Discovering Calabria and Living “la dolce vita” - Day 25

This morning I made my way to Scilla. I could have taken the train but I decided to take a taxi instead and I’m glad I did because after I finished all my sightseeing, the sky opened up and I got pelted by the wind and the rain. Taxi ride is 12 minutes (30 Euros one way) while train ride is 40 minutes (3 Euros)

Scilla is a town and commune in Calabria and is the site of the sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology. When you visit the town, you need to take an elevator that goes down the inside of a mountain to get to the beach. Also, you need to walk the coastal district of Chianlea, voted one of the prettiest in Italy, but beware, there are a lot of steps. There is Ruffo Castle and, of course, wonderful churches. It’s has ancient origins that relate to the period of the destruction of Troy and legends of Ulysses, Homer and Dante Alighieri.

It’s a pretty town and I’m so glad I visited it. But to be honest, the beach is really small. I still prefer Soverato’s beach, where I can walk for hours. This beach just took 5 minutes from end to end. I got some absolutely fabulous photos though. The tunnel after you exit the elevator is impressive. Still, if I had known I was going so deep in the mountain, I might have chickened out😆.

Tunnel under mountain

Walking the Chianlea, I saw so many wonderful alleys. It reminded a bit of Venice where locals use boats to get to their homes that are right on the sea.

The rain then came and I headed back to Reggio.

When I got to Reggio, the sky was really dramatic and afforded me with lots of photo opportunities.

I also paid a visit to the Moreton Bay Fig trees along the boardwalk. They were planted after the earthquake of 1908 making them 115 years old. They are over 20 metres tall and have a girth of almost 6 metres. They are stunning. When the city built the boardwalk, they took care not to damage them and even tucked a bench under the roots of one tree.