Approaching Cape Marinello between Messina & Palermo in Sicily. Credit: Joel Stratte-McClure

How will I get around, over, under or through this church-crowned, cacti-covered cape just after the little village of Marinello?

A fisherman, who says that the towering Santa Maria di Tintardi is one of the bella-est churches in Sicily, claims that “It’s easy. You can walk all around on the sand.”

But half an hour later — after a magical seaside stroll under a daunting escarpment that takes me through a nature reserve full of lakes, flora, fauna, caves, echoes and stunning backside views of Santa Maria — I’m stymied by the deep sea, big waves and insurmountable cliffs. The fisherman was wrong. I turn around and retrace my steps. All in a day’s soft adventure walking the Mediterranean I think to myself!

What’s my next move? Will I make the arduous climb up the pathless hill and test my still-injured hamstrings? Will I use my little flashlight to point the way through a 2.136-kilometre-long dark railway tunnel? Will I don my day-glo orange safety vest and scurry through the equally long forbidden-for-pedestrians tunnel for speedy cars on the autostrada? Or will I pray to Santa Maria, get arrested or give up?

The surprising solution will be revealed in the sequel to “The Idiot and the Odyssey.”

The afternoon turned out fine, though, and I wound up the 28-kilometre MedTrekking day in Patti (*), where I admired some 4^th century Roman ruins (located directly under the autostrada) and had an end-of-the-day cappuccino accompanied by cream-filled, you guessed it, Patti-cakes.

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Message:This is where I am today on my counterclockwise MedTrek around Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Text and Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."