VIBO VALENTIA – DRIVING DOWN TO SICILY
4th November, 2017.
DRIVING DOWN TO SICILY THROUGH SMALL TOWNS
We were booked in at Vibo Valentia for our first night’s stop before crossing to Sicily. The main road, as we went further south, narrowed to pass through many tiny towns with small, colourful houses and shops.
In each town our car had to wait to negotiate round a mobile greengrocer’s. Every little town seemed to have one of these colourful large vans with their counter flaps out each side. Women clustered round them to buy their wares. They slowed us down; several times to a standstill. We sweltered in the heat and dust, and cursed the mechanic who had broken the Golf’s air conditioning.
DRIVING DOWN TO SICILY – WE TAKE THE COAST ROAD
Graham and I had one of our many altercations regarding his habit at that time of slavishly obeying Miss Satnav. I argued at least twice: ‘You can see the b***** coast road! Why not take it? Roomier and cooler.’
DRIVING DOWN TO SICILY – ICE CREAM BY A SPARKLING SEA.
For once, he complied. Seeing the sign to a lido, and glimpsing the coast road through short side streets, we turned off from the highway. We soon saw a largish hotel set among lush green gardens.
‘I know it looks expensive, but surely we can afford an ice cream from that café-bar bit in front,’ I argued – and we did, and a beer. And a lovely sit down in the shade looking over the road to the deep blue sea. Graham posed under a palm, and I’m hoping there’s a photo that shows this hotel’s name, because I just cannot locate it on Google maps or images.
I have just found a bill from that 3-month tour. I looked up the location, and it seems that it was at that rather imposing hotel.
REFRESHMENTS BY SPARKLING SEA COST MORE!
€27.90 bought us water, a Heineken, and two items (I remember we each had an ice cream (was that 12 euro?) and there was something called Scialetel that cost 7.90 euros (could it have been a gin & tonic? Or perhaps Graham had a plate of Scialetelle pasta; only it is unlikely that he would have had seafood with it – perhaps just prawns.)
The table charge (for outside, not on the beach) was 3 euros. But it was a boiling hot day, and we were en-route following the east coast. This was a beautiful, shady place to relax for 1/2 hour.
ON THE WAY DOWN TO SICILY – THE CENTRE ROAD – CASTLE ON A HILL
We carried on for quite a way on the E90 coast road, enjoying the cooling breeze and sniffing the ozone until eventually, with an eye on the time, we took the SS534. This road crossed Italy’s ‘ankle’ to join the E45 – the main highway down to Sicily.
However, although we were speeding along, this road was boring. I said so to Graham.
“Look – we’re making such good time we’ll be in Vibo Valentia by lunch time. I can see a castle ahead – just off to the right, at the top of those wooded hills. Can’t we go and try and find it – and maybe a coffee?
Perhaps it was the thought of coffee that did it. Graham, admittedly muttering a bit about my ‘whims’, took the narrower road over a land bridge, and soon we were climbing up to a ‘top’ road.
‘So where did you see this castle? Where is it? Point it out to me…’
‘I can’t see it right now, but it’s at the end of the promontory’.
He muttered something that sounded like a curse and drove on.
NO CASTLE – BUT A WELCOMING COFFEE BAR
We came to the end of the promontory, and there were a few buildings ahead, but we could discern no castle.
BUT – there was a nice little coffee bar. Only where to park? Motorbikes filled all the gaps. My husband was just about to drive off when out of the door came a young man. He held out his hand.
‘You can park just there – on the grass. No problem. American?’
‘No. English.’
‘Ah – Inglese. Please – you are very welcome.’ He flashed a white smile and turned to the bikers lolling outside, who followed suit. After such a greeting how could we refuse? We spent a happy ten minutes drinking fragrant coffee and bandying jokes with the young Italians. Graham endeared himself by admiring their flashy motorbikes. Our host then gave us directions for ‘the quick way down to your road’, and we were off again, riding down through dappled sunlight coming through the trees.
VIBO VALENTIA.
And we reached Vibo Vilentia, near the West Coast and the toe of Italy’s boot, reaching out to kick Sicily into The Tyrrhennian Sea.
VIBO VALENTIA – FIRST SIGHT DID NOT LOOK PROMISING
We came in at the bottom of the town. If at home, it would have been called ‘the gasworks end’ before Britain got rid of most of its gasometers. Those great round storage tanks cast their smell all over the immediate area – so that end of town was never ‘posh’.
The directions given on the website had been sketchy. After perusing our atlas of Italian roads we still had no idea where our B&B was. Eventually we asked a group of African-looking youths larking around outside a dubious, acid-green bar.
They did not know, but pointed up the hill as a suggestion.
THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
We started off, and soon found ourselves in a busy little piazza. A businessman was parking his car, so I got out and hurried over to him.
“Ah, yes – I know; but you will never find it. I will take you there,” he said, in perfect English. This kind gentleman got back in his car and proceeded, with many a snaky turn, to lead us the mile or two to the very top of the town. He stopped just under a castle, and pointed to our B&B. He was so very kind, and waited while we knocked on the door.
WHERE WAS MINE HOST?
No one came to the door. We checked our booking sheet. This was it, alright. Our Knight Errant offered to telephone the contact numbers, and eventually he found our host, still at work.
“He says to park up, and he will be along in a few minutes.”
The only place to park was where we were – bang in front of a greengrocery stall. The proprietors told us we could park in a piazza nearby – but it was out of sight of our digs.
They were utterly lovely, and put up with our car blocking most of their stall for almost an hour. We bought fruit and stuff from them by way of thanks.
After a long wait a car pulled up beside the front door (or was it the side door? We were told to use the one just round the corner.)
While Graham unloaded our luggage and got in the car to properly park it in the piazza, I booked us in. This proved a lengthy business, as for the only time in our entire tour, all – and I mean ALL – details in our passports were painstakingly copied into a little notebook, and I was required to pay (‘IN Euros, Signora’) upfront. All the while, the rather unwholesome-looking man was sneezing and snuffling, sniffing and coughing.
Eventually he apologised, saying he had ‘flu. And of course, with my breathing troubles I have a susceptibility nowadays to catch anything that’s going – and oh boy, I DID. So did Graham. After slowly and repeatedly checking that the money I gave him was correct, he insisted that we leave with him – by the FRONT door… Once outside, he gave Graham a key.
WE EXPLORE VIBO VALENTIA – AND BUY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
We set out to explore some of the town. We were right at the top near the castle, and easily found the main shopping street (Via Roma – see photo above), which swooped downwards for a mile or two. Soon golden lights shone from every window; we gazed at several very smart displays, and even went into two swish cosmetic shops to buy Christmas presents to take back to England. The people in the shops were charming and helpful – such a contrast to that surly host.
Then we made our way (I toiled a bit) back up the long hill to find a charming trattoria I’d noticed in a side street close to where we were staying.
VIBO VALENTIA – A WONDERFUL MEAL
There we enjoyed one of our most memorable meals of our 3-month tour at the Trattoria Vecchi Tempi! Absolutely wonderful: ambience, outside and in. A warm welcome from the host: Food that smelled and tasted superb. All was freshly cooked for us over a log fire, and in a sort of cloam oven at the side. Not least, they produced a superb house wine. Vibo Valentia was our last stop before Sicily. We were very sorry that this Trattoria was closed the day we left Sicily and returned to the mainland – as we had deviated on our rout especially just to eat there again.
5th November.
WHO’S EATEN OUR BREAKFAST?
This excellent experience was just as well, because of the very poor welcome we had received at our nearby B&B, called The Maze, (presumably because so difficult to find.) Our room at The Maze was very cold – the bathroom was across a passage (and possibly shared). There were few towels and we found there was no coffee or tea for breakfast – because in the morning all the coffee pods were gone, presumably needed by the other unseen guests. The limp, cellophane-packed croissants (one each) looked so totally unappetising that we left hungry.
Three days later influenza symptoms appeared, ruining our stays in Sicily and beyond.
Our advice – Just don’t bother to book!
LEAVING VIBO VALENTIA
From The Maze we went through the older but elegant ‘top town’, which had a nice little park in which we walked briefly, until rain made us turn back and run for our car.
We drove out of the town down a central road through mountain scenery ready to take the main highway again. In less than an hour we were at the ferry port to take us over to Messina.
THE NECESSARY FERRY JOURNEY
A SLIGHT RIP-OFF.
As warned on TV a little man came forward offering to show us the ropes re booking for the ferry (which I could not do online in advance). I was annoyed that Graham immediately agreed to pay 5 euro for this service, which was only directing him to the appropriate window. The exorbitant fee of 75 Euros each was charged for the return voyages – each lasting less than 20 minutes. Still; ‘Waddayado?’ to quote Robert De Nero. We needed to get over to the island, and this company had the monopoly. No wonder it’s taking so long to build the bridge for which the plans were drawn up years ago – am I right in thinking 1978?
Text by – Jackie Usher, SWWJ. (aka author Debbie Darkin, & ‘Graham Liverpool’ on Trip Advisor.)
Photographs by – Graham Usher.
