Thursday May 17 Leaving Colle d’Anchise and Driving to Sicily
It was cold and raining this morning in Colle d’Anchise and Sue and I had breakfast prepared by the owner himself, Signor Michele at La Piana dei Mulini, a wonderful albergo diffuso in the country. He made us a farmer’s breakfast with eggs and sausage which was produced by locals in this Molise area. I met his new receptionist Serena, who speaks English and is very nice.
Before leaving for Sicily we drove back to the center of Colle d’Anchise. (Yes one more time to drive on those steep and narrow roads.) We stopped at the small groceria and saw Carolina, who runs the store. She is Antonella’s sister and my cousin as well. After stopping at the Farmacia for Sue who needed some cough medicine, we met Isabella, Antonella’s mother and said goodbye once more.
Then we were on our way to Sicily by way of the autostrada, the A3, which was under construction all the way to Sicily. Not only that but there was a one hour delay due to a detour through the mountains and also a truck stopped along the highway forcing a backup of traffic for a very long time. To say it was frustrating is an understatement.
The landscape was beautiful as the entire way was through mountains and everything was very green. There were a lot of farms and a mixture of hillside towns as well as houses built out in the country.
I saw goats and sheep grazing, although apparently I cannot tell which is which, and there were quite a few road signs warning of cow crossings. In Reggio Calabria the views of the blue water and the beaches below were incredible.
Thank goodness for the GPS as it took us directly to the ferry crossing in the town of Villa san Giovanni, the last town in Reggio Calabria before crossing into Messina.
The car ferry was 40 euros for a round trip crossing, not a bad deal since a one way ticket costs 33 euros. Of course we had to wait for the ferry to load so that took another hour. Mapquest doesn’t calculate this time in case you were wondering.
We left Colle d’Anchise around 10:30 in the morning and arrived at the hotel in Milazzo, Sicily at 9pm. I did all the driving and I do not think I will do it again.
It was a long day and the drivers in Messina are the worst. They also just park anywhere, including the driving lanes. I feel fortunate to have arrived without incident.
imarancher
Sounds like driving in NYC! I thought I would never get used to people parking four abreast on a one way 6 lane road. You think with six lanes you could get around but no, people use four of them for parking. Apparently the tickets that are issued are cheaper than finding a parking lot and hiring a taxi to drive you back to your destination. As for construction? What construction. Pot holes are the only thing they have time to repair and they only do that on days that the garbage trucks are picking up and reopening the pot holes behind them. Apparently it is some sort of job security plan they have. Of course, the garbage people are on strike at least 4 months of the year. They try and make it the coldest months as nobody wants to climb out of bed then. Ah well, Italy or US, there are always traffic problems. At least Italy is a classy place to be delayed! And the locals are very easy on the eye!
Lori Samarin
You should be proud of yourself for taking on the task of driving all the way down and back. Unfortunately, the autostrada and roads,etc. in general, in southern Italy, have been under perpetual construction for 10 + years.. It’s a shame that organized crime and curruption constantly halt progress in “il meridione”; that half of the boot that shoud be a thriving gem of Italy’s patrimony versus its thorn.