“Europeans, like some Americans, drive on the right side of the
road, except in England, where they drive on both sides of the road; Italy,
where they drive on the sidewalk; and France, where if necessary they will
follow you right into the hotel lobby.”
During the course of this trip there is only one destination where
it will be necessary to get around by car… and that would be in Sicily.
One of my younger brothers, “Bud”, is a
chiropractor that has lived & practiced in Catania for many, many years…has
even met & married his wife, Lourdes whom Dick and I will get to meet for
the first time on this trip.
We haven’t seen Bud in almost 20 years. He and Lourdes
have made sporadic trips back to the US but those trips are always back to
upstate NY where we were born & raised, and where my other siblings still
live.
Bud and Lourdes have a vacation cottage located in Castiglione, a town on the northern slopes of
Mt. Etna, about an hour’s drive from Catania. We are headed there on one of our
days there to see his vineyard and to sample the fruit from his two cherry
trees there which he says produces some excellent cherries, and to have a lunch
complete with the wine from their vineyard.
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| Castiglione |
And, as mentioned in an earlier post, our BIL Joe’s parents were
born and raised outside Catania in a town called ‘Nicolosi’ on the opposite
side or down slope of Mt. Etna. Joe hasn't been back to Nicolosi since he was a kid (…a
hundred years ago!) but wants to head there on another day to see the old
family homestead and town again.
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| Some residents of Nicolosi...they must be relatives of Joe! |
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| Mt. Etna as seen from Nicolosi |
So, how to get from Catania to these places? A car rental seemed
logical. Fran & John (friends who will be on the Sicilian part of our
trip) were assigned the task of finding a car rental. A minivan for
six people. Cost? with insurance? Almost $1000 for three days!
John to Joe: “I
can get an international driver’s license but there should be a second person
who can drive as well.” Logical.
Joe: “I’m not
driving in Sicily. Dick, you can be the relief driver”.
Dick: “I don’t
wanna drive in Italy. You drive
Joe. After all it’s ‘your’ country”.
Back and forth;
back and forth.
I remind Dick
about a month ago that he has to go to the local Greensboro AAA office to get
his international license. Another balk. I cannot say that I blame him!
I don’t want to drive there! We’re reading nightmare stories online about driving in Italy. The internet is littered with links:
Enter a
solution. A highly recommended driving service comes to us by way of a recent visitor (another cousin of Joe's) to Sicily. http://www.goingsicily.com/home.php. 'Simone' will be waiting for us in the Arrivals section of the airport & taking us to the Catania hotel.
He will spend 8 hours one day driving us touring us around Sicily and to my brother’s
place on the North side of Mt. Etna; and another 8 hours the next day going to
Nicolosi. Enroute we will see what's supposed to be some of the most beautiful coastal cities in Sicily. On our last day they will be doing the early morning run from the
hotel back to the airport. All four days
will cost us about $750. Split between three couples.
A bargain.
Peace of mind.
Dick & John are two happy
campers.
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