Page 43 - FAST 2024 Calendar Yearbook

After lunch in Scila, we say goodbye to the Italian mainland and head for the ferry boat -Sicily is waiting! In Villa San Giovanni we cross the Messina Straight by ferry. Boarding the huge ferry boast is a little intimidating as the ferrys are big enough to actually carry full passenger trains, with train tracks in-bedded into the floor of the ferry and we have to ride out bikes over them. All of the bikes were parked on their side stands which seemed safe for the sea crossing, but my bike and some others were lashed down with cargo straps by the ship's crew which made me feel better.
The Italian government had budgeted $millions to build a bridge across the straight to Italy, but somehow the initial funds disappeared and the Sicilian mafia is suspected to have had its hands in the cookie jar.
After a fun 30-minute ferry ride watching from the passenger bridge we arrive in Messina, fire up the bikes and ride off the ferry boat towards the town of Cefalu on the island’s northern coast. We had planned to visit Mt. Etna first, but the weather had turned to rain and it was obscured in clouds, so it was best to head to the hotel an hour away.
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