5/2 Jim started out our day with another of his morning walks, and his continuing efforts to capture the sunrise. Our first lucky omen of the day was the sunrise!

Before starting out on our drive to Calabria and mainland Italy, we needed to top off the gas tank and wash the car. Fortunately, and serving as a second good omen of the day, there was a service station right across the street from the hotel with a car wash so in minimum time, we were off for Messina.

We arrived at the Messina Imbarco just as a ferry was pulling away and waited about 30 minutes for the next ship. We were third in line! Ferries run every 30 minutes most of the day. We drove the car onto the ferry and enjoyed a slightly breezy ride over to Villa San Giovani where we disembarked and headed off to Reggio Calabria. The sun was shining and it was a little cool on the water but not too bad and the views were beautiful. The color of the sea was gorgeous.

After a 30 minute ferry ride, we drove off and searched for our apartment. Did not find it immediately and the traffic was pretty heavy. We drove around for a bit and found our way to a road near the water and parked the car. Since it was too early to check into the apartment, we walked around and decided to eat lunch then find our way on foot to the apartment. I decided to try spaghetti pomodoro – I like checking out the different flavors and consistencies of the “gravy” (red sauce) in each of the cities. This one was totally different from the others, not quite as light but still great flavors. The bread was different as well and again delicious. Based on our now eight months total of living in Italy, we’ve learned each region, and even towns within regions, have their own take on that simple staple – bread. The bakers in Palermo seemed most passionate but the Calabrese have their points of argument as well.

By this time we were able to check in and see where and how the apartment was before unloading the car. Definitely a hike but the location was not bad. It is a cute apartment with all we really needed and only 67 steps from the ground floor to our 3rd floor which in the US is our 4th floor. The name of our apartment is “Monkey” and it is bright and very cute. Not sure how they figure out the names for their apartments but it’s a good idea, especially if they put the name on the door as they did on this one. 67 steps to this apartment!

We walked around the city for quite a while just looking at where things were, what we might want to see. If a place was open, we popped in to look it over. Reggio Calabria was hit by two of the worst earthquakes in Italian history in 1783 and 1908. 1783 knocked over the eastern part of Sicily as well. Here especially, you’d never know that most of the city was destroyed just over a hundred years ago.

As we walked around we noticed the flowers, landscape, trees. The plant below is a Crimson Bottlebrush. We had this bush at our house in Arizona so I was surprised to see it here and looking so splendid.

The trees along the promenade near the water were unbelievable. They were huge and the root systems were fabulous and looked as though they were trained to run along the sidewalks creating the look of a fence. Just beautiful and provided a lot of shade for a very nice walk with the sea on one side and the palaces on the other side.

Much renovation going on to give the palaces – now office buildings and apartments – a fresh look. We saw the men chipping away at the old facade and trim, painting the new facade, painting the railings and all done by hand. I took a few photos of one of the buildings that really caught my eye so you can see it in need of repair, being fixed on and then completed. Truly a site to see and I love the style of the architecture. Since I do not know the style although Baroque is often mentioned, I will defer to my daughter-in-law to see what she has to say since she is the architect in our family! Juli this one is for you.

Also along the promenade are figurines that appear to be in some sort of mediation pose; actually they might also be stretching or working on their yoga. In any event, very well done.

We walked up to the upper levels of the Castello Aragonese to get an overview of the city and the Straits. Wow, what a view. The Castello has nothing inside but rooms which are used for events like lectures or training. It’s been fixed up with new bricks and plaster. We were fortunate enough to have some ramps (like for wheelchairs) mixed in with the steps for climbing to get up to the ramparts. We get enough steps at the apartment!

Next off to see the Cathedral – another beauty.

We thought we might mention our efforts at healthy eating. Pranzo, lunch, after walking and climbing all morning was rather healthy. How about an arugula salad, broccoli rabe and eggplant? Okay, okay, okay – it was eggplant parm and there was cheese! Still, the boy needs some calcium. Not seen in the photo is his natural heart medicine, il vino rosso. By the way, this lunch was procured and eaten in the equivalent of a cafeteria! The salad was mixed fresh in front of us but all else was cafeteria-style! Really good!

Today, Wednesday, we walked from one end of the city to the other along the main shopping, and no vehicle, street, via Garibaldi. We kept our eyes open for pizza sources when not checking out store fronts. We have been in Italy nearly a full month and this is just the second pizza. Found our restaurant and it even had pizza quattro stagione, or four seasons pizza, which is a pizza of four sections including artichoke hearts, olives, ham and mushrooms. In the iteration below, the cuoco simply mixed the “four seasons” elements all together. Many Italians prefer there to be four distinct sections, separating olives from ham from artichoke hearts from the mushrooms, putting each in separate quarters.

On the walk back to the apartment, we came across a familiar but unusual looking plant. Our research suggests though that this is indeed a version of the poinsettia.

The dialect here in Calabria, a little different yet again and to be honest, we are not understanding much of it. Thankfully most know enough English or they understand what I am trying to say so most times I actually get what I need. The greetings are a little different as well and so far I have not been able to understand it in a way that I can figure it out. Spoken quickly – I miss it, but at least I know the “Italian” version to reply back.