Part Five: Sicily 2

From Agrigento, we continue along the south coast. We have to bike a lot on the only main road, often it goes smoothly on a wide shoulder, but the traffic and noise are exhausting in the long run. In Falconara, the wind slows us down once again. The Scirocco blows directly from the southeast and we are forced to stay at the almost ugliest campsite of the trip.

After that, we bike through a white plastic landscape for two days until we reach the southernmost corner of Sicily. Endless greenhouses with tomatoes spoil the area, which is also quite desolate. Here, we are also barked at by aggressive dogs for the only time. It could have ended badly if a nice Sicilian hadn't intervened with his car.

On the east coast, there are some nice coastal towns and significantly more tourists. We visit Noto with its many Baroque buildings on the way to Syracuse. In the old town of Syracuse, we stay in a very beautiful apartment. Thick steel cables run along the ceilings, holding the walls together.

We explore the city with a hop-on hop-off bus. The huge, modern church of the weeping Madonna is impressive. It is almost 90 meters high and wide.

Nearby is the Archaeological Park with Greek and Roman amphitheaters. The first one is built with a grandstand and seats, the second one is overgrown with grass. However, we are treated to impressive acoustics in the Ear of Dionysius by several groups of kindergarten children!!!

In Catania, we stay to take a trip to Mount Etna. We book a tour and go up to 2000 meters with mountain guide Marco and two French people. We hike another 600 meters in altitude in a hurry. Actually, Marco wanted to show us the new lava flows and the Valle del Bove, but we are so surrounded by clouds that there are only brief gaps for great views. But we hear the rumbling of Mount Etna, which has been active again for two days. After a few minutes break, it starts to snow and Marco urges us to descend. We run down the lava fields, which feels like sand dunes, and arrive quite wet and frozen at the bottom.

In the evening, we spontaneously decide to take the train to Messina the next day after 15 days and 664 kilometers. On Sicily, we have seen some very beautiful and impressive cities and landscapes. However, despite the many garbage and the road conditions, we didn't enjoy it so much.

Total kilometers: 2475

Elevation: 19956