Make Time: Even My Beach Days Aren't That Chill

Sometimes I laugh at myself. Actually, I laugh at myself all the time. I'm not talking about laughing in my head, either. I literally start laughing out loud at the stupid shit I do. For instance, today I was thinking about going on the boat ride, but when I talked to Gianni this morning he said it was just too choppy to go out in a boat. I asked him about some smaller beaches I saw from Taormina yesterday and he said they were about an hours walk. Not too bad. I've walked much longer before. So I pack up my bag and walk out the door - this time in my flip flops because it's real nice out. I walk through town and then as I get to the end of town I wind through some streets and end up walking behind a restaurant on the beach and then end up on this random strip of rocky beach between this restaurant and the Giardini Naxos train station. I see some random person on a rock up in the distance so I feel that's enough of a sign for me to walk it, so I start my trek. The waves are absolutely pounding the beach and the rocks, and every once in a while I get sprayed, but nothing too bad. There's a huge break wall to my left to protect the train, and I see that there's a little walkway on it, so I get up on that and start walking, only to find out that this walkway ends about a hundred feet up. I shimmy down the wall and then am on a very rocky beach, which I navigate for another ten minutes. I finally come upon the person I saw on the rocks - it's a very greasy looking Italian dude sitting on the rocks smoking cigarettes in a speedo - complete with an umbrella there to protect him. Why is this guy out here? Literally NO ONE is around. He's obviously local. Is he doing something shady? Who knows. I nod and keep going. Now I'm on top of huge boulders which are getting pounded by waves every few minutes. At this point I started laughing out loud. I mean - cmon. Sometimes I wish I had a travel partner on this journey, but it's times like today I realize no one would put up with the shit I do. I have a ton of stamina and a willingness to do stupid things that barely anyone else could handle. I laugh. I keep walking and eventually find a path leading back to the road, where I walk for another mile or so and then end up on a cliff road overlooking the beautiful beach of Isola Bella Beach. You'll see the pics below, but wow this place was gorgeous. I had seen it the day before, but it was breathtaking in person. I also saw another smaller beach past this one, so I keep walking and then end up at the next beach - not sure of the name, but it was also very beautiful. I walk down to the actual beach and the waves are INSANE. There's no way you could swim out there, and sitting on the beach just didn't look that nice. I stand with my feet in the water for a few minutes to cool off, and the rocks feel amazing on my tired feet, but I continue on past this cove to see what's around the corner. Well, as you'd guess…another beach! Ha. I didn't feel like walking all the way to this next area, which was going to be a ways off, so I doubled back to Isola Bella Beach. First I grabbed some ice cream and cooled off before heading down to the beach, but then when I was laying out in the sun it was all worth it. So relaxing - so beautiful. I heard at least 5 different languages while laying there. Also, I probably got offered a massage 5 times as well. No thanks. Oh - as I was walking down to the beach area I saw three different guys with huge cuts on their feet. Apparently the water has huge sharp rocks in it, so I decided to not go in the water. No need to hurt myself. I sit for a few hours and then make my way back to Giardini Naxos - this time on the road - much easier. As I get back to town I check in on Luca and his mural, which I saw yesterday. He's done a great job! It's coming along strong, and I watch him for a while before heading back to the beach just in front of my hostel. I get in the water and then lay for a bit there before grabbing a pizza and eating it on the top floor terrace of the hostel (pic below). I spoke with the girls who work at the hostel about taking the bus to Taormina tomorrow, because I need to be there by 10am to get my rent-a-car, and they tell me they are going to town for a drink around 9pm and I should join. Cool. I shower and meet them and we have a drink in town before heading back and now I'm about to pass out again - completely content from another day. Yes, it was my beach day, but I managed to hike 7 miles for my beach day. Used to think I was a pretty chill guy, but I guess I'm really not :) Well, I got some good laughs out of it, that's for sure.

Tomorrow I'm renting a car and driving 4 hours up the central Italy, to a town called Civita. I found a really cool AirBnB place that I'm going to be in from tomorrow through Sunday. Cannot wait!! Here's the place I'm headed. The tricky part is I need a credit card to rent the car, but I don't have one (it expired while I've been traveling), so we'll see what I can finagle. It worked in Sevilla, so fingers crossed it works here too! If not, tomorrow is going to be a much different day than I imagined :)