Posted by michaelp on Thursday, June 1, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

 

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— MikeyP (@michaelbpelleg1) June 1, 2017

As a 19-year-old male college student, I would generally consider myself to be both spontaneous and a “live in the moment” type person, throwing myself into activities and aspirations with a lack of plans yet a strong hope for success as I merely figure things out as I go. Luckily, I found peers with similar attitudes on my trip to Sicily. For our free weekend, me and these friends decided to sail to Naples and see the Amalfi Coast. Despite our grandiose prenotions of the trip, we quickly realized we got what we paid for: a captain who only spoke Italian, a boat with no main sail, and a motor which was slower than your average row boat. Right after we lugged an unnecessary amount of food and clothes to the dock on the other side of La Rocca, the captain, Piero, made it very clear that we would not be able to make the journey to Naples in the “little” time we had, so we set our new destination for the Aeolian islands, more specifically, Lipiri.

The first day on the boat was pure bliss and relaxation. My friends and I had copious amounts of down time to sleep, eat, talk, drink, and take in the breathtaking views. Many of us experienced sailing for the first time and the free-time was a refreshing change of pace from our normal busy university life. We made a slow 12-hour crawl through the small expanse we had to cover to reach our destination. In all honesty, the majority of the trip felt as though we were sitting in the same exact spot for hours on end. Eventually we made it to Lipiri and, despite it being very late at night, my friends and I ventured into town, ate a meal together, and briefly stopped at a bar. Ultimately we decided to return to the boat to sleep for our early departure the next morning.

When my friends and I arose we were greeted by an aggressive dock employee who was “just trying to get us to pay to stay at his dock one more night” as he continually tried to tell us that our plans to go to Panera and Messina would fail and we should instead stay in Lipiri for an extra night. Since us Americans know Sicily so much better than the locals, we immediately dismissed his advice and decided to swim near Lipiri. After we enjoyed our lunch we planned to set sail for Barcellona and all the wonderful nightlife it had to offer.  Nine hours later, we arrived in Barcellona as the sun was setting and were eager to get off the boat and eat after being on the ship for such an extended amount of time. As we were leaving the harbour, one of the workers tried to yell at us that there was a pizzeria in the harbour as we were walking away but, us being the Americans who know better than to fall for these scams, we continued into the town because we were certain there were better restaurants there. After a 3 km hike to get out of the residential neighborhood/harbor we discovered an absolute ghost town void of Americans and high in Mafiosi. The restuarants were sparse and the night-life was non-existent, but after waiting an hour next to a table of screaming Italian elementary schoolers, we did indulge in quite possibly the finest pizza all of Italy has to offer. After another hour and a half walk back to the boat we had realized what a colossal waste of a day we had just had and decided to escape the Mafia harbor as quickly as possible, convincing Piero to begin sailing at dusk.

After another long day of sailing, we arrived back in Cefalu. Despite the communal feeling of defeat that swept the boat, I was at peace with the trip. If I have learned anything from this it is that one should listen to the locals wherever one chooses to travel. After nearly a month into our trip we all believed that we had learned enough about Sicily and the culture to get around on our own, but the truth is we couldn’t have been more wrong. We tried to go out on our own and do things most tourists wouldn’t do, but failed miserably. A month only gives you a taste for the culture and hopefully one day, after many more visits, I will be able to enjoy the entire meal. Looking back on this trip, I realize I was so eager to learn that sometimes I let my excitement get in the way of what people were trying to tell me and ended up missing valuable pieces of information. I’ve learned that things take time and life is a constant learning experience. There is no need to rush any of it because everything will come with time. I realize I should try to dig into those Sicilian roots and just relax and not be in a rush to do everything right now–this way I can enjoy the present without worrying about the future.