Summer of 2023

(edited 2023.07.23 by gsz)

Every year, we face a big problem with my wife. Where to go on vacation. It seems like a typical first world problem, and maybe it is. However, it is something we face every year. This year was, of course, no exception.

The biggest problem for us is to balance things out. By balancing I mean having something similar so not to be completely lost (I personally could revisit old familiar places without any problems, but that's just me), but also to have something nice, something new for us to look at. Ideally close to a beach and far away from home so we can drive for a nice few hours.

We are huge fans of Italy. I could probably talk (write) about this for hours. However, I really hope that it will come through naturally from my entries.

The decision

It was already May, and we had still no clue, where we would like to go. We knew, that it would be Italy. But that was it. Earlier we were talking about Sicily. But then I somehow managed to get in touch with a Calabrian guy who works in London for a credit card company (it's a sad story about corporate life and beaurocracy) who happens to be an owner of a small Airbnb in the middle of nowhere. So we decided to do the thing we did a few times already: start going through the coastline of Italy (well, Calabria and Sicily to be exact) and start looking for a nice place. The process is to look for beaches and then check the accomodation prices online in that area.

The issue was, that everything was extremely overpriced. It was already June. Sure. We were late to the game. Of course. But still. So we began to be desperate. We had several iterations of this with my wife, throughout several weekends. The final decision came around 9th of June when my wife had the idea to look up the nicest beaches in Sicily and she found Cefalu. There were still one or two places available with acceptable prices, so we pulled the trigger on that and it was decided. We are going to Sicily this year.

Of course, it was not that easy. The trip is more than 2000km and we planned to depart right after work. So our idea was to introduce some stops as well. One around Ferrara and the second one already in Calabria in a small town.

The last days before leaving

They were hell. Not literally, but the last few weeks before departure were one of the most intense weeks I had to go through. I couldn't get enough sleep and was constantly overworked. There were not too many good things going on in that period to be honest. I tried to be happy for the vacation and positive about, but it felt more and more difficult.

Nevertheless, I created a spreadsheet listing things we want to bring, we have to buy, listing the budget and what is already packed. We planned the visits to the shops, and gradually prepared everything despite the crazy period it was.

Since we planned to leave just after I finished my work for the day (4th of July), we had to be packed one day earlier. We pretty much managed to do that with the exception of the electronics, cosmetics and medicines which were still in daily use.

Day 0 - On the road again

And finally the day arrived. I planned to work until 15:00, so I finished around 15:20ish by sending the last emails. We still packed for a good half an hour. But that was fine. We never leave on time. There were however two other tasks to be done. Acquiring some cash and filling up the car. But after that, off we went.

This is my favourite part. Being on the road. Driving and just leaving everything behind. At least for a while. This is the part where I relax the most and can start to tune in on the vacation.

The first goal was the Unaway Hotel at Occhiebelli, a few km to the north from Ferrara. Funny story, a few years ago one of the cleaning lady was using the elevator with me and she looked me in the eyes and said "belle occhie". Since then my wife from time to time remembers this story and this was the case as well when we were choosing the hotel. Oh well.

The road there was pretty much already known by us. We were heading first to Vienna, then to Graz and finally through Klagenfurt to Italy. The trip itself turned out to be quite uninteresting, with the only "not the usual" thing being a huge traffic jam just outside of Vienna with a waiting time of at least 30 minutes. Otherwise nothing fancy. We were heading south. We also did a small change: we filled up the car not on the highway but just outside of Klagenfurt. As it turned out, it was 50 cents per liter cheaper this way. Then stopped for a late dinner and coffee at our beloved "Raststation" and from there on, we just went through Italy.

Headed south to Venezia then further on to Ferrara. The roads were pretty much empty, and it was a pleasant ride. We arrived around 1:30 at the hotel.

The hotel itself was a pleasant surprise. Probably focusing on travelers, a huge parking lot (even with Tesla chargers) a nice receptionist and a genuinely good vibe. The receptionist greeted us with broken English (we love Italy) but was helpful and we received our room pretty quickly.

It was really quiet there but one could feel the July heat in the air (although it wasn't too hot per se, it felt more like the residual heat coming from the walls and the pavement). There was some wind, just enough to wave the flags on the flagpoles and provide us with some nice background noise as the metal rope was hitting the pole. In about an hour we were sleeping quite comfy in our beds.

Day 1 - The road to Calabria

After our good night's sleep off we went to the next 1000km journey to Calabria. We didn't leave until about 10:00, and we decided to have breakfast a bit later. The only thing we wanted to do is to get some fuel. It was a journey however.

We have been visiting Italy for at least 11 years. And I am still struggling with understanding (or maybe just remembering) the concept of the self-operated fuel pumps. But here it goes. You put in your card to the central terminal. Enter your pin and they block 100€ from your account. After that you enter the number of the fuel station you want to use and you can start filling up your car. After you are finished, you get a receipt from the central terminal again. Why do I have to make two trips to the terminal? How do I know, if the receipt is mine and not someone else's? Good question. I don't know. Italy.

But we also saw the first Fiat 500, the old version. Cuuute.

After that we headed to the Autostrada and direction Bologna. Then Rome and finally Naples. We switched places with my wife, but nothing really happened during this part of the trip. It was hot however. Really, really hot.

The first changes came as we entered Calabria. We were stunned, how it was full of mountains. I would have never imagined southern Italy full of mountains and hills. It resembled Scotland in a way. I tried to do some shots, but it doesn't really do justice for the sight we really had. And after you think, it is going to be only mountains, you approach the sea. It was just before sunset, and the colours were beautiful. On such occasions I wish I had a camera to record it. Or just an ad-hoc place to stop to take pictures. But oh well.

But then we went off from the Autostrada, to the mountains. As it turned out, Serra San Bruno is a small town 800m above sea level. Since we were using Google's navigation, it took us to some quite challenging roads. Serpentines (fun fact: did you know, serpente means snake in Italian?), with a top speed of 50kmh until you find an old guy, who is doing 30kmh. It took us way too long to reach Serra San Bruno. We even went through some towns, where I had problems navigating through the narrow streets.

We did it however. Acquired the keys from the panel, and were finally in our apartment. And what an apartment it was! I mean, we've been through some, but this was just comfortable from the beginning. We were on the top floor, about 100 square meters. Bigger than our flat at home. Well equipped, 4 beds, kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 balconies and a tranquil atmosphere. Weirdly, it resembled us to an Austrian "Hütte" or Slovak "chata", since the stairs were wooden, the walls also, and the decoration had such a vibe. We even had our own fireplace! It was amazing. According to my wife, the best we've ever been at. Although, it had its downs as well. No hot water. At least not enough. But that's ok. We were only for two nights.

It was around 22:00 when I went off for food hunting. But it's Italy, right? That shouldn't be an issue. Well, think again. Most of the places were already closed, or sehen not, then they already turned off the oven, so they were not able to prepare pizzas for takeaway. However, I got lucky and found a nice place, where they were still working, and prepared two pizzas. There were vending machines on the street which last had beer, so I took two Morettis, and went back to our place. To be honest, the pizza wasn't anything special. But it tasted as such, for sure. We were exhausted from the trip, so after a cold shower we went to sleep.

Day 2 - Serra San Bruno

As we were trying to find a place to spend the two nights, we were sure that it has to be as close to Sicily as possible. The reason was to minimize the amount of road necessary to be driven the last day and to reach the ferry as soon as possible. So we were looking randomly and just based on the Google images tried to find a place which isn't looking bad. Meaning, buildings falling apart etc.

As it turned out, Serra San Bruno was quite the opposite. A nice little town of around 7000 inhabitants. A lot of churches and rather active during the night. We started our day early and were looking for something to check out during the day. We were pleasantly surprised that there is a monastery and also the tomb of a saint (you won't believe it), Saint Bruno's of Cologne.

We headed off to the monastery. Did take a look at one of the churches we were passing by and went on. It was outside of the town, around 2km walk. It should have been open according to Google, but we couldn't enter. Only a small chapel was open to the public, not the monastery. So we checked that out, and then went to see the tomb and the church of Saint Mary opposing it. The way went through a forest, where there were stories of Saint Bruno's life. As it turned out, he received this land from the pope to live in solitude. So he came to the mountains of Calabria and founded the Carthusian Order in 1053. The town was built around the monastery.

Right after we arrived, there was a small pond with water flowing into it with a statue of Saint Bruno. I am a bit unsure but I read somewhere that its water should bring luck, if you wash your hands in it. But don't take my word for it.

The entrance to the tomb and to the church of Saint Mary was impressive. Wide stairs leading up with trees on both sides.

The tomb is on the right hand side at the top of the stairs.

Opposite to it is the church of Saint Mary. It is sadly not that well taken care of from the outside, but it is very well looking from the inside.

After all this we sat down for a nice and easy lunch. There was a restaurant which we were unsure whether it is open, but the nice lady (probably the owner) invited us. We were having just some basic pasta with tomatoes and mushrooms. It was rather good, but I was most happy about the water and coffee which came after. We also shared a glass of wine because, well, vacation, right? This was the place we saw a cute little Fiat 500 again. The son of the owner was riding it. After we finished, we headed back to the monastery.

The monastery was still closed. However, we could go to the museum part. There we were asked, where we are from and to our surprise, we were informed, that there is a monk from Slovakia. He is 50 years old and have been there for quite a few years now. The museum was interesting, explaining a bit of the history of the Carthusian Order and how is the every day life at the monastery. It seems to be rather demanding mentally. For instance: the monks are only enjoying the company of others and engage in conversation with the others on Sundays and festive days.

After all this, there was only one thing on our todo list. The statue of archangel Michael. It is a statue inside the monastery, but it is visible from the outside.

So nothing else left to do, we did a small shopping and went straight home. We started looking for restaurants for a nice evening dinner. We were a bit indecisive, since my wife would have preferred a steak-oriented pub, but for some reason I was not really into it. So we found another place, which turned out to be great! It is called Zenzero II. They offer a rather small, but very delicious menu. I can really recommend them, if you're in town.

It got really cold in the evening. Sub 20 degrees Celsius. But we still hung out in the balcony for a bit. And then just went straight to sleep. We only had to leave at 10:00. Plenty of time to prepare. Or so we thought.

Day 3 - Road to Sicily

And finally, the day has come. The day, when we reach Cefalu in Sicily. We started packing right after we woke up. I was also discussing some details with the owner of the apartment. She told us, that her nephew can't arrive at 10:00 as she told us the day before and there is nobody coming after us, so we have as much time as we want. So we eased up on the tempo a little bit. Packed our bags, I cleaned the car windows and generally were slowly getting ready. We were just about to finish (even on time), when at 9:50 the nephew arrived. With his grandmother (probably), who was asking us, if we are ready to leave. Come on. This is not at all an Italian mentality. Arriving early. But, the chaos is, so, it maybe still fits the bill. So we packed the car, thanked for the hospitality and headed off.

We still had to get some fuel, so we headed to a petrol station. And there we saw something new. Should we have taken the service of the nice guy sitting there, the fuel would have cost about 20 cents more, than in self service. What? We never saw anything like this before. But oh well.

Then we headed back to the Autostrada. The only issue was, that we had to go down the mountains and Google navigated us via narrow roads. Crazy. But at least we had some nice view.

During our descent from the mountains we also went through a town called Soriano Calabria, which looked very nice. Definitely a place we would love to revisit someday.

Our goal was Villa San Giovanni. We already had our tickets to the ferry, just with no time schedule. But apparently it is first come, first serve. The road itself was although beautiful, nothing much happened. We arrived safe and sound to the port and were headed directly into the queue for the ferry. Didn't have to wait long, maybe half an hour, and we were already on the ferry. We had a nice arancini, which was by miles better then the one we had last year in Puglia. Made some pictures, and just to be provocative, I pinged a former colleague of mine, if he is by any chance in Sicily (his parents come from Sicily and still has family there).

We arrived in about 25 minutes to Messina without any problems. It was hot there, nad the town was rather big for my taste, but we managed to cross it, and headed west to Cefalu. To our surprise, here were also quite large hills, even mountains. And the sea had a deeper blue color as we know it from the Adriatic sea. We didn't really do any stops, just headed directly to Cefalu. In the meantime we were already contacted by the owner of the apartment, Luigi, that we should ping him half an hour before our arrival.

We arrived, and started to look for a parking spot. Our plan was to go to the apartment, leave the baggage and park the car somewhere. Well, good thought, but we couldn't even come close to the apartment, since it was in the old town which is closed for traffic. We tried different ways, but nothing happened. We went through narrow streets, different parking lots, but everything is either for residents only, or was full. So we parked at the beach, and went back to the apartment. One funny thing: after arriving after the 2000km trip we found another car from Bratislava parked about 20 meters from us.

We pinged Luigi, and with a 15 minute delay he replied, that he left the keys with the nice candy-lady across the street. Ok. So we took the apartment. It is also a big one, with almost everything one could wish for. There are some things missing, but who cares. So I went back for the baggage and agreed with Luigi, that he will come around 18:00 and we will clarify the details. It was hot. And I had to carry the baggage in hand for a nice part of the way back, uphill. I wasn't happy about it.

Luigi arrived around 18:30. We paid for the apartment, he explained the trash system (basically put it on the streets, every day a different kind. We were visiting Italy for a long time, but this system is still annoying me). After that we asked for parking directions. He promised, that will try and ask around if we can get a discount somewhere, and will ping us in 15 minutes. It's been 6 days since then. So we decided to leave the car for the night there at the paid parking.

After a shower we went to the old town. I would say it is a typical Italian town. With narrow streets, lots of restaurants nad shops, people everywhere. We stopped at a random one to have dinner. We had a nice swordfish with salad. Interestingly, the food isn't that expensive. But the drinks are heavily overcharged. One glass of white wine for 7 euros is a bit crazy if you ask me.

After dinner we strolled around a bit. We also saw, that renting an umbrella and two sunbeds will cost around 35 euros. For one day. Add that to the 22 euro per day parking, and you've got 57 euros per days just for enjoying the beach and having your car parked. We didn't like that. But oh well, we figure something out.

Day 4 - First day at the beach

Our first full day in Cefalu started rather early. At least for me. I was nervous, because I wanted to repark the car to a place, where the parking will be free. So I went to the beach parking place, payed the 24 hours fee (although it was only about 17 hours but oh well) and went off finding a good place to park. Most of the places were residents only. I even went out of the city. I also tried the train station. And there, indeed, were free parking, but no free spots. The most interesting part of this was, that the parking is indeed free, but only on the side of the road, where the sign was. Meaning, since it was a one way street, you could park on both sides, but only on the right side was the parking free. On the left side a resident card was necessary. I althen tried to go to the harbour. I read that there should be some free spots. So after a while I found the correct road. To my surprise I found a nice spot even closer to the city. However, you guessed it, for residents only. So I went back to the car and went down to the harbour. I really got lucky and finally found a free spot. There was nothing much left to do, only to go back to the city. A nice 2-2.5km walk. At least the view was nice.

Also, getting back to the centre of the old town greeted me with a nice view of the dome.

It was around 9:00, but already really hot. And the people started visiting the beach. Well, it seemed really half full. I went further and was looking for a shop. In general we do all our shopping the first day upon arrival. Olive oil, butter, water, salt etc. So I went and did all this. Unlucky for me, the shop was rather far away. But I managed. It was around 10:30 when I got back from the trip.

After breakfast we went to the beach, but we waited at least until 13:30. It was still hot. Well, hot. Not so hot as the sun was burning rather intensely. We didn't wanted to pay the 35 euros for the sunbeds and the umbrella, so we bought our own umbrella and two covers under the towels, so it won't be laid directly on the sand. However, we didn't even open the umbrella for a long time, but rather went directly into the water. To my surprise, it was cooler, as I expected. But still, very tranquil. Almost no waves, and we could swim both ways. To the right, there was the place we visited the night before. To the left, we could have follow the beach.

We didn't stay all that long at the beach. At around 17:00 we came back, and you won't guess, I've got sunburns. I was reading, and laying on my right side, so my left side got most of it. Luckyli, it wasn't the worst case of sunburns, but nevertheless, it hurt. But I survived.

As I was getting myself together from the shock, that I was able to get burned the first day at the beach, I discovered, that there are unwanted visitors on our small balcony. They were starting to make a pretty big noise and I really felt like under surveillance. They were of course pigeons. Sitting on our balcony. And just staring at us.

We finished the day with a simple meal. We still had paprika, tomatoes and onions, so it was a call for "lecsó". I won't say I am a master of it, but believe me, when I say: I do a pretty good one.

Day 5 (Sunday) - Climbing up

After getting sunburns yesterday, for Sunday we decided to take a different approach, and took up to go and climb the rock above the city. It seemed like a relatively big challenge, but we didn't know how big it really is going to be.

We headed off relatively late. It was already getting hot, and since we were not going to the beach, we only did some light coating of sunscreen to the face and arms. Oh boy, this turned out to be a problem later on. And the second thing, that we didn't take any sunscreen with us. That was the big issue number two. Nevertheless, we took off to the hill.

At first our thoughts were, that this is easy. I mean, we were going on some stairs and mostly in shadow. Still, a nice old Italian couple was already struggling a bit. The lady even said something like "Siamo vecchi" meaning "We are old". Well, in that heat it wasn't easy for them I imagine. The only thing that concerned me. Besides the heat was the fact, that several people coming off the hill looked rather tired. Bot I shrug it off with the thought, that they were probably just out of shape. Well, as it turned out, this wasn't the case. The stairs took us to the main gate. We took some nice pictures, and headed further up.

The next station was reachable mainly in shadow, but it wasn't stairs anymore, so the terrain got finally a bit more challenging. We climbed up to the walls, the church from the 9th century and the cross, which was erected sometimes 1980-ish on the place where originally the locals would create fire like a primitive lighthouse.

We also took a look at the first church erected on the rock, sometimes in the 4th or 5th century.

From there, it went only uphill. There was no shadow, and it was a really hot day. It could also have to do something with the fact, that it was around noon. We had to make several stops, just to catch our breath, but we made it. During these breaks we were thinking about the elderly Italian couple, whether they will make it to the top. After reaching the ruins of the castle at the top of the hill, we had really enough. The view was stunning, but to be honest, I am not 100% sure it was worth the struggle. We took some pictures and headed off downhill. During our descent we met some nice girls, one of them asking with an already partially sunburnt red face, whether we have any sunscreen on us. We didn't have. To this day I am thinking about her, and hope that she is well, and didn't get too much burn.

After we got back to the entrance of the park, we had to take a break. We bought some water, coffee, beer, fruit juice and just enjoyed our accomplishment. During this stay we saw a group of japanese guys, with a camera bigger than mine, a tripod, half of a watermelon and a bottle of wine. I don't know whether they made it to the top, but I have the highest respect if they did.

After all this we thought, that we deserved a nice relaxed afternoon at the beach. And so it was. Although we did all the security measures regarding the sun, it was too late. As it turned out, my left shoulder got too much sun, and I've got heavy sunburns. Probably from having the camera hanging on my shoulder during our trip to the hill. Oh well. I guess I never have an Italian summer vacation without getting sunburns.

Nevertheless, in the afternoon we went off to have a nice dinner. And so it was. We were looking for a place to eat, and found a nice little restaurant, which offers mainly Sicilian dishes. We promised the nice lady explaining to us what they are doing, that we will return, but for this night, we had something else on our mind. Pizza. We found a pizza place called Sapponni and I finally had my fresh pizza. The waiter was a young guy, and a funny one as well. At least he did some jokes regarding the pizza I ordered (my diavola "arrived" as quattro formaggi).

Day 6 (Monday) - Sightseeing

We already saw the city from the hill. For today we decided to check it out from the "inside" as well and explore it a bit more in detail. The weather was all for it (hot as hell and the sun burning like it would like to cook us alive), so why not.

The biggest and most interesting looking building is the duomo. We even joked about, whether it would be a paid entry or not. And guess what, it was. However, since there was a renovation going on, the entry was free. On the other hand, we were not able to check out every aspect of the dome. At least we did some photos. What I found the best(let's say feature) of the dome was, that it is not fully decorated. It is in a nice Romanesque style.

After the dome we strolled around in the city. Found a Michelin star restaurant (as it turned out, there are three such places in Cefalu), and went to check out bastion as well. It was a bit of a disappointment to be honest, because besides the big wall we couldn't really see anything. Well, not exactly. The sea view was great.

We also went down to the rocks beneath the city wall (as it turned out, the wall is 3 meterss thick around the seaside). It was a nice surprise, that one can go around them, since there is a pavement around the rocks, making them easily accessible also for swimming or sunbathing. But it was hot there, and I had the feeling, that the rocks were reflecting the heat even more.

After such a full program (take a joke, will you? Thanks.) we decided that we deserve some beach time. After which - and after a short shopping - I started making the dinner. Now, I am not the best cook of the world. But I can make some basic Italian food, like spaghetti carbonara. But not in the kitchen and equipment we had in the apartment. It was a disaster. There was no real knife, no wooden spoon, the stove was induction based. Come on. I basically made scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese and pasta. I was really disappointed in myself. At least the next one will be better (it only can be better).

Day 7 (Tuesday) - Mafia

Tuesday was the day, when we went after a bit more "culture". We wanted to explore the nearest sights. According to google, there was a castle nearby, an old ruin of a monastry and an archeological site of the town previously known as Himera.

But first, I had to do some shopping. Shopping is an interesting feat in Italy. Well, at least in Cefalu. The biggest shop nearby opens at 8:00. Which is rather odd for me, since at home the shops nearby opens at 7:00, some of them even earlier. Oh well. I arrived to the shop at around 7:50 - 7:55 and saw one of the cutest scene during our trip. An elderly man was standing at the entrance of the shop with his shopping cart just up to the doors (like 10cm from the door). Waiting patiently to be entered and start off his shopping journey. The pride and satisfaction on his face when he entered the shop as the first customer of the day was really priceless. After I returned and we had our coffee, we got on our way. We had to go down to the port thoug, since I parked the car there. I was a bit worry, whether it is a safe place to leave the car, but besides a thick layer of sand laying on it, the car fine.

Our first target of the day was Castello di Roccella. It seemed like a nice first stop. Well, it would have been, have it been open. But we only could take a look at it from the outside. It seemed, that it is sadly not really taken good care of. Some windows were broken, and the surroundings didn't really resembled a place welcoming for tourists. We took our pictures, and went further to himera.

Our next stop was the ruins of the ancient city previously known as Himera. I don't really want to go into details regarding history of Himera (just use the Wikipedia link). The point is: it was a rather important Greek city on the north coast of Sicily. They had a huge battle in 480 BC, where they successfully defended their city from the Carthaginians (although, for not too long). As a memory of this victory, they built a temple, the foundation of which is still visible, and was discovered rather late, sometime in the beginning of the 20th century. There are two museums present. One smaller one, which is right next to the remaining base of the temple. This one is a small, more modern looking museum, where they tell you some interesting details about Himera and how was life back then. We were a bit unsure at the beginning, but it was really worth it.

As you can see, not much is remaining from the temple's original glory.

As we were arriving to Himera, we couldn't enter the museum by car. So we stopped accross the road at a coffee / restaurant. The inner wall of the coffee was full of pictures of racecars. As it turns out, this restaurant was just beside the road for the Targa Florio races and it was themed for it. It looked like a nice place for parking, and we decided to have some coffee and water there. As it turned out, it was a rather fancy restaurant, so we also had something to eat as well. The eggplant pasta with fish was good. But having the air condition blasting 20C air towards us the whole time, when there was 40C outside, wasn't. So wi skipped the coffee (what was our original intention) and also the sweets, and just went up to the hill for the second part of the museum. As we were approaching our car, we saw probably the most 'You know you are in Sicily when ...' sign. That the building, we were having dinner at, was confiscated from the Mafia.

The second building of the museum looked a bit more like a museum. It was however concrete, steal with lino floor, so it felt just like being back at the university. The reviews on the internet were correct. This museum doesn't sell tickes, you have to buy one down, at the small building near the temple. And there is no information written in English. Which is sad because the information seemed to be more in depth. But at least the stuff was nice. There were mostly every day objects, small statues, but also gifts and parts of the ancient mosaics presented as well.

This was at the central place at the museum. A decorated golden plate which was probably a gift of some sort.

From this place we went straight to the monastry. At least we wanted to. But Google as a navigation tool sometimes has a different understanding of which roads are well suited for a nice trip. We tried several ways to reach the city of Gratteri, but Google took us on roads, where our car just wouldn't fit. Bumpy "country" roads, narrow on gravel. It just wouldn't work. Oh, and don't forget, that we are talking about mountain roads. So narrow turns on the serpentines. After several tries, we just gave up. There was no point of risking getting stuck in the 40C on a mountain road. Here is a picture to make it clear, how the surroundings were. It may not seem like much, but some of those mountains are 2000m high.

On the way back, we encountered some rather lazy pidgeons (or just hit by the heat). We almost hit at least 3 of those. We either had to drive around them, or hit the breaks. As we returned, we just headed to the beach for some swimming. In the evening, we discovered a nice seafood restaurant. We had some octopus and some cold cuts. The funny thing was, as our young waiter was bringing our food asked which one goes to whom. We answered in Italian ('per lei' and 'per me' doesn't require huge knowledge) and he started chatting us on. So we apologized and told him, that our Italian isn't that good yet. For which he answered in English, that 'Oh, I was just saying, that you surprised me that you are Italians, because you don't look like Italians.'. Well, he was right. We aren't. We also found a nice bar, with good music and a nice selection of craft beer and cocktails. It was a good end of the day.

Day 8 (Wednesday) - Beach day 1

And it finally came. The day, we were not doing anything particular. Reading, sunbating and swimming were the main three things happened with us today. We were also looking for some blanket for the beach, because are roll-up thingies weren't doing the trick. We found those in the shops in the town for 18 euros. So we decided, that we will try asking one of the guys selling these at the beachfront, and we settle for 15 euros. The guy said 20. We said 15, and he was OK. As it later turned out, he would have been OK with 10 as well, but who cares. We bought it, and it served us well.

After the lazy day I had to do some shopping, because we had nice dinner plans. Steak with salad. A'la me. At least, I didn't messed it up as I did with the spaghetti carbonara. It was probably the best meal I ended up doing this vacation. It was a quiet evening in the apartment, playing some board games. We probably were just getting more and more into this 'slow' movement which is apparently huge in Italy.

Nontheless we made a small walk in the evening in the city. It was really nice. Look.

Day 9 (Thursday) - Beach day 2

Since the previous day was so nice, laid back, and chill out, we decided to do a similar day to the day before. Since we had to take out the trash every day until 8:00, I was up rather early once again. So I decided to go and buy some breakfast for my wife. There was a nice bakery at the corner of the square for the dome. So I bought a croissont (for some reasong called briosh in Italy) and something which resembled a donut filled with ricotta cheese. It was rather nice, and the taste of ricotta full.

After this, we were reading and I also worked a bit on the blog as well (believe it or not, it takes a LOT of time). So we went later on, around 15:00 to the beach, and were enjoying the water. I must say, the sea is the calmest one we ever had the opportunity to swim in. And the view from the sea is also one of the prettiest. You have the view of the old town, the hill above it, and on both sides it ends with heavy rocks closing the land. In the sea there are small boats enjoying the view with you.

After our beach day, we went for some food. Sadly, our pizzeria was closed so we went to another one across the street. The pizza was OK, but the wine was unplesently hot. As if one would forget it in the car during a sunny day. Oh well, still wasn't as bad as the carbonara.

Day 10 (Friday) - Beach day 3

On Friday I finally didn't had to get up early because of the trash. Otherwise the day went on, as if it was yesterday. Reading, beach etc. The small change was, that in the evening I went to the shop (you know, the one where the elderly guy was waiting at 7:55 in the morning?), did some shopping and prepared a risotto from a bag! You know the bagged pasta dishes you can buy everywhere? Well, Italians have risotto in such a fashion as well. And it didn't event tasted bad. After adding cheese and butter, it was as if I made it from scratch. Certainly pleasent.

Here, take a look of the city as I was going shopping.

Day 11 (Saturday) - New beach

After three days of being beach days, we had to switch it up. So we went to a different beach. Well, it wasn't really the beach one would imagine. It was the (Kalura Beach)[https://goo.gl/maps/Gwv1zQxeX1kAnQj3A]. From there, we could have a nice view both to the rocks around it. To approach this place, we had to go down to the port, and then going beside some very pretty resorts. We almost forget about the heat we were in. Probably these resorts are the ones, we would never visit, because of the pricetag on them.

As we arrived, we were looking for a nice place with the flattest rocks. The good thing was, that at least our towels were not getting sand on them. Downside? Rocks get hot and push more. So, I'm not a fan of rocky beaches. But oh well. But the water was crystal clear, although the waves were stronger than in the public beach we were regularily go. However, it seemed to me, that the water was also warmer. What seemed as something dangerous though, was people jumping off the cliffs. But they seemed to like it. The second downside of this beach besides the rocks were, that it is under a wall of rock. Meaning, it got into shade rather quickly, so we had to leave, because we were getting cold in our wet clothes.

On our way back we saw weddings in those expensive resorts. It seemed like something from a movie. Hot (35C), and people were arriving in fancy dresses, a pianist playing some pop songs in a smooth jazz version and people sipping some cocktails. We probably resembled some barbarians comming from the beach with messy hair in our flip-flops. Even so, as we heard some goats, we immediately started looking after them. Village people, right? But we found them. At the top of the hill, two goats were comming down. As we reached the city, we decided to try something local: ice cream in a bun. It was good, but was it really that good? Meh. It was too much. Basically a meal.

Since we had the ice cream for basically dinner, we decided to take a late strolling through the city. Just walking around, taking pictures.

We finished the day with some snacks and playing Scrablle. Nice game, altough I was defeated. But not for long!

Day 12 (Sunday) - Palermo

Since we had a few days to relax, we decided to mix it up a little and planned a visit to Palermo. We knew that one day won't be sufficient, but we just wanted to take a look at some sights, and in general, to be able to say we visited Palermo. We headed off rather early (relatively speeking). The road was ok, but as we were reaching Palermo, it got chaotic. Never mind that the three lane road didn't have markings, or that people were pushy and aggressive riders. We had our parking place set in Google, which will lead us right to it. Right? Wrong. We arrived to the parking place, and everything was closed. And we wouldn't want to risk to park on the streets, since there is always a chance, that we weren't allowed to park there. So we looked up another one and went there. It was a scary place, I'll be honest with you. Trash laying on the streets, dodgy people walking around, and everything just looked old, and as if people didn't care about them. The garage seemed OK, but we had to leave the keys with the guy. I am not comfortable with this, but oh well. So we went off to the city centre. And saw a prime example of Italian parking (and organization as such).

After this, we stopped by at the church of San Giovanni, which isn't actively used today, it is more like recovering the ancient state with the garden surrounding it. One can visit also the priests home. Information was available in English as well, so that was a win. And my wife even got a free entry, since she is a teacher. So it was really nice.

After this we went to check out the 'Palazza dei Normanni'. We've got lucky, becuase as we baught the ticket, there was no real line to wait in (we waited maybe 5 minutes), and they just opened the palace.

First, there were pieces from a local artist. Well. Experimental artist. He did some of his paintings with box gloves by punching the canvas with them after he submerged them into paint (his motto: "I am not punching to cause pain, but to create art."). And also there were ancient statues painted in white and randomly left paint drip down on it. Just take a look.

As we went further, we also saw the chappel, which is probably the most interesting part of the palace. It is a highly decorated, relatively small chappel in the palace. We eardropped a bit and at received some nice information. Like that the ceiling decoration of this chappel consists both Arabic, Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic texts. It really underlines, how different cultures met in Sicily, and in Palermo especially.

After the chappel we checked out the rooms. Classic decoration on the walls, but the last one had probably hte heaviest decoration of all. With the saddest looking leopards I have ever seen. They seem to have the symbol of Sicily, as we saw it many times as decoration on different places.

After this, we had to take a break. We were too tired even to take a look a the garden. It was getting hot, and we hadn't had any water with us. Note to everyone visiting Palermo: take water with you! The last part of our visit was visiting the dome and the museum. We bought the 'full' tickets, meaning, that we could visit the treasure, crypts, roof, everything. It seemed like a good idea. The only problem was, that it was the hottest day during our whole visit, reaching 42C throughout the day. So climbing up, and being on the sun, didn't seem like a fine idea afterwards. Although, the view was stunning.

Inside, the dome was ok-ish. Also undergoing renovation, so we couldn't see all the parts. There are a lot of chappels (of which I won't post details here and now). We also know now, that there was even a priest, who was killed by the Mafia, since he was working with children, and they had concernes, that the people will rebel against them.

After the dome we went to the museum. The museum was great, but we were getting overloaded with culture. Also, if you already visited bigger galleries and muesums in Italy, it somehow resembles those, just in a minor scale. Like this Madonna. I couldn't remember where, but I think I saw already some version of this.

And this black Madonna. It resembled the black Madonna of Loreto for us.

But the museum was worth it. Really. We only wanted to visit a last 'take a look and leave' thing, which should have been the Quattro Canti crossroad. It was. But the heat, and the absence of water or food, made us not really enjoy it. So we sat down for something to eat. I finally tried something Sicilian, the caponata (eggplant-based ratatoule-like dish). Interessantly enough, it resembled the taste of a cold dish generally available in Slovakia - Bulharsky salat. After we gathered our strength, we decided to try another one, the pane ca meusa. We saw it in one caffeteria, but as we went back, it was already closed. So we just went back to the car. The guy told as (in Italian, yeeey, I could practice mine), that it was record hot today. The above mentioned 42C. We paid him the 3 euros per hour, and went home.

It was around 17:00 as we arrived back in Cefalu. Since it was Sunday, it was full of people, and there were no parking places left. So we left the car at the beachside parking for the night. As we were heading back to the apartment, we sat down for a coffee and some sweets. We decided to try cassata al forno and we were done for the day. So we just played some cards and called it a day.

Day 13 (Monday) - Post Palermo chill - Beach day 4

I couldn't sleep long on the day after Palermo, since I wanted to move the car. I had to act quick, and hope that the port has some free spots left. So around 7:15 I went down to the beach, and took the car down to the port. I've got lucky. There were still places left, and the sun was just getting up. So I parked the car, and took some pictures.

I also bought some sweets for breakfast (the foliette my wife wanted, the the cannoli one have to try in Sicily), and then we were reading all morning. We went to the beach for a nice swim, and we set our record. We went until the ferris wheel, which is about 1.5-2km. Enough for us. There and back, in probably the most windy (and active) sea, we ever had.

In the evening we went for dinner and a walk. We found probably the restaurant we liked the most. It was in a neighboring street. A nice cat was begging everyone for food. The staff was nice (and mostly spoke only Italian). The food was delicious, and not that overpriced. It was generally a good place we would return to later on. I finally tried cous cous with seafood.

We also found a bar, where they served gin. Last year we found out, that we like good gin, so we were happy about it. The guy serving us was also nice. He was explaining gins for us, and also gave a tip, where we could find pane ca meusa in Cefalu. Only on Thursday in Bar Lion. We were there quiet long. But at least we could stroll the city only us being there awake.

Day 14 (Tuesday) - Beach day 5

Yet another lazy day. Sleeping late, I barely could do my Duolingo lections until noon. It was the same as previously. Reading, then beach, and headed back to the apartment late, around 20:00. After a short shopping I did some spaghetti with tomato and we were just playing cards. A generally laid back, easy day.

Day 15 (Wednesday) - Beach day 6

Maybe the day before was too relaxing, because I couldn't sleep. I slept probably like 4.5 hours, and was awake since 6:00. I was just scrolling the internet, reading, and passing the time. Not being productive is sometimes good, and healing. But then again, you question whether you've spent your time wisely.

After a light breakfast we went to the beach a bit earlier, around 14:00, and I was able to finish my second book I took up during the vacation, the Galina Petrovna's three-legged dog story. It was fine. But had some concerns and issues with the book.

After the beach, we went to eat once again at the restaurant we recently discovered. And finally I tried 'pasta con le sarde'. It was very delicious. After that a nice lamb-steak, and the night was done for me. We also had a small chat with our waiter, and then we were just walking around in the city for a bit.

Day 16 (Thursday) - Last day

For our last day we decided to go early to the beach. At 9:00 we were already there, and were enjoying the water and the sun. Well, this idea turned out to be great, if you want to get sunburns, especially if you doesn't have an umbrella. Which we didn't have ofcourse. So we were suffering at the beach. Going every 20-30 minutes into the water, because the heat was unbearable. But we managed. Read, and enjoyed our last day at the beach. A nice british lady asked if we were staying at the beach, because she wanted someone to check upon their stuff. She was nice, but had no clue, where Slovakia is. Oh well.

At around 12:00, 12:30, it was getting so hot, that we decided to look up Bar Lion, to finally have pane ca meusa. We succeeded. We found the bar. But not the sandwich. They are making it only from September. A sad day. I missed my chance of having it. So we went to the shop, where they were also serving sandwiches. I had a focaccia, my wife some other sandwich, and went back to the beach. Sunbathing and then swimming.Occasionally reading for about 20 minutes (tops).

We went then back to the apartment, got ready for the night. We went shopping for gifts which took us lesser time as I expected. I even got recognized for my Bud Spencer t-shirt. I'm not going to lie, it felt good. We brought the presents back to the apartment and we decided to get a 'street food dinner'. So we bought some arancini. It was delicious. Went back to our gin bar, where we faced (or rather, listened) to the most annoying customers during our whole vacation. I rather not mention nationalities, but they were annoying, with a dirty language and entitled. The fact, that they were over 60 just made it worse.

At the apartment we didn't have the strength to pack up, so we just went sleeping. The next day will be long.

Day 17 (Friday) - Homecoming 1

And here it is. The end of our trip. We got up at 5:30 and started packing. It took us about an hour to pack everything. After the two big bags were done I brought them down to the harbor and reparked the car to the beach parking place. Did another trip, and we had breakfast. After a shower we were ready to bring the last remaining stuff to the car and head off. We waved goodbye to the sea, and headed off at 9:00. We did the final shoppings for the road and also some gifts. We left Cefalu at 9:45 and headed to our trip touching three seas: Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea and Adriatic Sea.

The view was once again stunning. We reached Messina without any issue and got lucky. The ferry was prepared to be boarded, so we didn't even had to wait. It was great. We also got the feeling, that the trip back to the mainland was quicker then previously. Then we headed off through Calabria to Rodi Garganico. I think we have to re-visit Calabria. It is stunningly beautiful. My only issue is, that the Autostrada is switching allowed top speed between 110, 50, 60 etc. It is crazy. Luckyly everyone is ignoring it. Also the roads leading up to the small mountain villages are a bit narrow, and not that well taken care of. But one can manage.

We went to the southern part of Italy, and saw the Ionian Sea as well. This part of the trip was rather scary. There was a lot of fire on the fields, probably because of the heat. We travelled throughout the day in 38-40C. Even at 18:00 there was 39C.

After this, we went straight to the Apulia region. Drove around Bari and headed to the Gargano peninsula to reach Rodi Garganico. I must admit, I love that village. And although our hotel where we staid the 3rd time (and now as well) isn't the best equipped, the view is very well worth it.

In Rodi it was pretty hot as well. Even during the night. We visited some of the places we still remember from the years before. Took some nice pictures and seated for dinner. Pizza.

After the dinner we sat down a bit on the edge of the old part of the village and then went down to the port. We sat down for a gin there at the place where we initially discovered that we like it and then went for a walk at the beach. The sand here is like the finest dust you can imagine. Not even comparable with the sand at Cefalu. After walking through the village and remembering our past visits we went to sleep. The 800km was enough for the day, and we were planning another 1350km for the day following.

Day 18 (Saturday) - Homecoming 2

And here we are. The last day, the day we come back home. We had troubles getting up, altough it was rather late, around 7:30. We went for some sweet breakfast at 8:30 and then at 9:30 we were already checking out. We filled the car up, and went our way.

The road to the Autostrada was taking longer then expected, since we reached a convoy, where 5 semi trucks were leading the way, and we had only 70-80kmh tops on the road. But there were some nice moments as well. For instance how were cows watching us. There was a small bridge for them to cross the road, and they were just chilling there watching the cars passing by. After reaching the Autostrada we had the nice view of Apuglia, which we could enjoy longer as we thought, since we were sitting in a traffic jam for around half an hour.

After this the trip got quieter for a while. As we switched with my wife, so she was driving, we were already 300km away from Rodi Garganico about the height of San Benedetto del Tronto. I started planning, whether we should go through Bologna or not. As it turned out, there were traffic jams (accidents) between Rimini and Bologna and also between Bologna and Ferrara. So we decided to take a right turn Cesena to Ravenna. This seemed like a good idea at first. But... Black clouds were gathering from the north. We only reached it's tail, but it was a disaster what we saw there. Road signs and lamp posts ripped out. Vineyards rolled flat. Roofs destroyed. Cars pushed down from the road. Crazy. Take a look.

After this we went further on to Venice on the free (public) roads. It wasn't that hot, around 25-28C, but sunny. However, I had another worry. Something started to make an unpleasant noise in the car. So I checked it out, but couldn't find anything. It seemed as it would come from the front, probably from the windsheeld, but could not see anything.

Because of this reason, we decided that we will go a bit slower, around the top speed of 110Km/h. This meant, that the 550Km ahead of us would take un considerably longer as expected. Nevertheless, it was in my opinion the good decision. We filled up the car right after Udine and I had a really nice chat with the guy at the checkout. We were talking for about 5 minutes in Italian (I won't lie, I was proud of myself). We took some pictures of the Alps, and went on.

We also stopped for a late dinner at Graz at a McDonalds. It is our "ritual" with my wife, that on the road back home we eat some 'junk food'. Well, in this case the word 'junk' can be taken literally. It was the worst tasting McDonalds I ever had. At least I won't miss it for a while. We didn't went to Vienna, but rather took a shortcut to Wienerneustadt, around the Neusiedl am See and reached home at precisely 2:00. And so, just like that, our travelling days were over.

Verdict

How to reflect on this vacation? It was a good one. One of those vacations, where nothin in particular went wrong (well, the car, and the weather on the road home and the occasional sunburns). And that is a big one, especially if I concider, that we've got robbed, a flat tyre or even stung by a jellyfish. So it was great from this aspect. Were there any issues? Sure. The car had some, probably a better planning would have been beneficial as well. But still, it was a good one with a nice balance between sightseeing and leasure. Reading books and playing some board games. That was nice.

Then there were the surprises.

There were quiet a few of those. First of all, 800km after a workday is doable. Very much doable indeed. Felt even too litle. We had the feeling, that we could have went on for another few hours, until around 2AM. So this is something to remember for the future trips. Note no. 1: plan at least 1000km if you leave until 16:00.

We were also very much surprised about Calabria. It really was resembling Scottland (at least for us). All the hills, valleys, small towns, seaview. It was just great. Another place on our bucket list, and is currently really up high on it. The only downside? Have a smaller car. A 2nd generation Ford Focus has enough power to go up and down those hills, but (believe it or not), it is too big. I really wished I had a smaller car (maybe even a more powerful one)? In places like this you you start to understand why cars like the Abarth 595 makes sense and are really the perfect tool for the task of going through these corners. Another point to the bucket list (this is getting really expensive really fast).

And there is the food. I had high hopes that it will be diametrally different, since we are going to a rather famous place. But the food, except for some unusual ingredients, was more or less the same one would find anywhere in Italy. Don't get me wrong. This is a good thing. It means you find great food everywhere in Italy. Except for some random places in Florence. Believe me. I know.

The other thing is, that people do speak English in Italy. Even on the south. I mean, we've been to Apulia. The first guy who spoke fluent(ish) English was only at the Ford dealership. It was something great, since we were forced to practice our Italian. But sometimes annoying, when you can't have a basic chit-chat with the people around you. It was weird, but since it pushed us, we were learning Italian harder. And started using it more confidently. Well, this was not the case in Sicily. Almost everyone spoke English (ok, we were mainly in tourist locations, but still). This also goes for Calabria. We only met a small amount of people there. But they were speaking excellent English. Even though it was was a realtively small town. So that's a real heads up and another reason to visit Calabria.

Socializing. We realized, that having smalltalk with people is something we enjoy with my wife. Never did it though. It takes time for us to open up to people, and in most cases we are not the ones getting chatted on. Maybe this is something we could work on in the future. We are for sure going to work on this. I am 100% sure. Maybe take some classes, how to speak with foreign people? Maybe.

Plan to leave an hour early.

Don't stay at the beach the whole day.