SICILY      

I completed a trip to Sicily 30 Apr 99.  With the Balkans thing going on, the best way to get there now is probably from Norfolk Naval Air Station.  I was able to hop a KC10 to Rota, Spain, and on to Sigonella, Sicily.  Not all the seats were taken.   The trip to Rota took some 7 1/2 hours.  On to Sigonella took about 3 hours.   I arrived at Sigonella around 0400 hours.  Billeting furnished a BOQ for $9.00 (shared room - only kind available at this hour).  I signed up for the room for 2 nights.  The Navy has 2 sites there.  Nav1 and Nav2.  Nav 2 is where the air passenger terminal, billeting, and small  deli, snack bar, pizza place, etc is located.  Nav1 is the main post.  A Navy Lodge is located there ($65.00 per day single), a Base Exchange, Commissary, etc - basic facilities you will find in the states.   Navy allows Retirees access to all these facilities.  Navy does furnish a shuttle bus daily between the two sites, about 10 miles apart, I would guess.   Schedules are located in well-defined bus-stop shelters throughout the bases.

One added plus for all sites I visited:  Dover, Charleston, Norfolk, Rota,  Sigonella  - all have internet connections that allow retirees, if their ISP supports it, the sending and reading of their own e-mail.  Make sure your ISP supports this.  A truly nice innovation!  Most Terminals are probably located in the Base Libraries , although Dover had one of theirs in the USO facility at the terminal, Charleston had one located in  Billeting .  There may be others.

I rented a car on-base (Nav2) (Europcar) for $35.00 per day unlimited mileage all-inclusive including insurance.  Temper this fairly good price with the cost of gas at around $5.00 per gallon.  The highway system is excellent.  There are "Autostrade" highways throughout Sicily.  The autostrade to Palermo from the Sigonella area is a freeway.  From Palermo to Messina, and from Messina back down the east coast of Sicily is mostly toll with many tunnels on the way.  There are not any rest facilities along the way as we are accustomed to here in the states, although there are designated Parking-area-pull-offs along the way.  Although bathroom facilities are not in these stopping places, it seems the users of these highways nevertheless use the surrounding areas to relief themselves.   Uh..."when in Rome??"

I noticed some type of animal that resemble sheep grazing and got a picture near where I spent time at a Hotel on the northern part of Sicily on the Med.  Here's its picture.  GIs,  I later found out,  have a word for this creature:  "Geep" - a cross between a sheep and a goat.

"Geep" grazing near Stefano di Camastra (ME)

The Hotel La Playa Blanca is an inexpensive hotel and restaurant I found at 98077 Stefano Di Camastra.  It is located midway between Messina and Palermo.  A single room with bath cost about $25.00 that of course includes a Continental Breakfast.   Hotel is located right on the Mar Tirreno (lower part of the Mediterranean.  Access to the beach area, however, is not an option - all volcanic material as is much of the shore line between Palermo and Messina..  There is an outdoor dining facility, swimming pool, and lounge chairs.  For me the big plus was the surf  hitting the shore.  If that won't make for a perfect sleep nothing will!  The Italians including the Sicilians have a custom of eating dinner sharply at 8 PM.  For about an hour before that you can see people strolling along the streets in a leisure manner.  Then at 8 PM they all disappear into their favorite restaurant!  Dinner can take up to 2 hours.   I also followed this tradition and enjoyed a great 4 course dinner most of the diners were ordering 7 courses) with some excellent house wine for a cost of around $7.00.  Very enjoyable.  Here's my bartender/waiter preparing coffee for me the morning I left. 

The dominating landscape in Sicily is Mt Etna.  She is visible from just about any place on the Island.  I asked a local about her.  I was told that right now she was "asleep".  This picture was taken from Nav1 Sigonella.  The cloud cover of her peak is quite common.

One can drive all around Mt Etna, but not all the way to the peak.   The devastation of just what molten lave does to a landscape is awesome.   In touring villages around Mt Etna I found the road sign below and decided to go there - Viagrande = Large Street.  And indeed quite a wide, large street it was.   Remove the last 3 letters of this word and . . .  well......  I am quite sure the villagers who observed this American laughing out loud as he viewed a common road sign were thinking:  "Another crazy American!"

Liechtenstein   Spain