Readers’ overrated places of the world: Italy

Place: Italy

Last visited: April

My perspective: Four of us traveled to Italy, and our plan was to start in Venice and work our way down to Sicily using trains and automobiles. The first two weeks went without much of a hitch, but after we picked up our rental car in Naples, events began to go south. Sorrento was lovely, but our personalities were beginning to clash. We dealt with this by avoiding one another. We drove down the Amalfi Coast, an experience in itself, with no hotel reservations or particular destination, and wound up in Tropea, a lovely town with only one hotel open. There were two rooms available and the proprietor spoke no English. We were able to communicate with hands waving and heads nodding. We stayed two nights. Then we took the ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina, Sicily. We could see from the boat that it was raining heavily. So we headed south toward Catania to look for a hotel. We got stuck in rush-hour traffic; it seems to always be rush hour with seven lanes of traffic narrowing down to one or two and then a one-way street. The best thing to do is stick out your hand and move on over. We fought our way out of Catania and drove on south toward Augusta. Following the bed signs we found a hotel that wasn’t open, but the owner was kind enough to give us two rooms. Picture the hotel from “The Shining.” There was no food available but the bar was stocked. We drank three bottles of wine and tried to figure out a plan of attack for the rest of the day and the week. The owner’s daughter, about 5 years old, roller-skated through the large, heavily chandeliered dining room.

The next morning, there was no hot water so we skipped our showers and went to the dining room to see if anyone had found any food. The owner was there with hot pastries and coffee. We learned so much on that trip. First, do your homework. Second, do not visit Sicily unless you have relatives there or are on a tour. Third, April is not the tourist season, so although there are no other tourists, there are not a lot of hotels, either. Fourth, do not plan on spending a month with another couple no matter how well you know them.

--Carol Mehtlan, San Marcos, Calif.