After final good byes to everyone in the morning we packed up the Renault which was very tightly packed once it included Paul, Hashy and their bags, and begun our journey north to the Amalfi coast where we would be spending the week together. To break up the drive we had organised to spend 1 night in Tropea so we had around 3 hours in the car and a half hour ferry journey to contend with for the day.
Google maps again proved invaluable, guiding us through the mean streets of Messina and right onto the ferry. Obviously Sicily is an island but the gap between it and the mainland is only a couple of K’s it seems vaguely odd that they haven’t built a bridge? Anyway there are constant ferries back and forth so with little to no trouble we had the car parked on the ferry and were up on the observation deck to take in the crossing.
The drive itself was reasonably uneventful except for Steph’s strange decision to aim for the many potholes on Italian roads, one in particular rearranged a couple of spines for the travelling party. We were again bamboozled by the way house doors opened directly onto the road as we went through some of the small towns. The roads are only a car and a half wide, flanked by 2 and 3 story terraces with no footpaths so anyone leaving their home is at significant risk of death.. anyway, town planning aside, at around 1 in the afternoon we arrived in Tropea for an ice cream and a wander before making our way down to the beach for a cheeky dip.
I don’t think it’s possible to explain how great the swimming is in Tropea. The beaches are by Mediterranean standards sandy, the water the most crystal blue you can imagine, with vision down to 15 metres. There are rocks to jump off, the water is warm, there are caves to explore and cheap cocktails on the beach. Dream stuff.
The town itself is built above the beach on the edge of the cliffs, making for some crazy looking buildings, tight winding streets, old stone buildings and cobbles - a really lovely place. Our accomodation was just out of town so after dumping our stuff we headed back in via taxi for dinner. The town was buzzing with people and the atmosphere was party like. We had a nice dinner down one of the little streets and a final little wander about the town before heading home to our slightly weird accomodation for the night!
(For what we had just planned as a little stop over Tropea turned out to be an unexpected highlight, the beach might be the best ever, the town is cute and full of good food and energy, couldn’t recommend it enough)
