Day 105 - Exploring Alcantara Gorge and a Godfather Town in Sicily

Day 105 started a lot earlier than expected. I woke up around 5am, although I stayed in bed for a while trying to get back to sleep. It had been a bit of a rough night for some reason. Both kids were up pretty early as well, and Kia wasn’t too far behind them, so the whole house was awake earlier than usual.

Despite the poor sleep, my body has actually been starting to recover from the past month of snowboarding in Austria. My HRV has been climbing again and my sleep quality has generally been improving, so hopefully this was just a one-off night.

The kids climbed into bed with us for a while and we all just lay around chatting and relaxing. It was one of those simple travel moments that ends up being really nice.

Eventually we got up and started the usual routine. Coffees, breakfast, and then the kids got stuck straight into their schoolwork. I checked a few emails while they worked through their lessons. Nothing major had come through, but a couple needed careful replies, so I spent a bit of time making sure the wording was right.

The kids absolutely blasted through their schoolwork today. It’s pretty clear that the daily routine and repetition is starting to click for them now. They know what’s expected and they’re getting it done much faster, which makes the mornings much smoother for everyone.

Once they finished their work we let them settle in and watch a movie while I headed out for a run.

I knocked out a quick 5km along the waterfront and, surprisingly, it felt really good. It was probably the best I’ve run during the entire trip so far. My pace wasn’t quite where it was before we left Australia, but it felt strong and comfortable, which was a nice confidence boost.

When I got back I jumped in the shower, and by the time I was done Kia was back from grabbing a few things. We started talking about some of our plans for the next part of the trip, but by that stage the kids had finished their movie and were getting pretty restless. They were ready to get out of the apartment and do something.

After a bit of research we decided to head inland to Alcantara Gorge, which sits about 25 minutes from Giardini Naxos where we’re staying.

The gorge is a well-known natural formation created thousands of years ago when lava from Mount Etna cooled rapidly after flowing into the river. The cooling process formed these incredible vertical basalt columns that line the canyon walls.

When we arrived it was surprisingly quiet and we found parking easily. There was an entry fee we hadn’t realised about beforehand, which came to €24 for the four of us, although they gave us a small discount.

Once we got inside, we were a little surprised that there was an entry fee at all.

The first part of the walk winds through a citrus grove filled with orange and lemon trees, along with some olive trees scattered around. It was a pleasant walk and we sampled a few oranges along the way, but it didn’t feel like something you’d normally pay to access.

Eventually the path wrapped around toward the gorge itself, which is where things got a lot more interesting.

We walked along the edge of the canyon and down to a couple of lookout points where you could peer into the narrow basalt walls. It’s an impressive geological feature once you actually see it.

I noticed someone nearby getting ready to fly a drone, and since we’d brought ours along as well I decided to launch it from a quiet spot further down the track.

Flying through the gorge itself was pretty nerve-racking. The canyon is extremely narrow in places and it’s surprisingly difficult to judge depth and distance from above. I sent the drone through quickly to capture a few shots but didn’t linger too long. One wrong move and it would have been gone.

There’s also an elevator that normally takes visitors down to what they call the “beach of the gorge”, a small rocky area at the base of the canyon. Unfortunately it was completely closed off.

From the look of things, the recent storms and flooding that hit Sicily had probably caused some damage down there, so access was restricted. That meant we couldn’t actually get down into the gorge itself.

Overall it was still a nice walk, but €24 felt a little steep for what was essentially a citrus grove with a few gorge lookouts.

After leaving the gorge we decided to drive up into the mountains to visit Savoca, a historic hilltop village famous for appearing in the 1972 film The Godfather.

Several scenes from the movie were filmed here, including the famous bar where Michael Corleone asks Apollonia’s father for permission to court her.

The drive up took about 45 minutes along winding mountain roads. The roads in Sicily are unbelievably narrow, and the locals drive them with absolute confidence. They come flying around blind corners without slowing down, clearly completely used to the conditions.

Meanwhile I’m hugging the edge of the road and pulling over constantly to give people space. Judging by the scratches and dents on almost every car we see around here, a bit of panel rubbing must be pretty normal.

When we reached Savoca we managed to find a free parking spot because the ticket machine was broken, which was a nice little win.

Unfortunately, just about everything in town was closed.

The famous Bar Vitelli, which appears in The Godfather, was open but only serving drinks and salads. By this stage we were pretty hungry and a salad wasn’t going to cut it, so we decided to head back toward the coast and find somewhere closer to home.

Kia found a pizza place near our accommodation and we started the drive back.

At one point Google Maps sent me down a small coastal road that looked fine at first, but after a few minutes something felt off. There were no signs, but the road turned out to be one-way in the opposite direction.

I kept creeping along assuming it was just one of those chaotic Sicilian driving situations where everyone squeezes past each other.

Then people started shaking their heads and waving their fingers at me.

Kia had already been telling me for a while that it didn’t feel right, so I eventually found a small gap where I could attempt a three-point turn and get back onto the correct road.

After a bit more navigating through tight streets and a couple more near misses, we eventually made it to the pizza restaurant.

The pizzas took a while to arrive and the beer I ordered never showed up, although luckily it also never appeared on the bill.

My pizza was pretty good, but Kia’s wasn’t great and both of them were a bit soft and mushy in the middle, which was a little disappointing.

By the time we finished dinner everyone was completely exhausted.

The early start, the run, the walking and the driving had all caught up with us. We’d also probably pushed ourselves a bit too far into the hunger zone during the afternoon, which never helps.

So it was straight back to the accommodation, everyone winding down quickly, and an early night for the whole crew.