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.
Hard to think of Taormina as Sicily’s Cancer Ward and sorry to hear you had a tough summer. Amusing how tourists get such a different idea of places. An odd question, perhaps, given all your to-ing and fro-ing: why are so many Sicilian highways on viaducts (like between Catania and Enna)?Presume it must be to prevent earthquake damage…
Yes, the Taormina hospital is hidden aways way, way below Taormina it’s actually closer to Giardini Naxos, if you blink you will miss it and in my opinion it is best avoided. Living in a place is totally different to being a tourist for sure, I wish tourists could be aware of ‘both sides of the coin,’ it’s easy to idealise a place like Sicily.
In regards to the viaducts, yes I think it is an earthquake related thing as the building laws are very strict and have many elements introduced to withstand earthquakes. Everything in Sicily is built in reinforced cement, even seeing a basic house construction site is like witnessing a skyscraper going up. They don’t call la Sicilia ‘la terra ballerina’ without a reason ….
La terra ballerina – what a great name….Yes, I remember driving into Agrigento, expecting wonderful temples all over the place and seeing, well, a half-built Soviet city. Quite an eye opener.
Yes there are many places which are still being rebuilt after the 1968 earthquake, some terrible concrete monsters in places like Belice, abandoned ghost towns (Noto Antico is an archeological site) and half finished things that will always remain unfinished. Tragic really. By the way the viaduct that I put in my post is actually part of the famous Circumeteneo railway. The tiny little train that goes from Catania to Gela around the base of Mount Etna. I’m a little obsessed by it as I still haven’t been on it.