Italy

Escaping the Algarve, we drove for seven consecutive days, across Spain, up its east coast, through the French Riviera and into Italy – by-passing Monaco. 

Our introduction to Italian roads was a bumpy one.  The collapse of the Ponte Morandi in 2018 (which we had a hazy and distant view of as we crossed Genoa)

highlights the state of disrepair of the once spectacular motorway system of Northern Italy.  It has now been reduced to several hundred, very bumpy, miles of roadworks.

We stopped on the Ligurian coast

and then south of Salerno (with a hazy, early evening, view of Vesuvius above the town).

Here, we abandoned the truck, sparing it more of the bone-jarring, axle-bending Italian roads, for a hire car and a trip to Sicily. 

We stopped for a night at the dramatic coastal town of Tropea; with its cliff-top buildings,

Monastery of Santa Maria dell’Isola

and 12^th Century Norman cathedral.

We took the 20-minute ferry-ride across the Strait of Messina

and then headed south, past Italy’s other famous Volcano – Etna.

We spent four nights in a rural hotel

near the hill-top town of Ragusa in southern Sicily.

Siracusa, on the east coast of Sicily,

was a major city in ancient times;

famous for its Greek theatre,

Roman amphitheatre

and a short visit from St Paul. Its cathedral incorporates an older Roman temple.

We drove to Palermo via the ‘valley of temples’ at Agrigento

Palermo is a lived-in city; with its bustling street markets

and al fresco restaurants.

It boasts the third largest opera house in Europe,

Europe’s largest tree

and the world’s smallest leopard.

On our way from Palermo, we stopped for lunch in the small, coastal town of Cefalù

and spent our last night in Sicily at a relais

surrounded by olive groves and vines;

where we were given a tour of the winery.

Back on the mainland, we could not leave Calabria without visiting the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia.  This, otherwise unremarkable provincial museum, houses two of the world’s greatest ancient Greek bronze sculptures – the ‘Riace Warriors’ – which were discovered on the sea-bed by a snorkeller off the coast near the village of the same name.

We had last seen the bronzes more than 30 years ago.

Heading back to Salerno to reunite with the truck, we stopped over in Taranto.

The hotel had a very friendly cat – can you spot her? –

and was close to the region of Apulia famous for its ‘trulli’ houses.

Back in Salerno, we paused to visit the nearby ruins of Paestum – famous for their three ancient Greek temples –

before taking the shortest route out of Italy – with a single stopover in Tuscany –  

escaping before they closed the exit door.

We left Italy with great memories; including of ancient olive trees

and more cathedrals than you can shake a stick at!