Apologies to my fellow Sheffielders, but Sheffield in January and February it is not my favourite place to be. So we make it our business to head for warmer climes for a few weeks. This year we settled on Sicily.
As is so often the case, our journey started with the failure of our local No.6 bus, operated by Stagecoach, to arrive. Undeterred, we trudged down the hill to the main road, and made it to the station for our train to Doncaster for an LNER train to London, as usual the cheaper option than the direct EMR train from Sheffield.
After an evening spent exploring the pubs and diners of Kings Cross and Euston - you can still get a good dosa on Drummond St, although it is a bit harder to get to with the HS2 works around Euston - it was an early train to Paris, all the fun of the RER to Gare du Lyon and soon enough a TGV to Zurich. With the Paris to Milan main line closed due to a landslide, we had to divert via Switzerland - travellers of old would have used the Gotthard railway, as evidenced in Sarah Winman’s Still Life - we decided to take a ride on the Bernina Express, another highly scenic Swiss railway. To do this you take the SBB train to Chur - well used by skiers, and there are special ski racks on the trains. At various stations you can switch to local trains that leap up the hills like mountain goats to get you to the slopes.
A few hours of breathtaking views later, we switched at Tirano to a modern Italian train that took us to Milan. Naturally we were able to find a good pasta dinner and next day we were off to Naples, on a Freciarossa that took around 4hrs 30 to cover the 800-odd kilometres. Travelling around Europe, it makes you weep what a backward place the UK has become since it got taken over by right-wing ideologues, racists and free-marketeers. Cancelling HS2 beyond Birmingham is just the latest of a series of insults that have been meted out to the British public.
Naples is notoriously a bit of an eye-opener. Noisy and filthy, it has a energy that is irrepressible. Obviously you can eat the best pizza in Italy and that means the best pizza in the world but you will find great other meals and drinks as well. Public transport varies from the utilitarian metro, the efficient Tren Italia to the rather ramshackle Circumvezuvio. An unexpected gem was the rail museum about half and hour out from the centre
and of course a trip to Pompeii is not to be missed.
It’s a sobering thought that about two million people live within a short distance of the dormant but not defunct volcano.
Our bnb was on the fifth floor, high above the street hubbub and like others had a rooftop breakfast bar -an excellent idea, one to look out for.
Our next leg took us to Taormina in Sicily. For this you get the old-style InterCity train that has made its way down from Rome and is loaded onto the ferry for the short trip across to Messsina.
Taormina hangs perilously from vertiginous slopes and its Greek amphitheatre is spectacular.
We stayed in a fab AirBnB with excellent views and use of a swimming pool 10 minutes from the centre.
Heading further down the coast we arrived in Syracusa to meet up with family who being time-poor had flown down. This is an excellent small town - we stayed in Ortigia the island at the foot of the town - and even has a couple of small beaches, not that we used them. Our family had brought their coughs and sniffles with them but went home in a much better state.
Sad farewells made, we were back on the rails - up to Messina to change for Palermo.
To be continued…
Visited Taormina last September and having Endured 5am starts for work through these dreary winter months I've constantly viewed and Followed various Instagram accounts featuring this beautiful part of Sicily to help me through these winter months!!
Simon, I am not the slightest bit envious. A constantly wet February in Sheffield is, um, near the beautiful Peak District and, um, makes me look forward to nicer weather 🙄 etc.
Incidentally, the fantastic photo of Taormina shows a theatre, not an amphitheatre. There’s a widespread belief that if it’s outdoors and has uncomfortable seats, it’s a amphitheatre, but strictly speaking, an amphitheatre has seats all the way around. The Colisseum in Rome is an amphitheatre for example.
Anyway, as I say, I’m not even mildly envious 🤥. Can’t wait for part 1! 😄