Sicily - a 5 week cycle tour

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Agira - hill top town

Castiglione - Mount Etna North

Sciacca - on way to Marinella

A great day-ride from Marinella!

Lentini - Parrocchia Chiesa Madre S. Alfio

Noto - Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata - Bell tower

Who are we .. and what do we like ..

Marion and Harold
Cycling in Virginia, Vermont, Ottawa (Gats!), Northumberland
Skiing in the winter .. mostly in Gats
Cycle touring in the fall .. France, Italy, Spain, Germany ..
Doug and Christian joined us for the first 10 days in Sicily

Christian, Doug, Marion and Harold

Marion and Harold - on way to Marinella

Why Sicily?

it came highly recommended by cycling friends.
we like Italians, their food and attitude to life!
it looked like we could spend 5 weeks and get some good cycling in!
weather promised to be warm .. maybe even HOT!
It was 75 years ago that the Canadians landed in Sicily WW2

Some pictures of 'why' ...

Catania - from window of Crociferi B&B

Pachino - east beach where we had coffee

Pachino - east beach before coffee - Harold getting feet wet

Pachino - Canadian Memorial

The map ... and some logistics

flew into Catania (from Barcelona) .. bicycles in cardboard boxes
1 night at Crociferi B&B .. box storage - thanks Teresa!
the plan .. then the other plan ..
train back to Catania from Palermo ..

Best Rides and Places

Here are 9 rides and 9 places we really enjoyed ..

Best Ride #1: Mount Etna

un-real volcanic landscape
descent on smooth roads, quiet
fabulous climb over hill with view of Castiglione in pristine sunshine
chase to the top .. for a beer.
stats: 1300m ascent to Refuge at km 28

Mount Etna - a beautiful day for a ride!

Mount Etna - valleys looking north from slopes of Mt Etna

Mount Etna - a fork in the road - looking desolate!

Mount Etna - lava fields

Rifugio at high point - north route

Mount Etna - terrain and route

peaking on brow of hill before descent into Castiglione

Castiglione - we, of course, stayed at the top of the town!

Do the climb, earn the beer!

Best Ride #2: HB's birthday ride

first introduction to the real Sicily .. towns, roads, views, heat
first big pannier day
beautiful resort Rocca dei Saraceni (outside Regalbuto)
views of Mount Etna, birthday dinner (Thanks Doug and Christian!)

Randazzo - following the bike route through a busy market day!

... on the road to Regalbuto

prickly pear plants

Christian arriving with a smile!

Beautiful views from Resort Rocca dei Saraceni

Mount Etna in distance the next morning

Best Ride #3: Agira Canadian War Cemetery

the cemetery .. glad we made the effort!

The road to Agira - hilltop town

Canadian War Cemetery on hill at base of Agira

Marion powering around the last turn

The Canadian War Cemetery - Agira - 490 commonwealth graves

.. with Mount Etna in distance

.. Agira in background

a MacLachlan ..

Sicily - Canadian Involvement

On 10 July 1943, following the successful conclusion of the north African campaign in mid May, a combined allied force of 160,000 Commonwealth and American troops invaded Sicily as a prelude to the assault on mainland Italy. The Italians, who would shortly make peace with the Allies and re-enter the war on their side, offered little determined resistance but German opposition was vigorous and stubborn. The campaign in Sicily came to an end on 17 August when the two allied forces came together at Messina, but failed to cut off the retreating Axis lines. Agira was taken by the 1st Canadian Division of 28 July and the site for the war cemetery was chosen in September for the burial of all Canadians who had been killed in the Sicily campaign. Agira Canadian War Cemetery contains 490 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. (from www.cwgc.org)

Best Ride #4: Lentini to Siracusa

fun ride out of town through meandering roads with cars chasing us to the top
coffee in Sortino .. Marion chatting up the locals
amazing descent into "No Man's Land"

Sortino - centre of town in celebration

The Three Musketeers .. don't pause at the bottom of a steep cobblestone hill!

The drop into "No Man's Land"

Christian considering the plunge

Marion pushing on ...

Map - Lentini-Siracusa route

Map - Sortino dance

Best Place #1: Siracusa

architecture
cafes and restaurants - ambiance
nice change of pace .. but we had to say good-bye to Doug and Christian here :(

view out to sea

Entrance to fort

Fort .. on point of land

Best Place #2: Noto

architecture
cornetti and coffee
some amazing church interiors .. and views from towers of surrounding area

Noto - Basilica

Noto .. War Monument

Noto .. the cafes

Noto .. the church interior

Noto - Basilica

Noto - Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata - Bell tower

Best Ride #5: day-ride from Noto to beaches around Pachino

found beaches .. got feet wet
found memorial to Canadian landing
starting to see coastal roads and towns .. of more to come.

Beach - east of Pachino

Marion - on the beach

Harold - beach east of Pachino

Canadian Memorial - WW2 landing beach

Best Place #3: Scicli

surprise descent into town
very quiet (relative to Noto .. )
great food at favorite restaurant
very pretty architecture .. churches

Following the route where ever it goes ...

Surprise descent into Scicli!

Scicli - downtown - not a soul around!

Scicli - church

Scicli - coffee brewing in our great apartment!

Best Ride #6: Gela to Licata

quiet roads, great views of storms brewing in distant sea
excitement of arriving in town and finding hotel just before the rains!

Ride to Licata - the wonderful SP83

Ride to Licata - SIBIT signs (Sustainable Inter-regional Bike Tourism)

Ride to Licata - storm is brewing

Ride to Licata - storm is nigh

Licata - let the rains begin!

Licata - washing up!

Best Ride #7: Montallegro to Marinella

pretty towns, quiet roads, great views of sea
beer at corner restaurant - friendly talk with owner/waitress

Ribera - climb in to town

Ride to Marinella - Marion and Harold taking a break!

Ride to Marinella - Marion on a quiet but steep ascent!

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Marinella in distance on coast

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Ride to Marinella - the Menfi bypass

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SIBIT Map .. a work in progress!

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Ride to Marinella - There is a reason this road is so quiet!

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Best Place #4: Marinella

Greek ruins
hanging out at beach in cafes and restaurant watching tourists and sea

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Marinella - harbour for locals

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Marinella - Greek Temple

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Marinella - Greek Goddess

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Marinella - Greek Temple - requires some assembly

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Marinella - view from archaeological grounds

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Marinella - wonderful pottery .. wish we brought bigger bags!

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Best Ride #8: Marinella day ride

interesting towns
surprise road .. quiet, then very quiet
return views of sea

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Partanna - lunch

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Marinella day ride - idyllic road leading across valley

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Marinella day ride - the valley

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Marinella day ride - or walk .. surprised the fox!

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I can't believe we drank 2 of these!

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Best Place #5: Trapani

wonderful accommodation
great food, quiet after Palermo
nice pedestrian-only streets

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Trapani Prairie

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Trapani - getting close with Erice mountain in distance

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Trapani - lunch!

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Trapani - architecture

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Trapani - overseers

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Trapani - monument in Cathedral

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Best Place #6: Palermo

chaos
people watching
Opera night
churches, tile museum

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Palermo - view from our apartment

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Palermo - People-friendly streets!

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Palermo - Verdi

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Palermo - Opera House

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Palermo - the Opera we saw!

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Palermo - the wedding we crashed

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Palermo - a man of great power

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Palermo - the Tile Museum and B&B

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Palermo - the Tile Museum and B&B

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Palermo - people watching

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Palermo - dog watching

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Palermo - the street entertainment

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Palermo - more people watching

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Palermo - the cactus garden

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Palermo - where to buy a bicycle

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Palermo ... and fix a bicycle!

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Best Place #7 and Ride #9: Baglio Pocorobo .. ride to Greek ruins

friendly welcome at Baglio Pocorobo after mud bath
Segesta Greek ruins - Teatro and Tempio
fabulous views of mountains to north, Tempio below

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Baglio Pocorobo - a great road ..

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Baglio Pocorobo - then disaster within 3km of destination!

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Baglio Pocorobo - so close .. so far

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Segesta - Greek Teatro

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Segesta - looking towards Castellammare del Golfo and tomorrows route!

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Segesta - Greek Teatro

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.. our most friendly host .. and his helpers

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Good-bye Baglio Pocorobo - on way to Balestrate!

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Best Place #8: Balestrate

a 'locals' town
beach
quiet, low key, easy to walk around

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Castellammare del Golfo

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Harbour in Balestrate

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Balestrate accommodations

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Best Place #9: Catania

churches - Bellini tomb
tour of Opera House (Teatro Bellini)
Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolo L'Arena
eating outside in restaurants, cafes
WW2 museum

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Dome of Saint Nicolo - beside Monastery

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Bellini's Tomb

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Bellini's Tomb - music

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Catania - fish market

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Catania - central square - Cathedral si Sant'Agata

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Catania - Opera House (Teatro Massimo Bellini)

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Bellini - himself

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View from Monastery

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Monastery - wall relief

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What went wrong

rain and mud roads
route finding was difficult if you left the busier roads
train Palermo to Catania

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Rain on first day - extended lunch before assault of Castiglione!

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Doug - go left, no go right .. no, wrong again!

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Road up to ridge taking us to Marinella

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First patch of mud .. don't do a touch-down with your shoe!

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Marion cleaning mud from cleats!

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Hard-packed dirt road in to Montallegro .. if only all roads were as good!

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The vegetable field portage ..

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Marion is thinking ... 'going to have to clean my cleats again!'

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2 metres short .. and 2 wheel revolutions gives you this!

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Heed the red circle .. road closed!

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What went right!

contingency plans for rain days
route finding on the go ..
a train when you needed it
bus to Palermo
start and stop in Catania
Marion's Italian
booking.com on smartphone - with data package

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Greek Ruins in Marinella - easy access, no fences

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Sometimes the best beer is sitting on your porch .. Montallegro

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Agrigento in distance .. glad we by-passed it!

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.. a quiet back road .. paved too!

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Recommendation?

Yes .. it was a great trip!
We were lucky and unlucky with the weather .. it would have been a completely different trip with hotter weather and no rain.
The people are very friendly and even the 'aggressive' driving was friendly! .. never felt unsafe.
At times the traffic was more than we wanted to but we adjusted the trip and route to our needs.
Our only regret is that we did not find a place to stay for 5 days with a great day-ride every day .. it was very hard to find this utopia in Sicily under our weather-mud conditions.

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Stats

Population: 5 million
Catania: 1.1 million
Palermo: 1.3 million
Kilometres cycled: 1054
Metres of ascent: 13,537
Number of days cycling: 22
# days in Sicily: Sept 20th to Oct 25th (35 days)

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Canon SX620 HS - wide angle

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Links ..

High resolution slideshow:Slideshow
Short daily diary with pics & links to track files, maps www.nordicwind.ca/trav-blog/Girona-Sicily-2018
This presentation (medium size pics): www.nordicwind.ca/Sicily-2018
Top Ten rides in Virginia - that you must do!: www.nordicwind.ca/Spring2VA

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Marion - Trapani Prairie

Map