Day Three/Thursday: Catania, Sicily

Bob stands under huge cactus at Garden Hotel in Catania, Sicily

Met some more very interesting people today!

We slept soundly in our room at the Sigonella NAS terminal, until we were awakened in the morning by the sound of PA announcements of arriving and departing flights, and by the sound of troops moving through the terminal!

And in the morning at breakfast, at a Chock Full O' Nuts restaurant on base, a Canadian Air Force pilot came over to talk to us, because we were wearing Montreal shirts and hats from our recent trip there.  He was a P-3 pilot.  P-3s are a type of radar/spy plane.  (Note to retired Navy P-3 crewman and friend Ron Williams of Arkansas:  Feel free to elaborate in a comment!)  He was here with a group of dozens of Canadian military from Nova Scotia -- they are part of the reason the local hotels are full!  He said they will be here until January, he thinks.  They are part of NATO forces.  We think they may also be busy with the Libya campaign. 

Bob enjoyed talking to him about two U.S. Navy ships that once crashed along the shores of a very isolated area of Newfoundland, where he was from.  The local citizens helped save the crew, hauling them up cliffs to the safety of their homes, since there was no hospital nearby.  They scrubbed the oil off the crewmen.  Including one African-American.  The local woman kept scrubbing him, until he asked her to stop, saying that was his skin's color!  She had never seen an African-American person before!  A book was written about this shipwreck, "Standing Into Danger."

We walked to the PX on base, got Euros out of an ATM and bought a tour book for Italy.

We tried to rent a car this morning, but the rental place on base was all out of cars -- again, perhaps, because of all the visiting troops, and also because the tourist season is in full swing.

So we reserved a room at the Garden Hotel, in Catania, which was supposed to send a shuttle bus to pick us up -- not until 5:30 p.m..  It did not show, outside the base gate, but a local Navy officer picked us up and drove us all the way to our hotel -- about 40 miles!  The second very interesting person we met!

He was with a unit on base.  He had been stationed with Boeing(?) in St. Louis, MO (my home state) previously.  He was from Ohio.  He had also served in Afghanistan.  He was single, and a lieutenant commander in the Navy.  He would not accept any money for the free ride, so we offered him a free stay at our condo in Florida sometime!

The next day, we got a nice e-mail from him, asking if we had gotten settled into our hotel okay, and telling us if we needed a ride back to the base, or needed any help, just call his cell phone.  We thanked him for checking on us, told him he was way too nice, and told him we have a nice, single daughter that we would be happy to fix him up with sometime!

The Hotel Garden (about 60 Euros/$85/night) was beautiful!  It has plush landscaping, with lots of cactus plants and palm trees, a big and beautiful saltwater pool, gorgeous rooms, and a 6-foot bathtub in our room.  We took a swim, then walked down the street to find a restaurant. 

Found a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place.  Out front, a guy who looked like he might be American was sitting at a table.  Bob asked, "Speak English?" and the guy smiled, and said, "Well yeh, a little!"  in a NY City accent.  He was from the Bronx, and is a captain in the FDNY.  He is a former F-14 pilot, now in the Reserves, and in Italy doing training.  He was among the 9-11 responders.  Our third interesting person of the day!  He recommended the pizza there, and we tried it and it was great!  We actually returned to this place for the next 2 nights -- we were just so tired, we didn't have the energy to look elsewhere!

Read all about Mount Etna, and some more interesting people we met, in the next blog!

Day Two/Wednesday: Sigonella Naval Air Station, Sicily

Directional signs near Sigonella Naval Air Station, Sicily

The air terminal at Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily is not very traveler-friendly.  But we were grateful for the help from a friendly official there.

We got in late Wednesday night.  It was dark.  We were tired, after about a 3-hour flight from Spain.  We had no idea where anything was.  The two hotels on base were full.  The nearby off-base hotels were also full.  The friendly official showed Bob to a nice room in the terminal, which had two couches, a TV and a computer, with a bathroom just outside the door, and said we could sleep there!  We were too tired to decline, and the (free) price was right!  Other hotels in the nearby city of Catania were at least a $40-$60 cab ride away, and we had no way to check if they had any rooms because none (or very few) phones at the terminal could be used to call off-base.  All the restaurants were closed, so we had some almonds from my bag, and some sodas from a machine for dinner!


Speaking of troops, we have run into some interesting ones.  On the flight last night, there was a group of about six that we suspect were Navy Seals.  They looked big, tough, athletic, muscular and smart!  They only talked among themselves.  Among their luggage were big heavy plastic bins, with double locks, that I'm sure were carrying their weapons.  And they were met at the airport by their own escort.  Possibly headed to Libya, which is about 200 miles across the Mediterranean Sea??

More about the interesting people we have met in the next blog!

Day One, continued: About the C-5 and C-130 - updated

I want to report some interesting things about our flights on a C-5, and later on C-130. It is always interesting to fly on military aircraft -- and very different from commercial aircraft.

Some examples:
-- The C- is huge, the Air Force’s largest aircraft. Below, they often carry Army tanks or helicopters. Above are 73 passenger seats.

-- Before the flight, you can buy a box lunch, if you wish, for $5. The box is loaded, with a sandwich, drink, fruit and snacks. Passengers carry them on board with them.

-- During the flight, an Air Force sergeant in uniform comes down the aisle with a big cardboard box. Inside are snacks of grape juice and granola bar for everyone.

-- When they do the safety demonstration of life jackets and oxygen masks, it’s very informal. Today, the guy joked about, “if the oxygen mask does not inflate, take it off your head because it’s not working, unless ….”

-- In the small bathrooms, they pile stuff up in the sink -- TP, wet wipes -- for people to use.

-- The military travelers make themselves comfortable. They take the (removable) cushions off the seats and put them where they need them. One guy laid down on the floor by the seats behind us and went to sleep. Lots of people played video games on laptops, or watched movies.

-- Passengers wear ear plugs to protect against the loud noise of the plane. There are few windows. The seats face the back of the plane. Our plane and crew happened to be from Stewart ANG base north of New York City.

-- The Dover terminal had a big USO, with big leather couches and seats, lots of Tvs, lots of computers with Internet access and WiFi, books, a pool table and more. The base is small, so it’s fairly easy to get from billeting/base hotel to terminal to BX, etc. Rota terminal also has computers with Internet access, and WiFi, and is close to billeting/base hotel.

-- The C-130 we took from Spain to Sicily was full.  We sat (butt) cheek to (butt) cheek, with about 20 passengers.  In the back of the plane, some of the passengers put up canvas hammocks, swinging from the ceiling while they tried to catch some sleep.  The rest of us sat on webbed seats, along both sides of the plane.  We think some of the passengers were Navy Seals.


In Spain, they stamped our passports. If we had stay, we would have had to get another stamp from their National Police Station in Rota within 72 hours. Our flight took about 7 hours. We arrived about 5 a.m. NY time, about noon Spain time. We did not get much sleep on the flight, so we were pretty groggy.

We are now in Sicily. More on that in the next blog!

Day One: Rome, NY, to Dover, Del. and Rota, Spain

GPS?  Check!
Portable translator?  Check!
Cell phones?  Check!
Netbook laptop? Check!


How did we used to get around without all these technical travel tools??


Bob and I headed from Rome, NY, about 7 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, May 31,  for Dover Air Force Base, Del.  As we often do, he headed out early on his bike for about a 20-mile ride, and I picked him up along the way in Bridgeport.  This gives him his daily bicycle ride "fix."  I get my daily walk "fix" later, after we arrive in Dover just before 2 p.m.


We had called the terminal this morning, and were told they had several flights. There was a flight to Rota, Spain, at 2 p.m., one to Germany at 4 p.m., they said. When we arrived at the terminal, we found more flights listed on the overhead TV screens. Bob checked in at the desk, and we went out to get the luggage, hoping to get on the 2 p.m. flight to Spain.
On our way back in, someone asked us, “Were you waiting for the Spain flight?” Yes, we said. “It has just been delayed until 7 p.m.,” he said. Welcome to the world of Space-A flights, where the flights seem to materialize out of apparently nowhere, and disappear just as fast!

So we walked back into the terminal and checked the updated schedule: The 2 p.m. flight to Spain had been delayed until 7:35 p.m., and still had 19 seats tentatively. A second flight to Spain was scheduled for 7:55 p.m. and still had 73 seats tentatively. There was also a flight to Germany, and a flight to Belgium.  Bob wanted to try to go to Germany, then to Normandy, France, for the D-Day ceremonies.  I just wanted to go to a nice sunny beach in Spain or Italy or Greece.

There were about 20 other people waiting in the terminal. Most of them are active duty military, so they will have priority over us retired military for whatever seats are available.

While we waited for the new flights, I went shopping over at the BX, a short walk away. I bought an adaptor plug for my netbook.

Then Bob and I went out to eat.  When we retured to the terminal at about 6:30, to our surprise, we were told they were calling "roll call" right then.  So we rushed the luggage in again, Bob took the car over to long-term parking, and we got checked aboard the plane.  Again, Space-A is always an adventure and you have to be prepared for the unexpected!

They ushered us through the metal detectors and into a waiting area.  Then they announced that, because of a "dignified transfer," (read "fallen soldier is coming home,") we would be going out another door.  They sent us back through the metal detectors quickly.  (The detector beeped away as everyone paraded through with their metal -- watches, glasses and change, etc. -- still on!) We went out the front door, boarded two buses, and were taken around the terminal and to the waiting C-5 on the runway.  I was relieved as they trucked in the exterior stairs, because I dread the very steep inside steps we sometimes have to use.  Even with the exterior stairs, the climb to the top of the plane is scary, like up a 3-story ladder!

We got our seats, inserted the foam earplugs they give us due to the noise of the engines, and were off at about 9:30 p.m.  The seats in the plane face the back, so the takeoff is always different from commercial planes!

Right now, we are in Spain, waiting for a possible flight to Naples, Italy.  More on the flight here, and where we go next, in the next blog.