Sorpresas (Surprises) in Sicily.

Sicily, Italy

Since we started cruising, quite a few people have visited us on Berkeley East. Family, friends, neighbors, business collegues, cruising buddies. Some came for the sailing. Others wanted to see a country, or island, that we were at. A few wanted the cruising “living the dream” experience. Some came just to hang out with us. But we couldn’t figure out why the Amantes (Vanessa and Neal), were coming to visit us in Italy. They own their own yacht, a Hylas 70 named Amante, so they weren’t coming for the sailing. They’ve cruised in the Caribbean, so they have already had the “living the dream” experience. They travel extensively, were in Europe just last year, so it wasn’t our location that motivated them. And we had only seen each other in passing while cruising the Caribbean and US East Coast, which meant they weren’t looking to spend time with old friends, as we barely knew each other. In fact, their visit came about from a few innocent emails, with no verbal discussion at all. In one email, they asked where they should meet the boat, we told them we would let them know when they got to Italy. In another email, they asked how long they should plan to stay, we said it didn’t matter because we reserved the right to put them off the boat at any time if it wasn’t working out. They said they liked beans, we said Berkeley East was a bean-free zone. Nothing deterred them.

Boats are challenging places. The small space and trying conditions have been known to stress even the best of relationships. Berkeley East is a nice 54-foot size, but we often find ourselves wishing BE was larger, or that there was one less person on board (and that is when it is just the two of us). So with the Amantes’ pending visit, we were concerned about having people on board that we barely knew. If we sometimes struggle with each other on the boat after 32 years of wedded bliss, how could we cope with near total strangers?

When the Amantes came aboard in Riposto, an unimpressive working town on the East Coast of Sicily, we had already been there for a couple of days and had gotten to know, and like, the rustic little place. The people were friendly and while the marina was still priced at high season, the markets were a bargain. Nowhere else in Italy had we been able to buy eight limes and two heads of lettuce for just two Euro. Sorpresa (surprise)! What a deal.

As always. the weather, and Berkeley East’s needs, dictated our path. BE was happy, but the weather said go south, so we decided to anchor along the coast. Our first attempt brought the Guardia Coasta out to escort us away. The second choice was clearly too deep and too rolly. So we went to a marina in Catania, where we squeezed BE into a berth that was about three feet too narrow. Once settled, we turned to see a lovely view of trucks and containers.

As we walked into town for dinner, we actually questioned the safety of the dark, grimy streets (luckily Neal had thought to bring a flashlight). Two boat workers offered to show us the way to a great restaurant; we followed, walking further and further into what appeared to be a run down, deserted town. Then we turned a corner and sorpresa! We found a big, beautiful square full of life, a very unexpected surprise.

We ended up having a good dinner in a scenic little alley across from our new boat worker friends. Our cruising guide said that the people of Catania don’t take care of their town because they live with the threat that an earthquake or volcano will destroy it at any time, as it has in the past. But as we explored the city the next day, we realized that you just have to get past the rough exterior to find the special places within.

Moving on to Syracusa was much simpler. A nice sail, a nice anchorage, a very nice town. We spent the day wandering through the archeological park, seeing the city, trying to crash an Italian wedding, and finding Sicily’s little-known discovery, The Big Head.

Further south, we stopped at Marzimemi, another diamond in the rough. It actually seemed a lot like Mexico. The flies in the marina were annoying, but the flies on the road were a bit scary. As we passed one dumpster, someone wondered what might be inside that would attract such a large swarm.

We moved on quickly and once again, sorpresa! There was a lovely little square and a trendy bar, another hidden Sicilian gem.

We hired Giuseppe, an English-speaking driver / tour guide, to take us to Noto, a Unesco World Heritage site and an extremely beautiful town with 100 churches. How such a small place could support, or need, 100 churches was a mystery.

We had gelato for breakfast, spent the day wandering and learned about Sicily from Giuseppe during the ride. We were surprised at the landscape, it was very dreary compared to the other parts of Italy that we have seen.

Moving on, we anchored in Porto Palo, where we celebrated Vanessa’s 50th birthday (she really doesn’t look a day over 48). It is amazing what a tasty fish dinner on the boat can do to dress up an unattractive fishing harbor.

It was there that we finally asked the Amantes why they traveled thousands of miles to visit people (granted, really terrific people) that they barely knew. Their answer was that we made it all look so fun here and they were trying to decide if they should bring their boat, Amante, to the Med. At that time we said sorpresa! And told them that we only put the good stuff in the blog. We don’t know what they decided to do, but we hope they will sail over and join us.

The next morning we headed for Marina di Ragusa, a good jumping off point for the Amantes and an opportunity for us to check out Berkeley East’s winter marina. Sorpresa! They threw a party that night to welcome us, and at midnight there was a huge fireworks display in honor of Larry’s birthday. Our arrival happened to coincided with the towns “End of Summer” party, when the locals celebrate the departure of all the tourists.

We had one more day to tour Sicily with the Amantes, so we hired Giuseppe, our English-speaking driver / tour guide to show us around the area. Sorpresa! He sent Roberto, a non-English speaking driver, so we had an Italian tour of Ragusa, and Modica (famous for chocolate), two beautiful towns,

The Castle of Donnafugata,

and Agrigento, the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas, some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself.

The drive to Agrigento was long and hot through unattractive countryside and dumpy cities, one of which apparently once had so much Mafia activity the they had to call in the military. We were rethinking our decision to make the trip when, sorpresa! We saw the first glimpse of Agrigento and knew it had been worth it.

As we left Agrigento, everyone was dozing, even our driver Roberto. The radio played a familiar song and heads began bobbing, feet started tapping. We’ve always thought it was interesting that so much music played in Italy was sung in English, rather than in Italian. Here we were, four Americans (and Roberto), driving along in Sicily, listening to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” — it was September 11th.

The Amantes left the next day. Their visit truly was a pleasant sorpresa. Maybe it was because we knew so little about each other that it all went so well. There was no history, there were no expectations. Perhaps it was because there was nothing to lose, no lifelong friendship to harm, no family bond to preserve. In the end, the Amantes were great on the boat, hard workers, excellent land travelers, and a lot of fun to have around. Two strangers came aboard Berkeley East, and a week later, two new friends departed.

With over 1,300 pictures, in one week, from 4 cameras it was difficult to select just a few for the blog.

Previous Comments

11 Jul 2013

Valetta Amante

I so love this photo. This is the 4 Americans on holiday photo.