped on a train to Palermo, Sicily’s capital, which was about a 30 minute journey on Italy’s fabulous railway.  These trains are clean, pleasant smelling with comfy seats.  The exact opposite of the trains I took to work for over 20 years in MA.   

 Palermo is a bustling city, full of people and traffic. I have become so accustomed to quaint seaside towns that it was a little overwhelming to be confronted with the noise and congestion of a city.  This is an ancient place founded by the Phoenicians, conquered by the Romans, inhabited by the Saracens and the Normans.  The architecture is greatly influenced by all these cultures. There are some very old cathedrals, churches and an old town.  It was so hot the day we were there, we decided to take a local “tour” bus to see the sights which was recommended to us by a lady at the Palermo Tourist Center. This was a hair-raising 30 minute excursion in a small bus which was not a tour bus at all but rather a local bus that picked up people who wanted to get from point A to point B in the city. The bus had a failing drive shaft so every time it stopped, the driver would grind the gears to get the old bus going.  The bus driver drove very fast giving little attention to other vehicles on the road. He also did not identify any of the sights on our “tour” because he was not a tour guide. So, Fred, armed with a tourist map, would yell out to me when we whizzed by a notable site. We were relieved when we were able to get off the bus and catch a train to get back to our boat!        

We had one more sail before leaving Sicily and its neighboring islands. This landed us in the Isola di Ustica. Wow, so happy we did not overlook this place! We tied up at the town dock for a few days which allowed us to do some sightseeing and enjoy this magical place.  According to my trusty Pilot book, the Greeks called it the Island of Bones due to 6,000 Carthaginian soldiers being left here to die of hunger and thirst.  Creepy right?  Today, the island is famous for its world class scuba diving.  The place is a wash with divers from everywhere who go out on daily dive boat excursions.  We met one such diver at an outdoor restaurant who was an American!   He is a hockey coach for an international hockey association and has been coaching hockey in Turkey and Italy for many years. He spent the last few years in Turkey coaching in rural areas.  He said each year that he lived there, an arrest warrant was issued for him charging him with sedition- foreigner trying to convert Islamic youths to Christianity. Lucky for him, he befriended the local imam who ensured that the charges were always dropped.     

As Fred and I are not scuba divers, we opted to rent a scooter to explore the island.  Knowing an imam would have been handy since we could have used some prayers coming our way as we acquainted ourselves on how to drive one of these babies! With that accomplished, we zipped around the island making frequent stops to take in ocean views and walk on trails that wrapped all around the island. So pretty and peaceful! We were sad to leave Ustica after two days but we needed to forge ahead to our next destination- Sardinia!

Arrivederci for now!