I think I may have inadvertently led people to believe I had a wonderful summer lazing around the beach and traveling around Sicily.
In reality I had a terrible summer, every time I tried to go to the beach it was friggin freezing and in August my mother in law spent the month in hospital at Taormina which meant I was helping out at my in-laws, taking 2 hour stomach churning car trips back and forth through the mountains to relieve my sister in-laws who stayed in hospital with my husband’s mother (trust me you don’t ever want to be left along in a Sicilian hospital!)
So summer was a hazy mirage of heat, family obligations and late night sleeplessness to get through writing deadlines.
I did manage to snap a few pics which will give you a sense of my summer on the road, it is nothing like last year (2013 was great with visitors and trips to Etna and Taormina). Here is what my summer looked like:
The road back and forth going from Montalbano, Linguaglossa, Moio Alcantara, Giardini Naxos to Taormina hospital.
Hot August Summer traffic outside of Giardini Naxos.
Where have all the tourists gone? The economic crisis makes itself felt in the seaside resort of Giardini.
Sicilians in their balconies and deserted streets at Giardini.
The crumbling and utterly depressing Taormina hospital which is far, far away from touristy Taormina.
True old fashioned Sicilian’s don’t go to Taormina for their holidays they get treated for cancer at Taormina hospital. They don’t go to Acireale for Carnivale they go there to buy second-hand cars in the acres of car yards.
This summer I became a true Sicilian, forgot about vacation time, rolled up my sleeves without complaining and did what was needed. Their tenacity is to be admired. These Sicilians are certainly tough but they never really truly enjoy their own island, which gives them a melancholic quality and why I hope never to be one hundred percent Sicilian.
I’m so sorry that you had a crap summer. I hope that your mother-in-law is better now. If it’s any consolation, I spent June and July doing the same thing when MY mother-in-law invested HER local hospital. My brother-in-law made hospital visits fun by making a phone call in German in the corridor – starting a minor panic in the geriatric ward when a man started screaming “the Germans are here!” Never a dull moment when he’s around 🙂
That’s fine Joanna, I’m hoping to make it up by spending some time in the southern hemisphere during our winter!!
The mother in law is doing fine, she gave us a scare but it turned out to be a gallstone problem which was fixed by a routine operation. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, I got to see a little more of Sicily and my mother in law had a Jehovah’s witness and Evangelist in her room so we were praising the lord sister and brother most of the time 😉
I hope tua suocera will be alright.
Thanks Yvonne, she’s doing just fine, her dementia will never get better but thank goodness it turned out to be gallstones. Hoping to make it up by going home to Australia for a holiday in the new year.
We ended up in A&E in Modica hospital on our holiday. They were amazing and very patient (!) but it was not anywhere near the standard we have come to expect in the UK.
Sicilian hospitals are scary places, I’d avoid them at all costs but if you get lucky and find good Doctors it can be bearable. I really don’t understand how in a country like Sicily which is really very people/community/family orientated could put up with such a bad healthcare system.
Oh no… Im sorry about that!! 🙁 I hope next summer will be better, so much to make up for this one!
That’s fine, I will survive. Hope to make it up with a trip back to my native Australia and I so will be making it up next summer thanks.
A summer in Australia must be amazing, Ive never been to your country, I hope to make it there someday 🙂
I love it, it’s such a beautiful place and I really miss it even though I’m told it has changed a lot since I’ve been living overseas. The last time I visited I did notice things had become quite expensive. The world is a big place, I hope you get to Australia too! I feel like I’m missing out on visiting a lot of different places!
Sorry you had to go thru the hospital trauma with your mother in law. I wish her well.
Thanks Sharon, we managed to stumble through, happy to report it wasn’t anything serious.
All the best to you too!