Tuesday 28th April 2026 Savoca
Now we had never heard of Savoca.
When I first knew we were going to visit Sicily I asked my lovely sister and brother in law what should we see? They visited Italy a lot, Lona even took to the language, they loved it that much.
We had a list of ‘not to miss’ places and ticked off some of them in 2024, but due to the big van we couldn’t get everywhere on the list.
This trip has remedied that.
If there are any Godfather fans out there, you may know that Savoca features in a few scenes in Godfather 2.
But first we had to get there!
After Taormina’s windy steep roads, Savoca’s were a doddle for Parker, though I’m impressed he was happy to attempt both on the same day 
.
There’s a little carpark just off the main village road, it’s very cheap as well and you can park overnight.
When we arrived, we had a cup of tea and a relax then took a stroll up to the village square.
Everything bar one gift shop was closed, understandably at this time of year especially as it was Monday after all.
We had a mooch round, gawped at the road below that we had just traversed 
and then popped into the shop.
The old man running it was lovely and took to Meg as she did him. She can be funny but she likes what she likes .
We bought a fridge magnet – of course and then returned to the van for dinner.
Apart from a dark barking intermittently we had a fairly quiet night.
This morning we were up and out by 9.15am as I wanted a specific picture taken and wanted to beat the crowds.
When we walked into the square there was a group of tourists already, we were all waiting for the famous ‘Bar Vitelli’ to open at 9.30am.
They chain the patio area cloased, so it isn’t used all night by photo seekers.
I did the quintessential british thing and queued to make sure I was first, Lona would have been very proud of me – to be honest I did feel someone pushing me and it wasn’t Gareth 
.
Anyway we were first in, I got my spot while Gareth tried to get the perfect pic. With the sun shining on the foliage canopy, I am sun speckled but I am very happy with it.
We then ordered a traditional sicilian breakfast item, Brioche col Tuppo and lemon Granita yum yum. The waitress asked if I wanted the alcoholic version 
, I politely declined 
.
We took a couple more photos, popped back into the gift shop for some fab tiles for home and then the bakers for bread and cheese to take away.
Savoca was the last to be ticked and I have to say I was a bit emotional.
We were glad to be leaving Savoca early and hoped we wouldn’t meet too many buses on the way down. It was actually an uneventful ride and as we were en-route to Messina, I went online, bought a ticket for a ferry to the mainland, which was just unloading as we arrived – perfect timing – and are now back on the mainland in a little Sosta on a hillside.
To our right we have views of a pretty little place called Scilla – said Shilla – and in front we have Sicily and Stromboli – a small volcanic island. The sunset was amazing, making Stromboli’s vapour trail very prominent.
We loved our 2nd trip to Sicily and I doubt it will be our last. I’ll let you know about Scilla tomorrow
Leave a Reply