28th April 2026 (continued). Scilla, Calabria, Italy
Just after we arrived at the Sosta, a car came onto site and asked if we wanted a lift down to the town. Yes please we said, the walk in was about 30 mins but parts of the road didn’t have a walkway, so this was a safer option.
The driver took us to the restaurant that owned the sosta and said to come back here when we needed to return. Fabulous 
.
The weather was perfect as we walked along the beach to the centre of the town – I can’t call it old and new because I think it is just old 
.
You will never guess who we saw? The schoolkids with the green hats! They get everywhere!
Up on a promontory is a castle overlooking the sea and behind this is a big church that looks as though it was built on the crest of the hill. Strangely, there wasn’t a sign leading you up to it and to be honest we didn’t see any roads to take us up there 
.
The beach is a mix of small and big stones but clean and the water is soooo clear. Lovely.
We saw a sign for a public lift up to a viewing area, when we got there it was out of order, so faced with many flights of a metal staircase we decided not to 
.
There’s a galleria – a covered road – under the castle to take you round to the other side of the town, this part is called Chianalea Scilla. It’s the fishing village part and is famous for swordfish.
We were told that the swordfish season is only just starting, so there was none fresh available today. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to try some while we are still on this coast.
There is nothing pretentious about this little place. It’s pretty without being polished, the shops and houses are small, the lanes appear even smaller and we were flabbergasted at the skill of the few drivers we saw navigating around parked motorbikes, chairs, tables and shop display stands. Quite entertaining actually.
The fisherman’s houses (not sure who lives in them now) have alleys down the sides to the sea where the water can rise. We think it may come up to street level sometimes as a couple of houses had their flood defences out still.
These alleys provided great photo opportunities, some even had little beaches .
We stopped outside a cute little bar to watch the world go by, its very slow paced here so there wasn’t much to see, apart from the idyllic view.
I had seen signs for Amora/Amoro di Etna and wanted to try it. Its a botanical liqueur type drink mixed with prosecco. This one was blue and called Amora Mo Acqua di Mare. It tasted lovely too. I’m quite liking the mantel I carry at the moment, chief tester of all things alcoholic and local 
.
Walking back we watched as beach bars and lidos were being refreshed and set up for the impending season, the beach had got busier too.
Back at the restaurant we ordered fried squid and a cold fish salad, very nice and also healthy 
.
The young lad from the bar gave us a lift back up to the Sosta, where we just sat and soaked up the rest of the day. The wind was picking up white horses on the sea which got me excited, I thought they were dolphins but sadly no, just a strong breeze on its way inland.
As I’ve already said, the sunset was amazing. The wind gradually picked up, and though it was warm in the van, if you went outside you were likely to get blown away .
Weirdly, when Gareth came in from his last cigarette, it seemed to stop! The rest of the night was peaceful.
“Il dolce far niente” translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing” in Italian, embodying the art of pleasurable, carefree idleness. It is a cultural philosophy focused on slowing down, savoring the present moment, and enjoying existence without guilt or productivity pressure, such as relaxing at a café or people-watching
Leave a Reply