Italy tells a different story. In Umbria the lack of road maintenance due to cuts in spending have caused even major routes to break up. On our way to Sorrento we passed the lovely hilltop town of Ravello, unfortunately the views of the Bay of Naples were ruined because of the rubbish dumped everywhere.
Again, arriving in Sicily we were immediately struck by the atmosphere. At every junction people are hustling, trying to sell trinkets and there are loads of men and boys cleaning windscreens. The streets in lots of the towns are littered with rubbish and there are piles of it festering next to roads. The woman in the Tourist Information place in Riposto told us Sicily is in the grasp of major economic difficulties and public services in some areas have been cut drastically. There are very few rubbish collections which has caused a public outcry obviously. She said it is very difficult to live in these conditions and we could see what she meant.
She said that Southern Italians and Sicilians resent the way that Northern Italy appears to receive the most funding and that the north-south divide is growing wider.
Sicily itself is beautiful, the eastern area is dominated by a snow-capped Etna which is constantly erupting, sometimes with more energy than others.
(Why doesn't the snow melt though when it is so hot, both below and above ground, I don't understand.) We have had a seriously lazy week, staying in an apartment in a gated community where most of the other apartments are families holiday homes. We lazed about on Sunday then explored the trendy town of Giarre, with it's little boutiques, on Monday and took a drive up the mountain to see the hill villages of Piedmont-Etneo, where that gorgeous crisp white wine is made, and Linguaglossa. Tuesday was the 1st May, happy 83rd birthday to my lovely mum-in-law, Eileen, and Labour Day, a bank holiday. Because it fell on a Tuesday the schools were closed on Monday aswell.
Italian bank holidays - wow! The car park at the apartments, which had held our car and two others previously, suddenly filled up until there were about 70 cars, then motorbikes, scooters and camper vans arrived. All the apartments were opened up, music cranked up, barbies stoked up, kids wound up. Whoa, talk about a cacophony of noise! It all kicked off at about 11.30 am, we soaked up the atmosphere from our terrace, joining in with the BBQ and wine - obviously. The Italians are so loud, they take no notice of each other, even in the next apartment, just shout louder. There was a real party atmosphere but no-one was drunk, there were as many soft drinks as wine bottles on display and at 11pm it finished, just as abruptly as it had begun. By 10 past 11 there was our car, and two more, in the car park. Surreal!
We drove to Syracuse on Wednesday, a picturesque little honey coloured gem, with a bustling market, Greek and Roman ruins and Baroque buildings.
The temperatures have been consistently in the high 20's since we got here and the heat is very dry, it smells gorgeous, you know that mediterranean smell of herbs, lemon and Jasmine. Mmmmm! On Thursday we went to Taormina, apparently Sicily's best known resort. It sits high on Mount Tauro and you reach it by the obligatory cable car. It is well worth the trip, another drop dead gorgeous place, the views are exceptional, the Greek Theatre sits on the hill with Etna smoking behind it and the blue bays wrapped round.
Bit of trauma round lunch time though, none of the ATMs would give Jim any money and we had about €7. He was starting to think there was something wrong with his card when one of mini banks paid up, phew! Of course he let me think none of them had worked for ages....
As I write this bit it is 6.50pm on Friday and we have just got back from walking on Etna and I mean serious stuff. Walking boots, trousers, etc. The temperature was about 10 degrees colder and there was loads of snow, covered in thick black ash.
The higher we got the bleaker it got, first we walked through birch forests which look pretty dramatic, white against the black.
Then we were climbing over big lumps of lava where a few fir trees grow.
Finally we scrambled up lava scree where nothing much grows. It was steep, slippy and very dusty.
We felt as if we were on top of the world sitting on a narrow lava path, eating biscuits. Coming down was an experience, much faster, slip sliding our way down the narrow paths trying not to look at the drop on each side.
The funny thing is just above our heads Etna is burping out thick smoke.
We're packing again now. Jim's just said he won't miss packing his suitcase, oh dear, I sense home is coming nearer! We do look like homeless people though, all our possessions in two suitcases, two backpacks - and countless carrier bags!
We're back on the ferry tomorrow, on the first leg of our journey to Switzerland, heading for Salerno for an overnight stop.
-Posted using BlogPress from Annie & Jim's I-pad
- Posted using BlogPress from Annie & Jim's I-pad
Location:Fondachello, Sicily
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