Benvenuti a Sicilia!

Not going anywhere it seems. « Il maestrale » has decided for us. 25-30 knots of wind with 8-10 feet sea swell is not gale, but it’s more than enough to be really uncomfortable.

So we will dedicate our 1^st two days to shopping for onboard supplies (of which there is NOTHING on the boat, not even salt, pepper and dishwashing soap)and going for a drive on the West of the islands to see antique Taormina and the majestic Etna volcano.

Sicilia is Italy, yet it’s different in many ways that the Italy we know. Decades of social disfunctionnality linked to the decline of social institutions in favor of informal institutions set up by the mafia obviously left this mark. Everywhere can be seen old decrepit buildings abandoned, new half-finished buildings abandoned, junkyards, and piling trash in some places. The towns seen so far are not pretty, to my great surprise. The island itself is extremely mountainous, a striking view from offshore, full of ragged peaks shaped by volcanic activity and cascading slopes meeting the sea. Vegetation is dry for the Mediterranean but familiar, with lots more eucalyptus and palms than mainland and filled with wild prickly pears cactus and aloe plants. We are closer to North Africa than mainland Europe, and it shows. The landscape is beautiful – but man has not helped it.

Second surprise: I can actually manage the Italian spoken here just fine, despite all the warnings given to me before I left that sicilian was not italian, and I might have a hard time understanding them. Which delights me because I love the Italian language – strange how empowered one can feel getting the hang of a foreign language! It’s a new world out there. They are nice enough to us, but nowhere near as friendly as northern Italians. They reveal themselves to be everything I first thought about southern Italians when I first came to Italy 2 years ago (and was amazed how northern Italians are nothing like that): brash, loud-speaking, arm-waving and not very polite. They cut in line, they cut you off in the street, and they drive very badly (but not particularly fast).

Tomorrow, we shall sail if the wind wants us too. Fair weather should return in the morning, and off we shall be!