Mezzogiorno - flying vacation in southern Italy

As some may know by now, my affection is somehow directed towards Spain and we fly there frequently. We were planning to do so for two weeks mid/end July, but 2020 is different for all of us. The COVID-19 infection numbers went up in Spain and a travel warning was in effect for some parts of of the country. We had planned to fly on a Saturday and the Wednesday before we looked at the numbers and decided not to fly there. We didn’t fancy a vacation in a locked-down country and were afraid of quarantine on return. Italy looked good though, the lowest numbers in all of Europe. I consulted Bosco’s site and the map for half an hour and came up with an alternative idea: let’s fly to Sicily! We only really planned for the first two stops in Italy, from there on we would see. In the end we flew the following route: Mannheim (EDFM) – Chambéry (LFLB) – Propriano (LFKO) – Alghero (LIEA) – Palermo (LICP) – Pantelleria (LICG) – Comiso (LICB) – Scalea (LICK) – Mannheim.

Our route

The flying part of our whole journey was completely uneventful and hardly worth a report but we enjoyed the touristy part so much that I will at least share some pictures. However, what we experienced may not be typical. There were no crowds, and accommodation was readily available, all due to the virus. In Italy they are quite strict, you have to wear a mask whenever moving in the public parts of the hotels and restaurants. Your body temperature is measured with a non-contact thermometer even when entering some restaurants. Italiens and the few foreign tourists seem to obey the rules without much fuss.

A few words about the flying part: All the airports we flew to in Italy are PPR or PNR but an email in English worked great. As has been mentioned here before, AVGAS is expensive in Italy while parking is cheap. It almost makes no difference if you stay one or a couple of nights. We payed between 50 and 80 Euros at each of our stops in Italy. This includes all fees but no fuel, of course. Weather was not an issue during the whole trip nor did we encounter any other problems.

We had been to Sardinia in 2019 but we didn’t make it to Alghero back then, so we planned it as our first destination. We left (home) office on Friday afternoon and flew to Chambéry (LFLB).

Approaching Chambéry

We spent the night there in a hotel right next to the airport and continued the next day. We made a fuel stop in Propriano (LFKO) to avoid the high prices in Italy as far as possible.

Final in Propriano

While we did the first two flights under IFR, we continued VFR to Alghero (LIEA). We read that Alghero is the prettiest town on Sardinia and it is probably true. The airport doesn’t actually cater to small GA but it was friendly and not expensive. We took a public bus to town. You have to buy the tickets in the terminal at a vending machine as the bus driver doesn’t sell tickets anymore due to COVID.

Alghero from a steeple

We stayed for two nights though a whole day there is rather a bit long. Anyway, having lunch by the sea with a glass of wine is well worth it.

Lunch in corona times

Our next stop was Palermo on Sicily. This time we flew IFR again – in the best of weather though.

Leaving Sardinia

Palermo from above

We had contacted Bocca di Falco (LICP) from Sardinia and landed there around noon.

RM in Palermo

There is a bus stop directly opposite the airport entrance but again drivers currently don’t sell tickets. One of the young guys hanging around the airport was most helpful, though. His father was a bus driver and he could organize the tickets

Palermo is spectacular city that offers countless sights, a great atmosphere and very good food. Again we had two nights but in contrast to Alghero this time it was too short.

Cathedral in Palermo

Norman palace

Chapel inside the Norman palace

The island of Pantelleria appeared to be nice from what we had read in the guide books, so we flew there next.

The island of Pantelleria

Again the books didn’t lie. The island is full of nice landscape, friendly people and good food. However, LICG was the only place where they didn’t accept two crew members for a SEP. After some discussion we were tired and agreed to pay the 16€ passenger fee.

Lago di Venere

Dinner

Valle di Monastero

Arco dell’Elefante

RM had a day off

Leaving Pantelleria (LICG)

After all these short stops we decided to take a rental car for a couple of days out of Comiso (LICB). Picking up the car worked like a charm even though we were the only arrival that day. We had booked two Agriturismos for three days each. We had read that the southeastern part of Sicily is the most interesting and this is probably true. There is really a lot to see and do in this corner of the island.

Visiting Mt. Etna

Mrs. terbang and I having a glass of wine on the balcony of our room (Mt. Etna in the background)

Syracuse

Valley of the temples

Breakfast at the second agriturismo

Noto

Scicli

Marazamemi

Last dinner at the agriturismo – could be worse

Dropping off the car again was easy but we had to walk quite a bit to the GA entrance with all our luggage. When we arrived there, we were tested with one of these non-contact thermometers and it turned out that Mrs. terbang was running hot. After they had checked the luggage they measured again but still above red line! One of the guys in the office had the idea to place her underneath the air-con for a few minutes and this did the trick – nice and cool again

Mt. Etna again

Approaching Scalea

Our last stop in Italy was Scalea. The town is not a bad place to explore for half a day but the hinterland is probably even more interesting. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for that.

Scalea

Scalea

Actually we had planned for one last stop in northern Italy, maybe Trento, but the weather forecast for the following day, when we would have to cross the Alps was terrible. We bit the bullet and flew to Mannheim in one long leg from Scalea. To add to the distance we faced a 30kt head wind so it took five hours. It was a nice flight however. Only north of the Alps we had to deal with some build-ups and the ADL could shine again.

Capri

Vesuvius

Still nice over the Alps

Convection near Ulm