Anchors Away!

Our next adventure was Sicily! We headed out after breakfast on Wednesday and drove down to catch the Villa San Giovanni car ferry to Messina. Our route there was interrupted when a landslide had closed the road, so Gypsy (our GPS) rerouted us through some harrowingly skinny "streets" barely wide enough for the Panda to squeak by. Thank goodness no one came the other way when we were going through. Finally made to San Giovanni only to find John and Barbara on the same car ferry, two lanes over! Too funny! After a short ride across the straight, we drove off to try to find the Autostrada to head down the coastline of the Ionio Sea of Sicily. The water at Taormina was quite chilly and had a very strong undertoe, so we did not swim. The red flag was out and the clouds were moving in, and we didn't feel like freezing. We put our toes in, got the goosebumps, snapped a few pictures, and headed toward Etna. By the time we got to Etna's turnoff, the drops were pecking the windshield and Etna was shrouded in clouds and sheets of rain. Our timing couldn't have been worse, but we decided not to risk getting caught in the storm. So we headed on to Sigonella where we planned to stay the night. After going to the wrong gate, we finally found NAS1 and checked in at the Gateway Inn. Had a fantastic steak dinner at the Sig Inn and called it a day. Did some exploration and headed back to the ferry. There was so much road work on the Autostrata, and we were worried about getting back before dark through the skinny "streets," so we didn't make any side trips. Caught the car ferry back and the rerouting went like clockwork, so we were home in time for pizza and gelato and some shopping in Tropea. Saw a beautiful sunset tonight over Stromboli (the volcano we can see in the distance from our balcony). Lots of pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows. Can't believe we only have two days left in Tropea. Ciao!