Sicily, Part 4

9th June, 2000

After rising and eating fairly early, we were on the road by 11 a.m.  We backtracked briefly to pick up the motorway north which, unfortunately has a missing segment west of Syracuse requiring us to take to twisty and narrow lanes.  The motorway ended again near Augusta but we were soon on to it again and passing Catania.    The Brits at Selinunte had travelled the island in the opposite direction and had made their first stop at a site called Paradise, north of Taormina.   As we were not sure of its exact location, we came off the motorway well to the south and drove through the beach resort of Taormina.  We looked in one site at Letojanni, which had many static but few, if any touring vans.   The motorway ran above it on stilts and, though it had superb loos, we decided to move on and see if we could find Paradise.

Paradise, shown left, was soon found, a little further north, and we checked in.   It is almost Paradise, but the railway is extremely noisy.   Whilst over time one gets used to the noise of railways and traffic, one cannot get used to having one's CD, TV or just ordinary conversation obliterated by trains, which on this line are quite frequent, except on Sundays (as we are writing this).   We are, perhaps, developing a mindset against railways, which are the big white hope of environmentalists.

Having stopped on so many otherwise idyllic sites, we no longer see trains as environmentally friendly, as they are many times more noisy than the motorways and ordinary roads.   If the railways had the capacity to absorb the traffic off the roads, the noise might be worth putting up with.   Railway apart, the site is good with its own access to the beach, flat level pitches, a washing machine and super loos with free hot showers and hot water.

The pot-hole of a few days past gave us another problem.   Possibly the battery moved and knocked the solar panel control box, but at any rate we weren't charging.   So we had to run the mains charger, which we would prefer not to as it runs slightly warm under the bed at night.  The problem turned out to be a damaged fuse which had run hot in its holder, charring the plastic - the second occurrence of this type.   The fuse holder was cleaned up and appears to be working OK now, but we have lost confidence in the solar charger.

10th June, 2000

The loss of spare batteries was beginning to bug us, so we decided to go to Catania, which is the second largest city in Sicily, and try our luck.  For speed we took the motorway, which leaves a frightening descent into Catania, with several emergency escape roads for runaway trucks.   We followed the signs for the centre and were looking out for the Tourist Office.   We stopped at one point to look around for it but instead found an Internet point and did our mail.   The shop-keeper told us there was a video shop not far away, which we found easily and indeed it had a Canon label, along with most other makes, on its window.   Our luck was in and we got two new batteries and a tape to replace the lost ones.s

As we returned to our car, we were greeted by what looked a bit like a parking warden, though he had no hat or any real insignia, who tried to explain to us that the system here was to put scratch cards on the dash, like we had seen in the Channel Islands and not the disc.   We apologised profusely and were delighted that he did not start writing on the duplicate pad he was carrying.   We found it bizarre that he thought it worth trying to explain the system to foreigners, who were not likely to return, while taking absolutely no notice of the double-parked car that was blocking us in and severely impeding traffic on the road.   Perhaps this is why so many double-park.   The chance of getting a ticket for double parking is less than for not paying in a proper slot.   We moved on and found a spot being "managed" by vigilantes, right next to the Tourist Office.   This guy was happy to watch it for 1000 Lire for an hour and put an apparently meaningless numbered ticket under the wiper blade.   It dawned on us when we saw one or two cars with scratch cards under the wiper blades that this is all a cosy set-up, since if a warden shows up the vigilantes stick a scratch card on the car and then ask to be reimbursed when you return.

Catania, at first impressions, is a bit grotty, but our guide book tells us to persevere and we did indeed find some interesting sights, including the Roman amphitheatre, shown above left, built from the black volcanic rock, and the Piazza del Duomo, with its interesting elephant fountain, shown above centre, and the Amenano fountain.   Much of the city had been rebuilt following the eruption of Etna in 1669 and the earthquake of 1693.    We walked back along the Via Crocíferi, with its imposing Baroque Churches dating from the rebuilding.   Being a Saturday, several weddings were in progress.   We walked past an old black "Beetle" with a load of tin cans attached to its rear bumper, shown above right, and just as we returned to the Amphitheatre an American classic car was pulling out with the new bride and groom, shown below left.

We were told that a huge supermarket was near the airport and set off, hoping to take in the Old Port en route.   We found ourselves in the Piazza Dante, with its unfinished Church of San Nicolò, shown above centre, and eventually headed up Via Garibaldi and went round the magnificent arch at the top, shown above right.  The traffic was stationary, so we back-tracked and dived into some side-streets eventually coming onto a dual carriageway heading in the direction of Messina - which was not what we wanted.

It may be that, when we stopped to study the map, we caught the villains' attention, but just a little further up the road we were subjected to a repeat of the motorcycle snatch scheme - this time adapted to Sicilian practice.  We were in comparatively thick traffic, three abreast on a two-lane road, when a scooter weaved across our path causing us to almost stop.   David was confused because, although irritating, usually the scooters had an obvious objective.   This one, however, seemed to be signalling us to stop.   As he stopped in front of us, we had little choice.   We never saw his accomplice, but heard first the front left door-handle tried, and then the back and finally the boot.   We had learned our lesson well and had the doors locked.   The experience has reinforced the habit of locking the doors whilst driving.   While we could not take in all that happened, there appeared to be a gang of scooter riders, ready to escape up a narrow lane past a scrap-yard.   We were bloody angry - but relieved.

We found, next to the airport, the Auchan supermarket, which is definitely up to standard and very busy.   This proves that there is the demand for proper shops and the writing must be on the wall for all the tatty, poorly stocked and over-manned shops we had seen in most places.   We returned and spent a lazy afternoon on the beach and had a boozy dinner to finish the day.

11th June, 2000

Being woken by the first train in the morning, we decided to get up and "do" Taormina as it was Sunday and we hoped traffic would be easier.    We drove up to Taormina and noted that we were supposed to park hundreds of feet below the town.   We decided not to and cruised through the town and on up to Castelmola, which is the perched town we had mistaken for Taormina when we first came up the road from Catania.   From Castelmola, we could look down on Taormina, shown below left, and could see the Greek Theatre, shown below centre, and the Castle.  Further along the coast we could see Naxos, shown below right.

12th June, 2000

We turned for Linguaglossa at Fiumefreddo and came to a halt behind a car at a level crossing.     We waited and waited.   A long file of cars joined the queue.     Some got impatient and turned round in the narrow street.    The railway not only blights the coast with its noise but causes long polluting queues that divide communities.   We felt a bit guilty after a while keeping the engine running and despite the loss of the air conditioning David turned off the engine.   We could then hear that every one else still had their engines running hoping that the train was just about to pass.  Then it dawned on us that if it did we might not be able to restart and would then have some very unhappy Sicilians.    We tried it and sure enough it failed but after "tickling" it on key it cranked up and ran.   Environment or not we were not going to switch off again at level crossings.   We waited at least ten minutes.

There is a similar level crossing near where we live in England.   Rail traffic has increased to the point that it too stays closed for long periods as there is not enough gap between most trains.   They have decided to bridge it as the locals objected strongly to its proposed closure.   The level crossing as a concept is an accident waiting to happen and if into this century we intend to keep both car and train we need to remove them.    As we began to climb the slopes of Etna we came to the narrow gauge railway that goes round (if it still does) the mountain.    It crossed the road four times as it looped to gain height, each crossing jolting us violently.   While we have been on some fantastic rail journeys in the past, readers will gather that we think that, as they stand, they are well past their sell by date and in need of massive investment if they are to continue.

One of the characteristics of successful popular protest  movements and pressure groups is they always have another objective once they have achieved the first.   What's the point of getting rid of all the juggernauts from the towns if the trains then disturb the peace.   Once the technology has gotten us all stone cold sober, off our cell phones, strapped in and as quiet as mice within the speed limits, the pressure will be on to make trains even more safe and as quiet.

A large part of our touring has been up and down winding hills and we appreciate the superb power steering and greatly improved suspension fitted to the car.    Our confidence in its reliability and that of its dealers was now to hit rock bottom.    The steering pump began to make gurgling sounds and the vibrations could be felt in steering.  We dived into a nearby garage,  and signed that we need hydraulic fluid.   He didn't have any but knew a man that did.  By the time we found the meccanico the steering was very difficult.    We filled the reservoir and all seemed well.   We set off to continue the ascent of Etna but thought it couldn't be that simple and stopped to check.    And it was not.  Oil was dripping from the steering area.

Now our main concern was to get off the mountain before we lost all the fluid.   As we descended we came upon a small car repairer sporting the appropriate authorisation in Santa Venerina shown right.

The meccanico was very helpful and looked immediately.  He was sure that the problem was just a torn boot which he removed and sent his man of to Giarre to replace.   We were a bit sceptical.   Oil could be seen coming out of the exposed rack and it was hard to believe that it was supposed to be caught in the boot.    But we presumed he would not be an authorised meccanico if he did know what was what.  To be honest we wanted to believe it was just that simple.    While we waited we walked up to the town square shown above right and drew some cash to pay the man.   He talked us into changing the break pads and sent his man off again.

Eventually it was finished, we settled the bill in cash, even though he was displaying a Visa sticker (mistake!) and gave him a good tip for his efforts.  We never really thought about the fact that he did not insist upon test driving it.    We just were so glad to be told it was fixed and be back on the road and all seemed well.  Still we thought it prudent to stop after a few miles and checked.  Not a drop of oil in sight.  Yes!

It was late so we winged it down the motor way back to the Taormina exit which is a hairpin 40 kph exit.   Prudently we slowed well below that and - wow!  No power steering!  We limped back to camp and called Green Flag.

13th June, 2000

True to their promise the breakdown truck arrived at 9 a.m. and as shown right the car (David tends to call it the "Bitch" and Kate says that is why it keeps breaking down) was loaded as shown right.  A slow sticky ride followed to Main dealer in Giarre.  They were pretty sure without looking just what the problem was as in sign language we discussed the matter.  They pointed out that the steering wheel was on the wrong side for us to have any hope of a speedy repair.   They removed the new boot which was full of oil and declared the rack assembly bust.

The new  part had to come from just a few hundred yards from our old offices in England and via the manufacturers spares route would take 5 to 8 days.  Great!   Our Green Flag cover includes locating and shipping spares and we phoned to ask their help.  The garage pretty much refused to go along with it.   This was an expensive part and no way were they going to miss out on their substantial profit margin.  We were helped by a couple of Sicilians as only one secretary in the garage had any English and our Sicilian was was a bit thin.   The first guy was picking up some bits and hung about for some 15 minutes to translate as calls were made between us, Green Flag, their Italian Agent, the garage and their spares centre.   The second guy, Gianfranco, was waiting for his mother's Fiesta to be fixed and was co-opted when the first guy had to go.   We had told the garage that we needed to get to Taormina to pick up a hire car and Gianfranco lives there and kindly volunteered to take us.

We now think that that our helpful "Authorised" meccanico knew the rack was leaking but figured he could do nothing except tell me the car would be off the road for some time.  he may have rightly figured that we would get it towed to the main dealer and he would get little from the deal.

Gianfranco didn't just take us to Taormina, but gave us the conducted tour.    He couldn't think where the Hertz depot was and asked a friend.    Then he realised, of course he knew - one of his pals ran it, but then everyone in Taormina was a pal of his.

Hertz had got us a big car, which we thought a little unnecessary and, while we waited for them to prepare us a smaller one, we walked down the Corso Umberto to the Tourist Office at the far end and realised just what we would have missed if we had not have had the breakdown.   We collected the car and returned to the camp.

14th June, 2000

It was overcast for most of the day and rained a few times.   Rather than risk getting wet, we stayed in and made a major attack on our journal, which was seriously behind.

15th June, 2000

After probably the hottest night so far, we woke early, showered and set off to explore Taormina rather better.   We took the cable car from Mazzaro and went first to the Greek Theatre shown below left.   Compared with the theatre at Syracuse, it is smaller, but much bigger than that at Ericlea Minoa.   It also had the scaffolders in, for which we have mixed feelings.   It is good that these historic sites are used in a way that their builders would approve, but together with teeming tourists, it detracts from a real appreciation.   Its setting, however, overlooking the bay at Naxos and with Etna in the background, puts it in a class of its own.   Below centre the bay can be seen through an arch and below right it is enlarged to show the sail equipped cruise liner at anchor in the bay.

Taormina is essentially one long pedestrianised street, the Corso Umberto, extending from the Porta Messina at the north-east to the Porta Catania at the south-west.    Incredibly, this was the only road from Messina to Catania a little more than a hundred years ago and travellers had to wind up and down the approach roads to Taormina.     Close to the Porta Messina is the Palazzo Corvaja, shown below left, which at one stage housed the Sicilian Parliament.   Nearby, shown below centre, is a picturesque antique shop, the owner of which spends all morning bringing his goods out onto the pavement.   Below right is a view looking back along the Corso from the other end.

To the right we show first the front of the Duomo and next a picture taken inside.After an enjoyable morning, we made our way back to the cable car.   As we did, we got a call on the cellphone from Gianfranco, to whom we had given the number.

He wanted to be sure we had his proper e-mail address, but with the language problem and the fact we were, by chance, only a few yards from where he lived, he decided to come and give it to us in writing.   Despite our protests that we had a return ticket for the cable car, he insisted in taking us to our hire car at the bottom and we had a drink with him in Mazzaro.   Gianfranco suggested we might go to a restaurant on Sunday.    He is just starting a clothing shop and is very keen to learn English and welcomes any chance to practise it.   For his kindness, we offered to meet him when he visits England.

16th June, 2000

As we plan not to stop in Messina on the way north, and to take the stress out of getting the ferry, we took a drive to the city.   We followed the coast road as far as the first motorway junction.   It is very slow and, although the motorway is a toll road, few people would bother to use the congested coast road.   In fact, so slow was it that we decided it is worth us back-tracking a few kilometres with the caravan to the Taormina turn.   Messina traffic is as bad as any in Sicily and, in the oppressive heat, it feels worse.   We were trying to get to the Duomo for noon, where the Astronomical Clock does a special 'song and dance routine'.     We got there in time, but could find nowhere to park and so double-parked to watch the spectacle.   The clock tower is shown below left, with the cockerel crowing, below centre, and to the right an angel leads the congregation in procession.

As we watched, several municipal tow-trucks went by dragging hapless mis-parked cars.   This was the first time we had seen any serious attempt to regulate parking and, after the show, we thought it prudent to find a legitimate spot.    We were actually pleased to see a vigilante and happy to pay as we felt comfortable leaving the car properly parked.   Here, however, these vigilantes were official and gave proper receipts.   We walked back to the Duomo, shown below left.   Here is an example of yet more technical problems for us to struggle with.   For some reason, the camcorder gets its aperture wrong, as can be seen in the picture.   It later rights itself and we have no idea what is wrong.   The 35mm camera is also playing up, refusing to shoot a full film unless it is a Fuji brand.   On other films, after a few shots it rewinds itself.   As we opened the camera before it was fully rewound, we know that for some reason non-Fuji films do not wind evenly.   Below centre is a view inside the Duomo.

We walked down to the port to complete our reconnaissance and looked across at the statue, shown above right, looking down from the far breakwater.   We went into the terminal building, which seemed a little chaotic.   We realised that there are two destinations from Messina and decided that we should make up a little card with a picture of the car, caravan and two stick people, with the destination name, Villa San Giovanni, as they may not speak English when we have to board.

17 - 18th June, 2000

We had lazy weekend after shopping on Saturday morning.  We miss the air conditioning of our car and here it is almost 30º C in the shade from soon after 9 a.m. and until well after 6 p.m.  We watched the qualifying for the Canadian G.P. on Saturday evening.

For what it was worth, we started to write a detailed account of our car problems which we would later e-mail to the head man at our car maker's HQ.   We watched the closing stages of the Le Mans 24-hour Race and envied the reliability of the winning make.

At 5 p.m. we went for a drink with Gianfranco in Letojanni.   He picked us up in his spiced up Fiat.   Big cars are quite impractical here and to be stylish you need a little car with all the 'go faster' accessories.   To show off, since absolute speed is impossible, you have to go as close as possible to the barriers, walls, other cars and pedestrians without touching them.   This driving style explains why so few Sicilian cars have all their corners intact.    Ordinary Sicilians do not repair the damage from their misjudgements, but Gianfranco had his car in the body shop as soon as it collected the least scratch.    We parked in front of somebody's garage, leaving the hazard lights on rather than walk another 50 yards to the café.   We were relieved to find that Gianfranco only drinks iced lemon tea.

We watched the Grand Prix, in which poor old DC was robbed again.    While they scarcely have any kinship with our motor, the cars owned by our maker seem to spend as much time in the garage as ours.

19th June, 2000

As we had heard nothing from the garage, we thought we would go and see what was happening, on our way to complete our tour of Etna.  As we left the motorway at Giarre, it was clear that the truckies were up to their normal antics - that is normal for the rest of Europe.   They were unhappy at some government policy and had decided to block the motorways until the government relented.   They hadn't actually blocked the motorways, but the police, who were in good numbers, were doing it for them.   We Brits tend to be outraged by these stoppages, which we have now seen in France, Spain and Italy and remind us of the anarchy of the 'Seventies.     The truckies were obviously illegally parked, even by Sicily's lax standards and the police ought to have enforced the law rather than their industrial action.

The garage in Giarre said they had the invoice for the steering rack and would have the part the next day.   They had done nothing on the starter and blathered on again about the merits of Magnetti Marelli versus Bosch.   In sign language we reminded them that we had asked them to order a new starter as we weren't interested in how hard it was to fix a Bosch one in Sicily.   They said it would take another four days while, if the rack was in the next day, the car could be ready that day.    We were miffed and told them we would talk to Green Flag.

We wondered if the police would let us back onto the road to Etna which also has the motorway exit and, as we approached the turn, they waved us away.   When we said we wanted to go to Etna, they discussed it and finally let us through.   It took a long time to get past the strikers at the motorway, who were persuading each truck as it left the motorway to join those already parked along the narrow road, making it difficult to negotiate.

We were soon making good progress up the mountain, passing the ill-fated town of Santa Venerina where our last attempt had come to grief.  It was a glorious, clear, hot day and we greatly missed the air conditioning until we were some 1000 metres up Etna.    Now the air was cool, though the sun was no less fierce.   We continued to the cable-car station at Nicolosi 2000 metres up and, after eating our lunch, called Green Flag to discuss the progress on the car.

We could see two cable systems going up the volcano but no cable-cars.    The eruptions last year destroyed the top end and it has not yet been repaired.   Large all-terrain mini-buses take tourists up the slopes, as shown below left.   After a bit of soul-searching, we decided to fork out the extortionate fare for the ride 1000 metres higher up the hill.   The shot below centre, with the smoke ring shown in close-up, right

We stopped at 2,900 metres, where warning signs advise against going any further.    Etna, shown below left, was putting out steam and, occasionally, yellowish gas from at least two active craters 1000 metres above us.   Our guide led us across the lava to the edge of a great chasm, shown below centre, where we could look down on a huge sloping crater from ancient times.   Part way down, we could see the extinct crater, shown below right.   From lower down we had seen white strips on the mountain and wondered if it might be snow or ice.   These are clearly seen, below centre, and are ice that has been covered with ash from recent eruptions.

Smoking seems to be a pre-requisite for Etna guides as their party trick is to change one of the many small plumes of steam into great white clouds, as shown below left, by blowing cigarette smoke.   The effect is dramatic and cannot be replicated just by blowing into the steaming fissures.   While we don't understand the science behind this effect, it makes you wonder what smokers are inhaling.   We stopped a little way down for a photo-shoot, shown below centre, in which the winding track and the cable-car station can be seen.   As we arrived at the station, we were surprised to see a shiny new Wallace Arnold coach, below right, which we come across in the most surprising places.   We hope he has Green Flag cover.

Gianfranco had asked us to take a list of the fashion houses he can source and also we needed to send our e-mail to the head man, so we stopped by Taormina on the way back.   Because you can't park, without fear of clamping, in the town itself - unless you are a local - we decided to try the huge car park below the town.   The charges are steep and the lift still leaves you with more than a hundred metres of height to climb, shown left, and we were both exhausted when we reached the town.

We sent our e-mail and picked up our list from Gianfranco and returned, pretty exhausted, to camp.

20th June, 2000

We did our washing and David called Green Flag to hear if there was any news.     They phoned back with the old "good news - bad news" routine.     After all the hassle over the starter, the garage in Giarre had replaced the "top half" by which we hope they mean the solenoid.   Whether this was as a result of us bitching at them the previous day or they were going to sort it anyway we don't know.   That, if it sorts out the starter problem, was the good news   The bad news was that the steering rack, en route from Daventry, was lost in the Italian truck strike, which we had seen in action the previous day and no one can say for sure when it might get to the garage.   We complained at the poor service we felt our car maker was giving us and were told they they too experience a lack of co-operation and particularly in France where most British motorists take their cars.

We shall just have to suffer more sunshine and laziness.  (And of course those noisy trains!)  If it is possible to think of a bright side,, at least we are marooned in one of the better places.    If we could swap the trains for our Tesco store it would be close to absolute paradise.

We went shopping in the supermarket a couple of miles up the road.    Gianfranco said this is where the locals from Taormina do their weekly shop because the shops in Taormina are all priced for tourists.  It is no Tesco, but better than some.    Someone in front took all the Cos lettuces and we had to make do with a flat one.   Veg choice was a bit limited - at least as far a we are concerned - just beans and cabbage.   We bought some Edam that the assistant had to hack from a new cheese and had to wonder at their ideas on food hygiene.    They all wear plastic gloves, overalls and proper head dress but cheese and cooked meats are sold from the same counter.  Gloves or not, the exposed cheese was well handled by hands that could earlier have been selling cooked meats.   The lady with the lettuces was filling up the only checkout open and then her mother (or in-law) decided they needed a few more things after the bill had been printed and just put barged in front of us.

21st June, 2000

Green Flag called to say the steering rack was still stuck in the strike, so we busied ourselves catching up on the journal and had a few minutes of intense sun on the beach. 

22nd June, 2000

We expected the rack to take even longer and went off to do some shopping, including putting in Kate's films for developing.   The Pentax has got cranky in its old age and will only work properly on 24 exposure Fuji film.  All other film seems to wind unevenly (as we found by opening the camera), resulting in it jamming, which makes the system think it is the end of film, and rewinds prematurely.  We took in four films, only one of which was fully exposed.  We also needed to post the disk for Jayne to upload.  We turned into Letojanni, only to find the road blocked, so we returned to the main road, parked in the shade and walked under the narrow railway bridge.   Despite the high temperatures they were resurfacing the main street through the town.  We posted the letter, put the films in and went back to the car and continued to the supermarket.   It was a relief to get into the air-conditioned shop.

The sales assistant that spoke English explained that he had spent some time in London, working in a Spaghetti House as a washer-up, living near The Angel. 

Not long after we returned we had a call from Green Flag to say that the car would be ready later in the afternoon.  We had lunch and planned a last exposure to the sun on the beach.  Unfortunately, it had become very windy and we settled for a short walk in our 'cossies'.  We had found some postcards in a bag, with some German jottings and looked to see if we could find an owner in camp.  The only Germans in the camp, however, had only arrived the night before and made no claim.  They spoke perfect English and made the point that it was the only language in Europe that worked everywhere.  They were from close to the Danish border and, as we have found before, were fanatic Anglophiles, who loved York and Scotland, but not the narrow lanes of Cornwall.

We sped off to Giarre where indeed the car was ready.  They had swapped the solenoid, as well as the steering rack and made a great show of the removed parts, in case we doubted their word, before they relieved us of more than a couple of million Lire.   We were glad to be on the move again and didn't argue.  The journey back to Taormina was uneventful and our car even restarted without a murmur when we stopped to refill the hire car.  Our car was dumped at the cable car station in Mazzaro and we drove the hire car back up the southern approach to Taormina, which we had come down when we picked up the hire car.  We had no idea how steep it was going up and most of the hairpins needed first gear.  Near the top it becomes a residents-only road, which we were not aware of, but we continued on the basis that the car was a resident even if we were not.   Near the top the road is suspended on stilts from the hillside and was built to a sensible width so in typical Sicilian manner, the road is reduced to barely passable by making car parking spaces on one side.  Eventually we found our way back to the Hertz depot, dumped the car and made our way onto Corso Umberto and the internet café.  The head man from the car manufacturer had not replied to our tyraid of complaint, but we had one or two mails and dealt with them.

David wondered if his baseball cap had been left in the hire car, and Kate was wondering where her sunglasses were, but said nothing.  After riding down the cable car to our car, Kate decided she really had lost her sunglasses and a deep gloom set in.   It was decided (most reluctantly) to return to the hire car and, being mean, we decided to drive rather than fork out for the cable car again.  We thought we could find our way and were surprised when we did and more surprised that none of the many traffic police tried to stop us.  Miraculously, we found Kate's sunglasses and in our euphoria we thought we were totally invulnerable to any further calamity.  As we waited to collect the sunglasses, we thought we saw the Mercedes that had reversed out of the garage continue up the hill, which we thought was a one-way street. When we had collected the hire car, we had gone back down the hill with great difficulty against traffic going up.  Having seen a Merc go up, and not wanting to get caught up in traffic, we went that way.  Do you know how wide your car is?  A sign said 1.9 metres width and we thought nothing of it until the road narrowed to a width we thought quite impossible to navigate.  The car behind hooted impatiently as we picked our way along the lane holding the wing mirrors in and hanging our heads out to see just how close to the wall we were.  In fact, if we had the guts and the skill, we could probably have gone along with the mirrors out at Sicilian speed but it just didn't look possible.   The lane seemed to go on for ever and get narrower and the guys behind hooted every time we touched the brakes.  We were mighty relieved to get on the ordinarily narrow road and made it back to camp after picking up the photos.

We packed up as best we could and made ready for an early start.

23rd June, 2000

At half past six we were up and by 10 had paid the bill and were ready to go.   David felt sure he had left his CCI card at reception, but the boss's wife said not.  Kate, however, thought she had seen it in the drawer at reception and, after we had torn the caravan apart, we persuaded the boss's wife to look again.  Yes, it was there and we should have had a discount.  After wasting half an hour, we took to the road and went to Messina where, with the aid of a pictogram, we bought our tickets to the mainland.  It was very hot and we thought we would run the engine to keep the fridge and ourselves cool.

Despite our 2 million Lire repair, the starter would not work and David was attacking the brand new solenoid with the hammer before it would.  After that, we dare not switch off even though we had to wait for the next boat as, for some reason, we were side-lined in favour of trucks that had turned up after us.  David phoned Green Flag to tell them to keep the file open, as we were not yet out of the woods.  We left the bonnet up for the short crossing of the Straits of Messina and mercifully it did restart when it came time to disembark.

Last updated:  18/03/01