Train on a Boat

Our time in Sicily has come to an end. Today we have a long travel day to the town of Caserta. We get up early and leave our BNB at 0720. Fabio meets us but what is very unusual is that he did not offer us any pastry or breakfast to go when I told him yesterday that we were leaving before breakfast time which is 0800. Then he shows up to see us off but no food. Carol does grab a yogurt out of the fridge for the train. Our train is not until 0920 but the bus down leaves at 0745. We decided that we did not want to walk down the way we came up and so here we are catching the bus. The ride down is nice and we do catch a small glimpse of Mt Etna. Other than on the plane ride in from Malta, she has stayed hidden in the clouds. We may just have to return to see the Mountain on a clear day.
We settle in at the train station for our 1 hour and 10 minute wait finding a nice bench for Carol to read on.

Taormina Train Station

The train arrives and although we have assigned seats, it is a lot older train then we were expecting. It is a seven hour ride on this train to Naples and then we connect to Caserta. We are now on the train that rides on water. One would think that the train would go to the ferry, you get on the ferry, and then catch another train on the main land. No, they put the whole train on the ferry when we get to Messina and cross the strait. We are not the only train that they load onto the ferry. I leave the train to check out the boat while Carol stays with our stuff. There are also cars on this ferry and I get nice views of Sicily and Italy as we leave Messina. To my disappointment, Mt Etna is totally covered by clouds.

Our Train on the Ferry

It is maybe a half hour ride across the strait where we unload and then wait at a train station for what seems like an eternity. We are definitely running late which I totally expected. The trains are not extremely timely on their own, much less throwing a ferry into the mix. The ride along the coast of southern Italy to Naples is very beautiful there are many miles of unspoiled coastline and long beaches. For being along the sea, it is pretty rural and uncrowded. We get to Naples having missed our connection for Caserta by 10 minutes. We check the Board and there is a 1703 train leaving in twenty minutes and a 1713 train leaving in 30 minutes. The 1713 train arrives in Caserta 10 minutes earlier than the earlier departing train. It is more of an express and we opt to catch that one. This gives us a short window to find a slice of pizza in the station. We do but unfortunately, although edible, it is the worst pizza we have had on our trip. We then take a long walk to platform 4 on the outer edge of the station. The train is there so we get on and grab seats even though it won’t leave for 15 minutes. The ride to Caserta only takes twenty minutes and we walk the very short two blocks to our hotel. Checked in and even though it is only 1800, we go to check out some restaurants on our list that are close by. We are hoping something is open early. We find one that seemed intriguing on line for their modern twist on Italian cooking. The waiter is there but they don’t open until 1945 so we just figure we will chill out for an hour or so and come back. I hope we don’t fall asleep as it has been a very long day
We return to O’Tianiello Ristorante right at opening and are seated. The waiter explains all the dishes in English and we make our choices. We get some red wine from Abruzzo, a dish with stuffed shells and a pumpkin sauce, a black squid ink spaghetti and a pork tenderloin with an almond sauce.

Shells with Pumpkin Sauce

They are very nice since we told them we were sharing and bring each course on two plates. The shells with the pumpkin are fantastic. Maybe we will have to try this at home. The squid ink spaghetti with tomatoes and seafood is also very good, followed by the wonderful pork with lemon and almond sauce. When we tell the waiter to compliment the chef, he comes out to talk with us and says he is trying to put new twists on Classic Italian cooking. We tell him he has succeeded and we really enjoyed the meal. We are extremely tired and with bellies full, we walk back to the hotel and pretty much crash for the night. Arriverdici Sicilia and Bienvenutti Italia.
Expenses
Bus to Taormina Train Station 3.8E
Train from Taormina to Caserta 56.7E
Croissants and water at Taormina Station 3.9E
Pizza at Napoli Train Station 5.2E
Dinner and Wine at O’Tianello 44E
Royal .Caserta Hotel 53E
Walked 2 Miles