You know, it’s kinda amazing how amazed I continue to be after travelling for so long. Mind you, I have become somewhat indifferent to ‘beautiful churches’, ‘interesting museums’ and ‘gorgeous panoramic views’. Yet I am still surprised at the disparity between different areas of a country. Southern Italy is so different to northern Italy. One of the biggest discrepancies I’ve noticed is the distinct lack of wealth here. It is a much poorer area. I have been consistently reminded of South America in my travels along here, in both town and cities. The farmers use only their hands or tools to plant their crops……tools to help section the dirt into rows, then each small plant is hand-planted. I shudder to think of the hours it has taken them to plant the rows upon rows of their crops. Walking along the footpaths amongst paddocks, bonfire smoke permeates the air and wraps me in a blanket of nostalgic comfort as the farmers burn off whatever it is that they no longer need. This is different to where I’ve been before.
Another big difference, well perhaps a larger exaggeration, is how very VERY seasonal the area is. Sure, you are always going to find a lot more people spread throughout Italy in the summer months, but down here everything just closes down mid-autumn. We were the only people in our hotel and likely the district where we stayed, just outside Tropea. Finding the hotel was definitely an ADVENTURE!!! moment. After leaving the train station we were greeted with rural nothingness….and we had NO idea of which way to go. Usually outside a train station we find a map of the area and Snuffy has a quick look at that at and then we trot off to our destination, however there was NO map at this train station. There was nothing except a ragged departures list. So we started walking in the direction Andrew estimated the hotel would be and miraculously found ourselves on the right street! We started following signs to a different hotel on the same street in the hope that it would take us to our hotel. ADVENTRE!! We started walking….and kept walking…..and kept walking….and kept walking. This was a damn long street, and to top it off we hadn’t seen a single number. Technically the number of our hotel was 1, but we weren’t even sure if it was just there to keep tourists happy. We finally made our way to the end of the street…..to find a lighthouse and several stray cats. No hotel. With a sigh and a flurry, we flopped down onto the pavement and felt the hopelessness kick in. We would just have to call the hotel…but my battery was flat and Andrew’s was very nearly. We tried to make a quick call….to get hold music. Five minutes later, the same thing. We sighed and picked up our baggage to trek back to see if we had missed the place. Just at this moment a car came down the road to do a u-turn and make its way back and we flagged it down. I asked the gentlemen in my best Italian where La Bussola was located and he replied in English with something along the lines of ‘far from here – I’ll give you a ride”. We were so grateful. I couldn’t believe the kindness of this gentleman – he was obviously nearly at this destination and he went out of his way to deliver us to the hotel. I could have kissed him, particularly as it had just started to rain! Turns out we turned the wrong way onto the road and it was about 3km from where we were standing. Bugger!
Anyway, we got into the hotel and were met by the lovely owner who again spoke English, which I must admit I wasn’t really expecting for the lack of people and wealth lying around….but he was great! We made it up to our room and relaxed for a while.
When it came to eating dinner, the owner drove us to a restaurant and told us to call him to pick us up when we were done! We weren’t going to of course, but he sent his son down half an hour later to wait for us! I just can’t believe how much people go out of their way to help you down here – it may be poor in wealth but certainly not in character!
The next day we went for a walk into Tropea, which is supposed to be exquisite. It is certainly beautiful, but is very much a summer destination. Tropea was also pretty much closed up with the exception of a few cafes and grocery stores for the locals. The beach was quite pretty, and was the first ‘white sand’ beach we’ve come across in Europe. It was definitely sand (not rocks) albeit quite coarse, and it was sandy in colour rather than black. The one anomaly we found was that it was much more ‘sinky’ than normal sand. You know how if you want to walk with a little less effort and a little more grace at the beach you walk right next to the water where the sand is firm? Well, it’s not firm here. You sink just as much, and you get your shoes wet. Weird.
It was a nice walk though, throughout Tropea and into there – 7km on winding roads, working farmers and even the owner from the hotel just sitting in his van and checking to see if we were okay – not sure if he drove past and saw us or if he was sitting there for some other reason, but he left after he asked after us.
The only other news is that I missed a step in the bathroom and banged my knee really damn hard (and, of course, I have no bruise to show for it – it is swollen though) which has meant that my physical activity has been limited. Thankfully the next day we were just travelling to Sicily – and yet again, the owner of the hotel drove us to the station. He was so lovely – he even gave us the number of a friend he has in the police force in Palermo for us to call if we got into any trouble. Unfortunately we misread the timetable and ended up waiting at the nothing station for nearly two hours. Sigh. We also nearly missed our train to Palermo because we arrived 2 minutes before it took off – a mad dash to the platform revealed the train starting to move off, but thankfully the train driver saw us and waved us on. Phew!! It took a little while for the train to really get gong, well at least I thought it was – turns out it was being set up to drive onto the ferry to take us across to Sicily. That was something I wasn’t really expecting – we were on a train on a ferry. Tee hee. Here I was thinking there was a tunnel or bridge or something. I was way off.
Which brings us to Sicily and Palermo….until next time folks.
Tropea photos
