Arrival time in Messina: 1:36 pm.

Arrival date in Messina: 27 May 2010.

Of course I celebrated when I arrived in Messina and completed the seaside part of my MedTrek around Sicily.

I had a bottle of San Benedetto “Frizzante” water and a Buongusto pizza, complete with spinach and salmon, at the Dolce Vita restaurant in the Piazza Duomo.

Then I sent my GPS coordinates and lit an electric candle inside the church in gratitude for my safe journey around the Mediterranean Sea’s largest island.

I went inside the Duomo and lit an electric candle in gratitude.

And I even had Palestinian waiter Ahmed Amer take a picture of me to see what I looked like after five weeks of rigorous MedTrekking.

The Idiot is alive and well in front of the Fontana di Orione.

Incidentally, if you want to Follow the Idiot and MedTrek around Sicily here’s one way to decide which way to go.

Get yourself to the Piazza Duomo in Messina @

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.19235,15.55443&ll=38.19235,15.55443&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=

Then flip a euro coin.

If it’s heads, MedTrek to Capo San Vito in northwestern Sicily.

That, trust me about this, is a 448-kilometer hike from this spot.

If it’s tails, MedTrek to Portopalo di Capo Passero, the furthest point to the southeast.

That, trust me about this too, is a 260-kilometer hike from here.

If the coin lands on its side, catch the ferry to Malta and just meander for 61-kilometers around Gozo in search of Calypso.

My plans?

Not to put on a backpack or hiking shoes for three days. And then climb up, down, inside and around Mount Etna in search of the Cyclops called Polyphemus next week.

Text and Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure

Photo of Joel Stratte-McClure: Ahmed Amer

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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."