Author Archives: jopjop3

Due to heavy rain forecast we had deliberated whether to visit the Pompeii archeological site first, literally opposite our campsite or one of the several great local options all commutable from the train station next door – Amalfi coast, Naples, Herculaneum etc. In the end, we went for broke and booked a guided tour forContinue reading “The wonders of Pompeii – Pompei, Calabria, Italy”

We have had a couple of unplanned maintenance days caused by an issue with the ignition on our Mercedes requiring us to attend a main dealer here in Italy. They were super helpful and have resolved the issue and it is working better than ever. We had a few other jobs which were also dueContinue reading “Back online – Pompei, Calabria, Italy”

We made a fairly leisurely start this morning to make sure we did not hit rush hour in Messina for our ferry trip. We walked the dogs down to the beach for a run around and I finally got to try the local Granita and brioche roll which is a local speciality for breakfast. IContinue reading “We have reached mainland Italy 🇮🇹- Morano Calabro, Calabria, Italy”

After posting yesterday, we had a bit of indecision on our overnight pitch, as when surveying where to watch the sunset we saw a better spot with one other van. So we drove round and got a great spot to watch the sunset. Whilst we did so, we spotted we were being microwaved from multipleContinue reading “Taormina visit – Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy”

We are parked up overlooking the view at Rifugio Sapienza (Wisdom Refuge), the end of the road up Mount Etna at 1910m. The refuge is purportedly a ski area, though it is decidedly lacking in snow coverage for ski-ing at the moment. It was only a 30 minute drive from our camping site last nightContinue reading “Camping on a Volcano – Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy”

We were awoken in the early hours, as our dogs were disturbed by something. We were camped in a scruffy end of town and an even scruffier car park, so we had only just got to sleep with one ear open. I slid open the blind on our bunk to reveal a pack of strayContinue reading “Turning North – Belpasso, Sicily, Italy”

We left under the view of Agrigento temples, standing sentry over the road to the west. A fairly long drive west today and a little inland to the UNESCO protected area of Val di Noto consisting of 8 baroque towns perched on hillsides, of which we have randomly selected Ragusa to visit. The drive wasContinue reading “Baroque Town – Ragusa, Sicily, Italy”

We had a positively leisurely start this morning as we are already parked up a short hop from the Valley of the Temples. Last night by the power of the spooky Facebook algorithms I was offered Amanda and Alan’s Italian Job to watch on BBC, where they buy a house in Sicily for €1 andContinue reading “Templed out 😀 – San Leone (Agrigento), Sicily, Italy”

Last night BBC weather gave a “fresh” wind for where we were in Sicily of 12mph. We had previously experienced a BBC weather “moderate” wind in Alghero (Sardinia) which had the local navy issuing gale warnings. It turns out, a fresh wind is pretty similar. We were buffeted and rocked through the night in ourContinue reading “Erice, Selinute, Scala deli Turchi – San Leone (Agrigento), Sicily, Italy”

We were glad to exit the crazy Palermo traffic this morning and get out of the city. Although even the few kilometres we had to transit were pretty fraught. Lanes are pretty optional and the more beaten up the car the more aggressively they drive. However, we escaped unscathed, happy to take the dual carriagewayContinue reading “Segesta Temple – Erice, Sicily, Italy”