Calabria Van Life Tour – Episode 2 – Palmi
After a brief stop in Scilla, I headed north along the coast and arrived in Bagnara Calabra. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t assist me and the next day was completely rainy. Furthermore, I didn’t have a very peaceful night: some teenagers kept the car radio music at a high volume and repeatedly honked the horn until 3 in the morning. But one can’t complain: being free is also this, one must take what comes and if it’s not good, one starts the engine and moves on. However, I wonder why the tenants of the houses near the parking lot didn’t complain: because I have the house that moves, but they don’t! In any case, after a not-so-quiet night and seeing that the weekly market would take place in that parking lot the next day, I moved further north, getting back on the highway and heading to Palmi.
The parking lot was completely isolated from the town and there was a strange movement of cars hiding behind near a house.
First, I went to a parking lot indicated in the camper apps, but it was completely isolated from the town and there was a strange movement of cars hiding near a house. I didn’t like it, so I moved to a residential area, which I usually prefer to spend the nights (I don’t like to be isolated). The night passed very quietly, I expected some noise the next morning, but everything was very quiet.
Could it be that I'm being watched?
However, during the day I noticed a Panda parked next to the camper with an elderly man inside. After a few hours, the car was still there, with the same man inside: sometimes he played with the phone, other times he did absolutely nothing. Is he waiting for someone? Yet even hours later, he never got out of the car, and only in the afternoon did he move. Given the terrible weather (incessant rain), I decided to stay still for the next day as well. Surprise! I found the same car parked next to my camper again, this time from 8 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon, with a lady inside. Could it be that I’m being watched? What’s an unusual camper doing in a non-touristic residential area in February?
I got confirmation the next day when (finally) the weather turned for the better and I moved towards Sant’Elia, a peak near Palmi from where you can enjoy a breathtaking view. On the ascent to the top, I crossed paths with two vans (minutes apart) and the people inside first greeted me with the horn and then with their hand, smiling. I think everyone already knew about me!
I spent the whole day in Sant’Elia, it was too beautiful! Also known as the “Balcony over the Tyrrhenian Sea,” from here you have one of the most beautiful views in all of Calabria: in fact, you can see 2 volcanoes, Etna and Stromboli, the northeastern tip of Sicily (Capo Peloro, Capo Milazzo, and beyond) and much of the Calabrian Violet Coast. And to the north, the view of the entire plain of Gioia Tauro, with its port. Splendid! And the sunset over Etna, with the view of the Strait of Messina, was something breathtaking, wonderful. This is one of those magical experiences for which I do van life.
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