Driving along the coast of Puglias heel, passing by vineyards (Primitivo 😍)… all the way to Calabria, the South-West or the “toe” of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula. First impression: Calabria is very green & lush.
Tropea for dinner.
Taking the ferry from Calabria to Sicily via “Lo Stretto” or “The Strait of Messina”, a 3-8km wide strait under which earthquakes frequently occur – the last one in August 2025. Oh! Well, we got lucky. Arrived safe & sound in Sicily.
Apparently, Italy’s government agreed to start the construction of a bridge connecting Sicily with the mainland, “il Ponte”… but lots of reasons speak against it (earthquakes, the depth of the sea, the mafia…).
We arrived in Sicily. Up to 29C degrees. Wohoooo. Summer continues. Blue sky, sometimes a couple of clouds.
The traffic is nuts, hubby an amazing driver, google navigating the way, me the street life: bike from the right, another one left, old man crossing the road, light is turning red, arghhhhhhh.
Well, we made it without incident… you just have to adapt to the Sicilian driving style. That rally training comes handy. Lol.
Once we made it out of the crazy city traffic, the sun is above us, the sea in front of us. It’s a beautiful ride.
We stayed in a farmhouse among vineyards on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active stratovolcano.
Wondering, if that is also our breakfast, next to the cereals 😅
And here is the beauty “Mamma Etna” as the locals call Mount Aetna. Constantly active (last eruption in June 2025), today only smoking, and luckily not erupting. It is located above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
Arrived at 1900 meter. What a ride. Etna’s highest point (at the moment) is 3357 meter.
Moving on from the top of Etna to the West coast of Sicily.
Sicily reminds us about Hawaii (green huge mountains, volcano), Vietnam (the Bays), and Arizona, California (the color of the mountains). And that’s why the “spaghetti western” films (low-budget films being made in Italy during the 1960s and early 1970s) are recorded in Sicily.
It looks like from a different world. Crossing Sicily in the middle was fun.
We drove between sky and sea, the road winding along rocky cliffs, twisting and turning, leading up and down. And finally, we reached the coast again, always with this constant view of the blue.
We arrived in our final destination in Sicily, a place which was once used as a tuna fishery 🎣
Now it’s turned into a place with a villa located in a large Mediterranean garden that slopes towards the water. Lots of birds, geckos and butterflies included. It’s so very peaceful. Very charming.
Fall in Sicily means a green, lush garden.
Crystal clear waters directly in front of us.
Glad to have the geckos, there’s plenty of mosquitoes. They may look kind of different here, with extremely big wings, but eating us up as before.
Sicily’s coastline is just wow! Stunning!
An additional hour in paradise 💛
We enjoyed slow mornings, beach hours with Jack Johnson in my ear, thinking of where to have dinner and finding lots of beautiful places by chance.
Dinner time after enjoying our aperitif.
We seem to be lucky again. Not only for the weather but Sicily is shutting down pretty much November 1st until March next year. Winter break. We keep holding on to summer. Just a little bit longer.
Most villages are on top of the mountains in Sicily. Charlie and I took a gondola ride up.
Cappuccinos after 11am, oh dear 😅
Another day at the coast.
Sicily is different compared to Italy’s mainland. I am in love. Maybe it’s the dramatic and diverse landscape that really caught me. Mount Etna was a really unique experience. I am also in love with the coastal beauty: the variety of coastlines, from rugged, rocky shores to sandy beaches with clear Mediterranean waters. Maybe it is the mountainous areas to rolling hills and picturesque coastal towns? Don’t know what it is, but Sicily caught me 🫶 💛
Pizza in Sicily is different: unlike Neapolitan pizza, it is typically rectangular, with crispy dough, sauce, and less cheese. Toppings of anchovies, oregano, bread crumbs impart additional bold.
Delicious 🫶
…and then I found this. In the middle of nowhere 🌞
Driving on…
Wow! Just wow!
The sun goes down at 5pm. Enough time to go home, shower and get ready for aperitif & dinner 🥰
Did you know that Sicily has a “Blue Zone” in Caltabellotta, a remote mountain town?
The term “Blue Zone” was coined by researchers studying regions around the world with the highest concentration of people who live to 100 and beyond. The five major Blue Zones are currently in Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Ikaria in Greece and Nicoya in Costa Rica.
In case you want to get old but don’t live in a sun-soaked Sicilian village, you can adopt longevity-enhancing practices into your own life: keep stress level low, option for a Mediterranean diet, strengthen social bonds, move, move, move, and escape the city!
Another reason to stay in Sicily 🌞
Our car looks more and more like a grocery store: prosecco from the hills, olives, oil & wine from Tuscany, pasta from Bari, Primitivo from Puglia, more wine from Sicily… mmmhhh, the next weeks are going to be delicious.
Sicily, you are stunning. Your simple life style. Your fresh caught fish & how you prepare it for dinner. Your beaches, stunning colors! Wow! Magnificent. We loved being here, and we’ll be back for sure 💛
We are heading on to Palermo.
Stuttgart547 