Day 120 The House of Light!

Thursday 19/07/2018 (Day 34 SZ) u 2 Via Spirito Santo 271, Reggio di Calabria, 89128,
It was sad to, leave our lovely peaceful time at the Villa, Gianfranco told us we could stay longer today as no one was coming into the unit, however we had to hit the road... so off we set, going straight for the freeway, different than the autobarn it’s free plus it is taking us down the coastline, so we can see some of the seaside villages... got about 2 hrs down the road when we spotted a castle overlooking the sea, so we pulled in, then set about walking down to the very heavily stoned beach where yep there were people everywhere sun baking and swimming and in the 5 mins we were down there more and more people were coming down the steep path with their umbrellas and deck chairs... setting themselves up for the day... mind you it looked so inviting I could have easily joined them... it was a freebie beach for a change as well...

Back up to the castle where we had a cuppa and a self guided tour...which wasn’t free... it’s quite big but used mostly for receptions I would say, like weddings etc... still has many artefacts but not bedrooms just reception halls and rooms... Castle Petrae Roseti or the Castle of Roseti Capo Spulico dates back to the 10th century...

The funnies thing we noticed from the castle or should I say John noticed was in the distance up the Hill heading towards a hotel on a peak... was this massive escalator in stages coming down the hill... part of one but the last main section was partially on its side..l thought it was for water to come down, but when we asked the girl who served us, she confirmed it was an escalation and the hotel years ago built it but it had never been used..... now useless... what a waste of money...

The views up the crystal clear soft teal blue sea line was just gorgeous and we could see for a far way up the coast people swimming and relaxing in the sun or under their beach umbrellas, there were free sections here as well as paid for sections...

Along the coast we set after finishing at the castle, but not for long, as it took us back along the autobarn...... boring as on these roads, but we had a long way to go today so couldn’t waste anymore time...

A stop of lunch at a very over crowded stop no room to sit except stand under a tree and hope for some breeze... but so hot and so dry....

We finally arrived and driving into where we are to stay one look and we wanted to run.... dirty, over crowded, old and run down. To make matter worse there was this very tiny, very skinny alley we had to drive the car through after John had played with the traffic to see where to go... no side walks here to get away from the traffic... most houses were directly into the Street, if not directly near to it... we did manage to get into the back section... for our feee parking... once in you didn’t want to have to move at all... our host Claudio was unable to speak any English,.. and he did use goggle translate, but typed his words... he was watching John talk into his own phone on translate, so asked John through translate writing ✍️ , how could he speak into his.. well there was no stopping him once he mastered this... funny watching him get his head around it then wanting to use it all the time.....Claudio had a right hand man with him... who I originally thought was his partner.. but turned out to be his brother in law Giuseppe..... where ever a Claudio went so did Giuseppe... 2 steps behind... funny looking little fellow... but just nodded and did as he was told by Claudio.

Our room was a normal size and looked comfortable, but we had to share the kitchen... our bathroom which was ours alone was up the hall... it did work out ok, there were another couple here who had a baby about 6 months old, it looked like their family lived over the back from this apartment hence why they are staying here..l mind you I never heard the baby cry, other than heating a bottle once we didn’t really see them except going to and from next door.....

We settled in and had a rest.. then headed out to check out the sights...... not a good plan really it was like playing Russian roulette with the traffic flying up the street and no side walks as such... once we did get out further it did get easier with a bit of a side walk... the whole area is so run down, shops vacant everywhere, houses falling into disrepair... rubbish laying everywhere. We were trying to find something open to get John a beer was nearly impossible..we did finally manage to find a pizza shop open... then the fun began..... no one could speak English so goggle came out but our phone were playing up... it took a bit but we ordered thinking yep we got this... so who even though we said one pizza 🍕 we ended up with 2... we think they though one each... no way we can eat 2....John had been thinking yeah cheap meal... but somehow it all back fired and no it wasn’t too expense but more than the planned meal was to be... I wouldn’t have been able to cook at the apartment even though it had a kitchen...it had no microwave or oven, just a stove top and very basic cooking implements..... I packed up the pizza to take with us...see how we go…..

Off to bed long drive again tomorrow...

Post! The name of our accomodation here is called La Casa Di Luce which means in English.. The house of light... however it wasn’t very bright, but was comfortable with amazing service!Read more