Link to the photos from Messina to Torregrotta to Barcellona to Tindari
12/12 Barcellona to Tindari, and back down the hill to Falcone - 18.37 miles
The next morning was sunny, and I could not have been more thankful, as it could just as easily have been another day without any progress. As it was, I was perfectly fine with repeating the two miles, and after stopping in to thank the family once more for their hospitality, I crossed my last stopping point.
The rains had done some very serious damage, destroying houses, flooding all lawns and farms, completely paralyzing the drainage systems, and covering the roads with debris. I walked through a war zone, happy to have stopped when I did, and felt sorry for the people whose lives had been so rudely shaken by a very angry rainstorm.
Moving on, I took a three or four mile detour to a city called Rodì Milice,
where I had business to take care of relating to a previous encounter, all of which I will relay in detail at a later date. After being dropped off back on the road I had left to climb to the town, I continued onward toward the hilltop sanctuary of Tindari, which sat on a bluff overlooking the coast in both directions.
This was no small hill, and I was a good 80 to 90 minutes climbing up to the tip, reaching the village of Locanda right as dusk fell, and just as it began to rain. I asked around for lodging up top, and found that there was only one option. When a call to this B&B resulted in failure due to water damage, I was without options, and for the first time on my trip, felt that it was possible I would have to walk back down the hill in the rainy night.
Silly me, how could I have such little fate in the firm and guiding hand of Providence, who has never left me without a roof over my head. A man and his son, who had come up to Locanda to buy some homemade cheese, heard me describe my travails, and offered to drive me back down to Falcone. Further, the man introduced me to the owner of a restaurant in the town where I ended up staying, ensuring good treatment and a fair price.
The restaurant owner, in turn, allowed me to "carry his name" to the hotel owner a bit out of town, and in that way I secured a low price on my room, which would otherwise have been much higher, as the hotel owners closer to town were all taking advantage of the water damage to artificially inflate their prices.
In comparison to B&B Monika at Torregrotta, this was hospitality with money in mind, and so I was happy to walk a mile out of the way to be able to stick it to them.
When I came back for dinner, I saw that the restaurant was completely full with the Italian army, who had been called in to deal with the national emergency that I had just walked through. Still, despite the abnormally busy restaurant staff, my dinner was delicious, bountiful and reasonable priced, and I went to bed thanking my lucky stars for continued good fortune.
You know, I once heard that Homer's epics contain certain phrases or epithets that fill out the verse in a given number of syllables, like "Aegis-Bearing Zeus" (5) and "Zeus, King of Gods and Men" (6). Looking back at my various entries, it is fair to say that "thanking my lucky stars for my continued good fortune" has played a similar role. Not that I am comparing myself to Homer, of course; it's just that after six months of talking about the same general subject, it is hard to stay fresh, and I guess in some small way,
I know how Homer must have felt, especially when describing the various combat verses. Good thing I am almost finished, ha.
12/12 Barcellona to Tindari, and back down the hill to Falcone - 18.37 miles
The next morning was sunny, and I could not have been more thankful, as it could just as easily have been another day without any progress. As it was, I was perfectly fine with repeating the two miles, and after stopping in to thank the family once more for their hospitality, I crossed my last stopping point.The rains had done some very serious damage, destroying houses, flooding all lawns and farms, completely paralyzing the drainage systems, and covering the roads with debris. I walked through a war zone, happy to have stopped when I did, and felt sorry for the people whose lives had been so rudely shaken by a very angry rainstorm.
Moving on, I took a three or four mile detour to a city called Rodì Milice,
where I had business to take care of relating to a previous encounter, all of which I will relay in detail at a later date. After being dropped off back on the road I had left to climb to the town, I continued onward toward the hilltop sanctuary of Tindari, which sat on a bluff overlooking the coast in both directions.This was no small hill, and I was a good 80 to 90 minutes climbing up to the tip, reaching the village of Locanda right as dusk fell, and just as it began to rain. I asked around for lodging up top, and found that there was only one option. When a call to this B&B resulted in failure due to water damage, I was without options, and for the first time on my trip, felt that it was possible I would have to walk back down the hill in the rainy night.
Silly me, how could I have such little fate in the firm and guiding hand of Providence, who has never left me without a roof over my head. A man and his son, who had come up to Locanda to buy some homemade cheese, heard me describe my travails, and offered to drive me back down to Falcone. Further, the man introduced me to the owner of a restaurant in the town where I ended up staying, ensuring good treatment and a fair price.The restaurant owner, in turn, allowed me to "carry his name" to the hotel owner a bit out of town, and in that way I secured a low price on my room, which would otherwise have been much higher, as the hotel owners closer to town were all taking advantage of the water damage to artificially inflate their prices.
In comparison to B&B Monika at Torregrotta, this was hospitality with money in mind, and so I was happy to walk a mile out of the way to be able to stick it to them.When I came back for dinner, I saw that the restaurant was completely full with the Italian army, who had been called in to deal with the national emergency that I had just walked through. Still, despite the abnormally busy restaurant staff, my dinner was delicious, bountiful and reasonable priced, and I went to bed thanking my lucky stars for continued good fortune.
You know, I once heard that Homer's epics contain certain phrases or epithets that fill out the verse in a given number of syllables, like "Aegis-Bearing Zeus" (5) and "Zeus, King of Gods and Men" (6). Looking back at my various entries, it is fair to say that "thanking my lucky stars for my continued good fortune" has played a similar role. Not that I am comparing myself to Homer, of course; it's just that after six months of talking about the same general subject, it is hard to stay fresh, and I guess in some small way,
I know how Homer must have felt, especially when describing the various combat verses. Good thing I am almost finished, ha.
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1 comment:
Homer??? Patrick, you definitely have too much 'thinking' time available to you, as opposed to action/event time...such as, stampeding sheep maybe?
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