RV Travels in Europe and North America
Travelintiger
This is a geographical breakdown of places we have visited in our travels.
In contrast to Milan, Turin was more elegant than we expected. It had an interesting center, and the city seemed cleaner and more organized than other places in Italy. The fact that we had our best weather in 10 days may also have contributed to our favorable view of the city.
It really pored all night last night. The heaviest sustained rain we have seen on this trip. The last week has been wet and cool
It really pored all night last night. The heaviest sustained rain we have seen on this trip. The last week has been wet and cool and it is starting to wear on us. Turin is our last major Italian city of the trip. We picked it so that we could get a brief taste of the Piedmont area.
The drive over was pretty easy except for hitting a few very heavy bouts of rain. As we closed in on Turin the weather started to turn and morale picked up in François. There was even a brief view of the Alps as we got close to the city.
The Sosta we are parked in is run by the tram company in Turin, while it is very convenient it probably has the most convoluted pay system we have seen. You take a ticket when you check in and that takes care of the parking. To use the water you are supposed to stick the parking ticket into a machine and it records that you used water. This also goes for the dump, bathroom, and showers. To get electricity you have to go get a separate card give a €10 deposit and then take that card to a vending machine to put some credit on it, and after the credit has been loaded you take it out to the electric boxes and insert the card to get your electricity. The parking lot is located off of “The Soviet Union Boulevard” (Turin is a very left wing city.), so I think whoever designed the payment system must have learned it when they were studying in the USSR.
After sorting out the electric we headed downtown on the Tram. Turin is a very prosperous town, and while there is nothing particularly spectacular in town, the overall feeling of the town is quite organized and well ordered. In fact it almost felt German except for the driving which is Italian to its core. Ton had one primary target which was Al Bicerin Cafe which has been in business since 1763. This place developed this drink consisting of espresso, dark chocolate, and cream in layers. The drink and the cafe have been celebrated in novels and travelogues for over 200 years. After walking thru the former Dukes Palace and the main square of town we headed over to the Cafe. Ton ordered the Bicerin while I opted for a normal hot chocolate. It is a humble looking place that does not look like it has been impressing great artists and politicians for centuries. It was everything Ton hoped for (my hot chocolate was good also, but now I feel like a charlatan).
When we finished up with the Bicerin and some light food we headed over to the central market. We can never go wrong at one of these traditional markets. We really enjoyed our walk thru the market and the food stalls in a separate building. Turin looks like a great town to live in, an interesting mixture of big business (it is the home of Fiat) and food. It reminded me a little bit of Portland without the beer.
We finished the day with a promenade up the main shopping street of town, before grabbing the tram. On the way back to François we made one final stop at a big grocery store to stock up on some of our favorite Italian groceries before we head back into France.
We did a one day visit to Milan in the rain and cold. The center was a glamorous as we expected, but the tram ride in was thru the real Milan and was not quite as glamorous but probably reflects the reality of Milan away from the tourist and shopping districts. Despite the weather and the lack of glamour we enjoyed our day in Milan.
We returned to Lombardy in 2024 for a second visit outside of Milan.
It was supposed to rain heavily today and when we woke up it was. So we decided to stay here one more day and wait
After our day of rest yesterday we were both up early and ready to get going into town. Our campground is conveniently located about 100
Our grand tour of Switzerland is over. We really enjoyed Switzerland the natural beauty of the country is remarkable. Today we shifted down to a
We woke early to head into Milan as the weather forecast was threatening. It looked like the best window was going to be in the
We have hit a lull in the trip. A combination of poor weather and the need to be much more deliberate in planning. It looks
We woke early to head into Milan as the weather forecast was threatening. It looked like the best window was going to be in the morning, so we were off for downtown before 8:30.
I expected Milan to be a more elegant city than it turned out to be, based on it being the fashion capital of the world with names like Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Prada located here. I envisioned it to be a Miami or Los Angeles. Instead it felt more like Pittsburg or Detroit, more industrial than elegant.
Our camp site is in a working class neighborhood at the end of a tram line which is convenient for getting downtown. We take public transport in most of the cities so we get to see the less glamorous parts of town. It gives a view of life away from the tourist centers, and a chance to watch people interacting in a normal environment, which we enjoy. Milan is a more diverse city than any we have seen in Italy. It definitely has the largest Asian population we have seen which seems to be mostly Philippinos. We had been commenting on the lack of Kebab shops in Italy compared to the other countries we have visited, but Milan had plenty of Kebab shops.
Downtown Milan did have some of the elegance we were looking for with all of the big name fashion designers having stores in the Galleria off of the main square. Right after we arrived downtown it started raining and the Galleria is covered so we headed there to get out of the rain. We walked around looking at all of the fancy stores and enjoying the Galleria. I believe it is the inspiration for all of the malls that dot the US, but on a scale that no developer is going to pay for.
Between showers we would dash out of the Galleria and head towards the Cathedral which is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. It was built over 600 years so it passed thru a lot of design styles. It is know for the hundreds of statues on the exterior and the interior.
We decided to pay the small entrance fee to visit the interior as there was no line. We were both impressed with one particular statue of St. Bartholomew. The statue is in great detail and you can see his bones, muscles, and veins. We did not realize this was because he was flayed alive. What we thought was a robe wrapped around him is actually his skin!
We had been remarking on Italy being the first country we had visited in Europe that did not have several Starbucks in every major city. Ton looked it up and there is only one Starbucks in Italy and it is also the largest Starbucks in the world (until next week when a larger one will open in Chicago). We decided to visit it as it roasts its own coffee that Starbucks calls a “Reserve Roast”. They also feature many different ways of brewing coffee. We expected to have a quick coffee and head out, but ended up in there for well over an hour and enjoying two coffee’s each.
We have hit a lull in the trip. A combination of poor weather and the need to be much more deliberate in planning. It looks like nearly every campsite in Northern Italy closed down on November 3rd. Our plan was to visit one of the lakes that Northern Italy is famous for. Our first choice was Lake Como, but after looking at over 20 campsites websites they were all closed. We switched to Lake Garda and seemed to find one campsite that was open. Their website and the ACSI website both said that it was open until November 10. So today Lake Garda was our target.
We took our time departing Vicenza as the drive was only an hour to the campsite on Lake Garda. We began with a shopping trip to Lidl. After the last two days between the American Grocery at the Army base and Lidl; François is stuffed with food. Ton had a difficult time getting everything into place. Heading down the Autostrada to Lake Garda was easy, thought the truck traffic was quite heavy. It was a short trip to the campsite after we left the Autostrada and it was raining heavily. We discussed whether it was worth stopping as we did not know whether we would be able to enjoy the lake in the rain. The problem was solved when we arrived at the campground and found that despite all of our internet research it was closed for the season. So the decision was made and we headed back to the autostrada for the additional 140 kilometers to Milan.
Our destination this time was an Agritourismo site on the edge of Milan that was reported to be open. We arrived about 3 pm and were directed down some really small roads, and when the GPS announced we had arrived there was nothing that looked like a place for campers in site. I remembered that one of the reviews said that the GPS coordinates for the site were not quite accurate so I parked François and went on a foot reconnaissance and found the site tucked away.
It is definitely the most eccentric site we have stayed on here in Italy. It is tucked in the courtyard of a farm building surrounded by construction and apartments. There are a couple of dogs running around, a cat that seems to be in charge, and 10 or 12 chickens. It is the only site available in Milan so it will do.
Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world, and the type of place we sometimes avoid for that reason. This time Ton told me that we really needed to visit as she had very fond memories from a trip with her mother when she was in college. We were lucky to visit during the off season as the crush of tourists you hear about so often was not that bad. One of the days the city was experiencing the Acqua Alta high tides that floods St. Marks Square. Unfortunately the week after we visited Venice experienced catastrophic flooding that inundated 80% of the city.
We had a decision to make last night about where to go next. We had pretty much wrapped up the places we wanted to see
It was raining when we took off to visit Verona. It looked like we may get a couple of dry hours mixed in with scattered
Well the rain we took a day off to stay out of showed up in force today. There is a large storm going thru Italy
Today was a maintenance day. Our campsite is less than 100 yards from the main shipping channel for Venice port so we began the day
After a wet and windy night we woke up to sunny skies with a touch of fog. The bet we had made on the weather
As planned we moved to the other side of Venice to a campground that was open for the whole time we are planning to be
Today was a maintenance day. Our campsite is less than 100 yards from the main shipping channel for Venice port so we began the day watching the morning parade of different types of commercial ships go by including Container Ships, Car Carriers, long distance Ferries, and tankers. They passed close enough in front of us that we hear the crew talking on the ships, it was a fun start to the day.
After that we drove less than an hour to a US Army base in Vicenza Italy. François needed a good cleaning, and we decided to take advantage of the big American washing machines there. So the day consisted of washing all of our sheets and blankets, while Ton was working on that I gave François a bath in the rain which worked out since I did not need to rinse.
After that we did some food shopping and relaxed for the rest of the day.
After a wet and windy night we woke up to sunny skies with a touch of fog. The bet we had made on the weather had turned out, so we headed over to Venice for the day.
As I talked about yesterday I had to decide if we were going to take a gondola ride today. Instead I decided that we would ride on one of the ferries that acts like a bus. Line 1 follows the Grand Canal and it costs considerably less than a gondola, and covers more ground. After a couple of stops we gained the two front seats in the bow of the waterborne bus. This proves (at least to me)that it is possible to have romance without spending a lot of money.
We also planned to visit the Rialto Bridge which is the most famous bridge in Venice. So we disembarked from our ferry/bus there after about an hour cruising the Grand Canal. The bridge and the market next door did not capture our attention, so we headed over to St. Marks square. The tide was quite a bit lower so the square was not under water today. The places that were flooded yesterday now had fancy outdoor cafes with bands and extremely expensive coffee for sale. It was quite a change from yesterday. While it was a lot prettier it somehow felt less interesting than the square under water.
It was much less crowded than yesterday even with the better weather. The long Italian weekend was over, and there was only one cruise ship in town instead of the three that were here yesterday. So when we walked by St. Marks Cathedral we were shocked to see there was no line at all. Ton was in full photography mode so she sent me off to see how much it cost to enter. Another shock, it was free, so we headed in for a walk. St. Marks is the first cathedral we have come to that allows no photography so we do not have any pictures, but it was very beautiful.
By now we were quite hungry so we headed over to the old Jewish quarter of town where we had heard there were lots of restaurants. It was a nice walk and to our surprise the further we got from the tourist part of town the wider the roads got which spread the crowds out, the shops and restaurants were still intriguing, we found a nice garden with several interesting art works, and the people watching was still quite good.
After our late lunch we decided to head back to the ferry as it was getting towards dark. While waiting we were treated to the cruise ship in town passing by on the canal with three tugs shepherding it along. It was a final giant connection to the city of canals.
As planned we moved to the other side of Venice to a campground that was open for the whole time we are planning to be here. The drive over in light traffic was pretty uneventful except for my inability to follow Greta’s directions. This resulted in us twice unnecessarily being on toll roads for short distances. The first time we ended up paying a toll, the second time when I put the ticket in the machine the barrier went up and the ladies voice on the machine said arrivederci before I could put my credit card in for the toll. She must of felt sorry for the fool who could not follow directions.
We arrived at the new campground early, hooked up and headed over to Venice during a little break in the rain. We had no real plans for the day and thought we would just walk around and take in the sights.
We followed the signs towards St. Marks Cathedral. The crowds were plentiful but not overwhelming, despite the three cruise ships we saw docked. As we walked I contemplated Ton’s offer of whether we take a gondola ride or not. Last night she told me gondola rides were €80 and lasted 30 minutes. She said she had taken one with her mother in 1978, so it was completely up to me whether we took one as she had already done it. We will see tomorrow.
It has been wet and blustery the last couple of days and the tides were pretty high along the water front, the sea was nearly up to the footpath with occasional waves washing over. This looks like it must be becoming more common as many places have temporary bridges stacked so you can walk without getting your feet wet.
St. Marks square was interesting because when we arrived about 60% of it was underwater. The water depth ranged from 6 inches to a couple of feet. All of the stores and restaurants on one side of the square were closed as they had about 2 feet of water lapping at their doors.
We wandered around for another hour or so, mostly people watching. The weather channel was dead on as about 1pm a light rain began. By the time we got back to the ferry station about 2pm it was a steady hard rain and the wind was starting to blow.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in François. We have a nice waterfront spot looking across the water at Venice and the cruise ships, it really is a nice view. Ton cooked up a wonderful seafood pasta. We have really enjoyed both the restaurants and the quality of the food in groceries in Italy. We spent some time trying to figure out what food from Italy we should try to bring back home.
The weather today is very Oregon like; steady rain and high temperatures in the 50’s. Our plan was to simply head up to Venice and hunker down for the day and wait out the bad weather by planning our time in Venice.
There are two points to enter Venice conveniently from a camping point of view. One entry is southwest of the city and the other is east of the city and entails going around the city. Even though it is less convenient I chose the east one because it had 6 campgrounds in the vicinity and two of them were listed in my planning app as open year round. When we arrived the first one informed me that they were closing tomorrow at noon. The alternative is closed for two weeks for renovations. So again we were looking for a plan b. After some thought we are staying in the campground we arrived at for one night, and after confirming that the one southwest of the city we passed 65 kilometers ago is indeed open we will head over there tomorrow and carry on with our plan for two days in Venice.
We are getting nervous about Italy because it looks like a lot of the campgrounds are shutting down after this weekend, so our travels in Northern Italy may get curtailed, and will certainly take more planning.
Rome is only the second capital city we have visited in Europe. We tend to avoid big cities but did not want to miss out. The drive in and moving around were pretty easy, and we were rewarded with a great time, except for the Vatican museum tour which was a real cattle call.
Our second day in Rome was aimed at the Roman ruins and the Colosseum. Again the public transport in Rome worked very well and we
Today we decided to start our time in Rome by visiting the Vatican. Yesterday after some research we decided to do a guided tour, it
Not much to talk about today. We woke a little early, prepared François for movement after four days sitting in one place. The drive to
Our second day in Rome was aimed at the Roman ruins and the Colosseum. Again the public transport in Rome worked very well and we arrived early for our tour. This time we were able to get a slot on an earlier tour which was lucky as this tour was pretty small and we had some things we wanted to see after the tour.
We began by visiting Palatine Hill which contains many of the ruins of the old Roman city center. They are still discovering many ruins as Rome like many cities is in layers. We were told that there are seven layers of buildings from the modern we see today to the original remains of the founding of the city. We began the tour by looking over a site that was uncovered when they were extending the metro system. It was the remains of a temple and was quite impressive. The guide says this happens all of the time when new construction is begun in the city.
The tour of the ruins around the Colosseum was very interesting, and the history is fascinating to hear. The ruins are different than those of Pompeii because Pompeii was destroyed in a flash, the ruins in Rome happened over centuries due to neglect. Originally Rome was built on hills because the areas between the hills were flood plains. Over time as the Romans developed their sewer systems they were able to manage the floods and much of what we saw today was development in what had been the flood plain. As Rome declined the sewers and other flood control measures failed, and things were covered over with mud from floods.
After a thorough exploration of Palatine Hill, we headed over to the Colosseum for the big finish of the tour. The Colosseum is an impressive structure. The resemblance to modern stadiums is striking. The building held 50,000 people for events, and they could have the crowds into the building in 30 minutes and could empty the building in 20 minutes. The construction techniques are fascinating to me, and their solutions to structural issues were quite sophisticated. Most of the seating is gone but you can easily visualize the crowds. They even had a method to cover the seats during rain using canvas and ropes.
Our final two sites for the day were the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. They are having a real Indian Summer here so the crowds at these two sites were summer like. For the Trevi Fountain I picked a spot where I could enjoy a view and let Ton dive into the crowd to get some pictures.
Another very touristy day, but we have no regrets. Sometimes you have to be a tourist and not a traveler.
Today we decided to start our time in Rome by visiting the Vatican. Yesterday after some research we decided to do a guided tour, it was €10 more than the unguided ticket. It was expensive but the other option was waiting in line for an indeterminate amount of time to purchase a ticket as an individual.
Our tour was at 11am but not having tried the public transport in Rome we left about 8:45 to give me some time to get lost. It turns out the trip to the Vatican was a breeze and we were there about 9:30. We used the time until the tour began to wander around St. Peters Square. The square itself is very impressive and we had no trouble killing the time we had until our tour.
We joined our tour and headed over to the Vatican Museum. The museum was fantastic but the crowds inside were incredible. I am not sure how many people they let in per day, but if today is any indication it is too many. At times you could not stop walking as you were being carried along by the crowds. We saw a lot of beautiful things that we would have liked to stop and admire but were unable to due to the crowds. It also made following the guides talk very complicated as we would frequently be separated from her by a wall of people and were not quite sure what piece of art she was talking about. We later learned that even in shoulder season Mondays and Saturdays are very crowded.
We eventually made our way thru to the highlight of the trip the Sistine Chapel. Again the place was jammed with people and you were basically herded into the middle of the Chapel and had to stop and stand in one place. There was no moving around to get a better view of a particular part of the chapel. Having complained I know why so many people want to see the chapel as it is absolutely stunning, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. In the end it was worth the trouble. Sorry there are no pictures from the Sistine Chapel allowed.
The tour finished up with St. Peters Basilica. We have visited a lot of Cathedrals during our time touring in Europe but this one is special. While the crowds were just as large, St. Peters was more than big enough to handle them. While the place is ornate it struck me as more understated, as if it has nothing to prove. We appreciated this, but the art that is in the cathedral is beautiful, and surprisingly to us from many different eras. It is not frozen in time which is also refreshing.
In the end our three hour tour took a little over four hours due to the crowd, and we emerged from St. Peters famished. Ton had picked out a place she wanted to try and following Google maps we arrived at the site, sat down and ordered some pasta, when I looked across the street and saw the name of the restaurant she had picked out, we were in the wrong place. The food was pretty good though.
Not much to talk about today. We woke a little early, prepared François for movement after four days sitting in one place. The drive to Rome was uneventful, the Autostrada was quiet and easy.
We arrived at the campground pretty early and got set up for what will be another extended stay. We spent the afternoon researching tours and purchasing tickets for the two big attractions the Vatican, and the Colosseum. So the next two days are already planned. As it was Sunday everything was closed but a grocery store so we headed there for a little recreational shopping. Some days are not very interesting.
Campania includes three of the biggest tourist attractions in Italy, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and Naples. Pompeii and the Amalfi were as expected spectacular. Naples was a pleasant surprise and another place I wish we had spent more time.
We slept in a bit today, and after pottering around the campground a while we headed into Naples. When we got to the train platform
Yesterday was a bucket list item for me, and today was a bucket list item for Ton. Before every trip Ton gives me some places
Since we are parked across from the entrance to Pompeii we decided to visit the site. I have always been interested in Pompeii since I
We slept in a bit today, and after pottering around the campground a while we headed into Naples. When we got to the train platform here in Pompeii we ran into the French couple we did the Amalfi coast with yesterday. Ginette and Michel were also going into Naples for the day and we ended up joining up for the day.
We did a couple of driving tours of Naples to get a feel for the city. Naples is an interesting city. It is as chaotic as any city you would find in the world, Ton said the traffic reminds her of Bangkok. The traffic is a free for all, and entertaining to watch. The city itself is grimy but seems full of character. The setting for the city is absolutely beautiful with a large bay with the Amalfi coast in the distance, and Mt. Vesuvius looming over the port. This is a city that no one is going to be neutral on, you are going to love it for its character and in your face attitude, or you are going to hate it for its grime, and lack of discipline. I was a little tempted to extend one more day to spend some time on foot to get a better sense of the city, but Rome is calling.
We had a nice meal with Ginette and Michel, and really enjoyed our day with them. Despite not having a common language we had a good time and learned about each other. As the day went on Michel tried out his limited English, and Ton even began to dredge up some of her college French. We really enjoyed their company and feel like we made some new friends.
Yesterday was a bucket list item for me, and today was a bucket list item for Ton. Before every trip Ton gives me some places we must see, and we took care of one of them today, visiting the Amalfi Coast.
The Amalfi Coast is a spectacular 40km stretch of road strung along a peninsula. The road is carved in cliff side, and the views are spectacular. Part of the fun is watching the drivers deal with the hundreds of switchbacks on what is effectively 1 and 3/4 American lanes. RV’s are forbidden which allowed me to enjoy the views and the chaos on the road as a spectator. It was worth every dollar we paid to not be driving.
To give an example of Italian driving from today. Our driver did not speak English. At one point we were crossing a bridge and I saw a little village and harbor tucked under the bridge and pointed to get Ton’s attention. Next thing I know the driver pulled over into the on coming lane (there were cars coming), threw the van in reverse, and backed to the middle of the bridge where he parked, turned around and looked at the 5 of us in the back seat and said “Picture”? The five of us looked at each other and said why not? So we got out of the car while cars going in both directions dodged around us and the van. The funny thing is this did not seem to faze any of the Italians in the other cars, vans and busses in the least, they all just shrugged and maneuvered around us like it was perfectly reasonable to stop in the wrong lane of a narrow two lane bridge to snap a few pictures.
Our tour included three towns and a tourist attraction. The first town we saw was Positano which is the jewel of the Amalfi. Steinbeck wrote a short story about it, and it has been featured in several movies. It is a beautiful sea front with the town flowing up the cliffs. Tourism is the main, (possibly only) industry in the town now, but the setting makes it worth dealing with all of the people.
The next stop was at a tourist attraction called The Grotto. There were six of us on the tour, two other Americans, and a French couple. None of us were quite sure what we were getting into, but it turned out to be a short tour of a pretty underwater cave.
We next stopped at the largest city and the namesake of the Amalfi Coast, Amalfi. In many ways it felt a lot like Positano. A small harbor leading to another town carved from cliffs. Amalfi did have a really beautiful cathedral though we decided to pass on the interior as we are getting a little jaded about cathedrals.
The final town for the day was Ravello which was up in the mountains of the Amalfi away from the sea. It was clearly the most prosperous of the towns, and looked like it dealt with a higher end clientele than the other two towns.
We enjoyed poking around in a ceramic store with the French couple. At the beginning of the day they were pretty quiet as neither one speaks English. But by the end of the day we had a fun time communicating with them using broken English, broken French, broken Italian, sign language and smiles and laughter. They have been traveling extensively and it is a shame we cannot communicate better as Ton and I would love to talk to them about their travels in Morocco and Greece.
Since we are parked across from the entrance to Pompeii we decided to visit the site. I have always been interested in Pompeii since I read about it when I was a child, so I was excited for the visit. Pompeii was destroyed and buried when Mt. Vesuvius exploded and the ruins were not discovered until the 1700’s.
But for me it was seeing the more day to day buildings such as bakeries, baths, taverns, public toilets and even brothels. The different houses from the rich, working class, and the poor were on view.
It was very easy to imagine what life was like in this Roman town. You can see very clear similarities between how people live today, and how they lived back then. You can see how very highly developed things were and how some things are very common to today. As an example the ovens used in the bakeries are almost identical to those used today for Pizza in the local restaurants.
Calabria is located on the toe of Italy. We made only one stop in this region, and it deserves much more based on our experience in Tropea.
Ton read my account of entering Tropea yesterday and said it sounded a little whiny. Ton thought Tropea was a really beautiful city, and felt
I was worried about the day for some reason. I was 90% sure that I had told Greta Garmin the right ferry terminal, but there
Ton read my account of entering Tropea yesterday and said it sounded a little whiny. Ton thought Tropea was a really beautiful city, and felt I should have spent more time talking about how beautiful the town was, about our fun encounter with a young clerk in a food shop and that the water off shore was a beautiful emerald color. So I apologize to Tropea for not giving it it’s due yesterday.
As usual on these trips we start to panic when we realize that there is more to see than we have time for. Today we are two weeks into the trip, and have a lot more to cover. I had hoped to spend more time in the far south, but we both agreed that there was a lot to do around Naples so we made the decision to have a big travel day up to Naples. It helped that it was our first rainy day of the trip so we headed up the excellent and mostly free Autostrada to Pompeii. Tonight we are parked in the Spartacus Campground across the street from the entrance to the Pompeii archeological site.
Since there is not a lot to talk about today I am going to tell one of my favorite stories from Sicily. As we were walking around Sicily we kept seeing these flower pots of a male and female head. The male head looked Arabic, and was often black. We finally dug up the story behind these pots.
Once upon a time in Palermo there lived a fair maiden who was extremely beautiful, but she was a loner, and was not interested in suitors. One day a Moorish Prince landed in Palermo, and spotted the fair maiden and fell in love. He boldly entered her home and professed his love. The fair maiden was taken by his forwardness and agreed to allow him to become her lover. One day she asked when he planned to marry her, when he confessed that he must return to Africa tomorrow, and that he had a wife and family at home. The maiden said nothing, but that night she murdered him in her bed, cut his head off and turned it into a flower pot so he would be with her forever. How very Sicilian!
