Italian Ferry Boats

For our second visit to Sicily we drove right on the first ferry we saw in Villa San Giovanni. When we got to the very top, there was room for a couple of tall vehicles on the open deck, for us and a military officer in a chauffeur-driven van.

On both trips from Sicily to the mainland, I bought Emmy some breakfast—a ball of pasta, deep fried, and coated with fine bread crumbs. Inside was rice with a spoonful of tomato-based stew. On the ferry from Sicily to the mainland, is the only place we have seen this food item.

There were several large trucks onboard, including a large dump truck that promptly had a flat tire. A flat tire on an old, old truck that was heavily loaded with gravel, was not the easiest thing to change. Since none of them could leave until that truck left, the other truckers helped. They borrowed a couple of jacks and a spare tire from another truck, and before we arrived at the dock the tire was changed, and all ready to go.

Lake Como is called a “Ballerina” on Italy’s border, and the city of Bellagio is located on the portion of the Lake Como ballerina’s anatomy, where decorum usually calls for a fig leaf. Tourists’ boats, including ferries and hydrofoils, are available for tourist rides. Three times we have driven our RV onto the ferries that cross a portion of the lake, and from the ferry, the lake views and mountain scenery are exceptional.

Another year our plan was to board a ship in Pescara and sail across the Adriatic Sea to Split, Yugoslavia. I got in “line” to buy tickets, and what a line it was. Everyone was just jam packed together from “tosies” to “nosies.” Where is Gina Lollobridgia when she is needed most. Some Italians weren’t going anywhere, they just liked to “participate” in this kind of line. I hadn’t been in a line like this since I tried to buy nylon stockings for my sister, near the end of WW II.

Yet another year, in Brandisi we found a place to buy our tickets to Pátra, Greece. We made reservations to park on the top deck of the SS Valentino, and sleep and eat in our RV. We parked at the port rail and enjoyed our slowly-rolling, slightly-pitching campsite as the ship sailed the Adriatic past Greek Islands, to the city of Patra, Greece. I strive always to select exceptional campsite locations, with a magnificent view.

This locale transcended my previous selections.