To Scopello, Sicily

[Sunday, 17 April 2005]

After a delicious homemade breakfast Sunday morning we were on A3 heading south by 10am. Not long afterwards the road closed down to just two lanes which lasted for more than 30 kms as we wended our way through the rugged hills of southern Campania and on into Basilicata. We were soon in Calabria, however, and the wildness of the terrain was totally unexpected (but then Italy is that way). As we neared Tropea the highway climbed dramatically and was cantilevered out over the ocean high above the water. Incredible!

We swung back inland when there was a sudden closure of the highway – for reasons which we never understood – and after a frantic 20 minutes finding our way through Vibo Valentia, high on a ridge overlooking the sea, we decided to follow the signage south out of town for Reggia di Calabria (we were planning on catching a ferry over to Sicily just north of Reggio). We drove for some 40 kms over slow, twisty, back roads, along with what appeared to be thousands of other tourists, buses, trucks, etc. and at last found our way back onto the A3.

At about 3 pm or so we arrived at Villa San Giovanni, just north of Reggio, and followed the (easy) signage to the embarcadero (“imbarco”) for the ferry across the straits of Messina to the city of the same name. We were just in time, paid our ticket and drove right on the next ferry, and after a 20-minute wait or so we were off across to Sicily.

Driving out of Messina on the A20 heading west to Palermo our first reaction as we climbed into the mountains and then went drove along the coast at a fantastic altitude was how mountainous and rocky the island is and as we passed through tunnel after tunnel, bridge after bridge, marveling at both the human and natural engineering.

While most of our trip had been with the sun – indeed we had come to Sicily in expectation of just that one thing – OK maybe a couple of more things but certainly that one – we didn’t think much of the occasional rainstorm as we zipped along. But soon after we passed through and around Palermo we started seeing the ominous dark sky off to the north and west and heading our way. 

By the time we got to our exit off the autostrada it was a light rain and we climbed around the gulf of Castellemmare it began to rain harder. We saw our turn to take us down to Scopello and our apartment for a week but just as we approached this small turnoff we were hit by a deluge and had to pull off just meters short of our turn and sit out the storm for a few moments.

We eventually found our way and our apartment and were met by a pair of the nicest people: the Turanos, Gianni (a retired banker) and his wife Lucia. They took us into their home and let us sit out the storm before we even unloaded the car. We chatted a bit and sipped some wine, and talked about our lives, etc. Gianni and Lucia were both from Castellemare del Golfo (a few kms away) and Gianni has a brother living in Brooklyn – he runs a furniture factory business which I believe their father had started in NYC – and speaks a bit of English. Once they found out we were struggling students of the Italian language it is pretty much all we speak now with them.

After the stormed let up a bit they showed us to our apartment in the lower level of the house – a most comfortable and welcoming space.

across from the Turano home

their street (driveway on the left)

the beach close to the Turano home