Noto to Modica & a day in Ragusa

Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th February
Noto to Modica
The wind had really got up in the night, and we had to save the washing off the line on the balcony at 3.am as it was in danger of ending up in Tunisia. However it was a lovely sunny day so we left to go to Modica. We had spent hours pouring over the (somewhat inaccurate) map to work out how to miss the very busy road which went directly there. So back down the Squashed dog road for the first 5 miles and then we turned off on to really quiet rural roads. It was quite the prettiest part of the world we have been in for some time - rolling farmland surrounded by terraces of stone walls, a few vines but mostly fields of artichokes or almond and citrus fruit orchards. There were only the occasional farm vans and fruit pickers.





A tree with both oranges and lemons on it!






Man stripped to the waist picking the elusive artichokes.



It would have been bliss except for the eye-watering very strong west wind straight into our faces. We arrived in Rosolini after 4 hours of biking having only done 17 miles. Going up the hills my speedo registered between 0 and 2.5 miles an hour and I was pedaling/pushing like hell.
We collapsed exhausted into a cafeteria in the town square and were very excited to see a girl in the bar tucking in to some delicious looking globe artichokes, so we asked for them too, only to be told they were for staff only! This happens quite regularly in the restaurants we visit. We are given the menu, nearly always the same selections of pizza and pasta, choose something only to see someone else tuck in to some wonderful local seafood or vegetable! Somewhat dissappointedly we filled ourselves with a carbohydrate feast of pizza and ice creams and set off again. However, we had another 18 miles to do and it would be all uphill to Modica. It was my lowest point so far of the entire trip as I had to admit defeat and say I couldn’t do it. Alec was very considerate and we stopped to decide what action to take. Fortunately the local garage man was full of bonhomie and pointed us towards the train station just outside the town. We were lucky to find ourselves there 15 minutes before the train to Modica and it was such a relief to sit on a train for the next hour.
The people here are the most extraordinary mix of amazingly kind and helpful to outright hostile. On the way into Rosolini we had stopped for a breather and a man stopped his car to see if we needed help. The garage man was a delight and then you get on the train and the ticket man was thoroughly unpleasant. Luckily the train driver, who I think pulls rank, wanted us on board and was kindness itself. We are not entirely surprised by these attitudes as the graffiti, the videos on sale at the stations and the lectures advertised at the town hall all portray some fairly strong right wing and xenophobic views!!
On arrival at Modica there was a certain amount of scratching of heads as to the whereabouts of our hotel, with most people just pointing up to the sky and telling us to go ever upwards - so we did. It was necessary to push the bikes for a couple of miles but we made it to a most comfortable 4 star hotel in a very run down part of Modica. (it was on a very cheap deal probably because someone had started building a large block of flats directly in front of their view and then given up, so you now look out on a concrete monstrosity and not many tourists would go to that part of town)
On Thursday we took ourselves off to look at the baroque capital of Ragusa. This involves a bus ride (you wouldn’t do this route on a bike) up a very windy hillside road. The views were stunning but unfortunately the company on the bus left a bit to be desired and the constant whooping and shrieking quite spoiled any pleasure one might have had from the scenery.

View of Ragusa from the bus!

Now Ragusa is built on two hills with a seriously deep gorge between them and a rather optimistic flight of steps down from one side and up to the other. The bus dropped us off on the wrong hill – not totally bad as we are beginning to feel ‘baroqued out’ and this saved us a looking at too many churches and baroque buildings, but we missed St George’s which is the one building we would have particularly liked to have a look around. We walked over the bridges towards Ibli and found the lady in the tourist office who definitely wins the award for ‘most helpful in Italy’ and if she’d been any more persuasive we would have walked all the way to Ragusa Ibli – down the steps and up the other side, but fortunately the need to catch the bus home and common sense prevailed.

The awesome gorge between Ragusa and Ragusa Ibli - St George's Duomo is the dome in the middle.

We did however make it to the church of St John the Baptist which adequately compensated for everything we missed!

A station of the cross in St John the Baptist Duomo

Amazingly on the way home we were rewarded by finding out that there are buses that go up the hill to Modica Sorda where we had pushed the bikes yesterday (a very long way up from Modica where the station is) and we could hardly believe this our luck – we were on one.
50yds on up the hill we passed a gents hairdresser and momentarily forgetting the Van Gogh school of hairdressing I spontaneously popped in for a trim and a polish! Vivi sat in the corner and I had memories of my mother supervising my haircuts when I was 5. All the conversation about how much to take off was conducted with her – she having done Italian O level at school! The result is I shan’t need another for at least 4 months.
We had supper in a pizzeria where we were the only diners and one girl cooked the lot, ran herself ragged and did a very good job. What we hadn’t realized when one of us ordered pizza and the other chicken was that they had to be cooked in different kitchens!

A day around Noto

Tuesday 23rd February
Noto
The B&B exceeded our expectations and served an excellent breakfast on the balcony so we decided to stay another night and to spend the day in the Vendicari National Park. We cycled there without baggage (what bliss) down a road which we thought would be quite quiet but which we now refer to as ‘squashed dog road’. They were everywhere.

Crates full of oranges.

Our first port of call was the Villa del Tellaro – a late Roman 4th century aristocratic villa (des res) which was only found in the 1960’s when the occupier of the farmhouse on the site accidentally uncovered a mosaic.

Mosaics at the villa Romana

circa 4th C AD

We could have brought this little chap home - fleas and all!

We then went to the coast to explore the National Reserve which is a collection of lagoons, reed beds and untouched coastal plain. It was lovely and warm, there wasn’t much wind and the whole place was teeming with birds, butterflies and lizards. The warblers were mostly impossible to see but the sound was deafening, the flamingos were some white and some pink but all spent their time with their heads under the water and bottoms in the air and the bright yellow butterflies were huge.

Handsome beauties!

A flamingo - bottoms up.

This is the area for ‘almonds’ and now is the time to see the blossom which is a particularly intense pink and from a distance appears to covers acres and acres. We returned to Noto via the scenic route of Lido di Noto which took us away from some of the heaviest traffic but added 5ks to the journey – probably worth it as there aren’t so many corpses on the minor roads.
We had passed several local men walking along the side of the roads carrying knives which is a little unnerving, but we then came across an elderly couple both with knives and a small spade. They were busy digging a plant from the verges which looked like a mixture between wild asparagus and thistles. We must find out what it is, as it is obviously quite a delicacy in these parts. Their car boot was full of the plants.

Syracuse to Noto

Monday 22nd February
Syracuse to Noto

Whilst leaving Syracuse we passed a prime example of the local sense of humour; a large brightly painted building with a notice above the door advertising the Van Gogh School of Hairdressing! Alec has been putting off going to the barber for a couple of weeks and this didn’t make him any keener! We managed to take a quiet coastal road for the first 15 miles past yet more orange and lemon groves until we reached Avola where everything became rather busier.

We had planned to picnic beside the sea en route to Noto but following the map was a joke. Any motorway usually makes a useful point of reference as a map reading tool. However following a dispute with the local well know organization the motorway is not where the mappers have put it and all the minor roads in the vicinity have been re-routed or closed off. In the end, we found a quiet lane down yet another dead end where we ate our sandwiches. By this time it was about 4pm and we had been on our bikes for 5 hours and were starving. We then had to follow the main road all the way into Noto which is up a steep hill like everywhere else is in this part of the world.

Lions drinking in the square at Avola.

Noto is one of the many Baroque cities built after the earthquake of 1693 and has some wonderful buildings. We dumped our kit, and decided to go straight on up to the old part of town whilst it was still light. It is a small town so it didn’t take long to explore the main parts.

The town hall from the steps of the Church

Baroque municipal buildings

The city gates

Our host had suggested a couple of restaurants, and we found the one he said served typical Sicilian ‘peasant’ food. It was fun and we had an enormous supper so think it was more akin to a peasant’s feast. There was no menu, just the owner’s suggestions which consisted of all the vegetables in season, grilled or fried in various herbs and spices, omelettes, pizza bits, mixed grill of sausages, chops and steak potato gnocchi and more than we can remember. A carafe of wine was already on all the tables so they must have been expecting more but as usual we were the only 2 until a family came in. Our kind chef then insisted we had a limoncello to wash it all down with. We were glad we had taken enough exercise to do justice to the quantity provided. We slept very well.

Just a fraction of what we had to eat for dinner!

Prior to supper we had found ourselves in amongst the ‘evening promenade’ this was quite entertaining but they all move frustratingly slowly so we retired to a bar in order to spectate rather than participate. I had my second Campari since arriving in Italy and had forgotten just how marvelous it is when taken on a warm evening watching the sunset!!

3 nights and 2 days in Syracuse

Saturday and Sunday 20/21st February
A weekend in Syracuse
We are staying in a delightful b and b which is a converted convent near the railway station. We have decided to spend the weekend here as there is so much to see and do, on a scale of 1 – 10 Syracuse is without doubt a 10 and definitely high up in our top 10 favourite places so far. The weather is fantastic which is always a bonus. We set off to explore the old town on the Island of Ortygia which is delightful. First of all we circumnavigated the town around the harbour walls and stopped for a photo opportunity as it was so picturesque.

A banyan tree which reminded us that it is 12 months since we were in Bangalore for Venetia A's wedding.

A typical street in the 'old town' Ortygia.

Typical tourists - easily distinguished because everyone else is wearing full length fur coats and woollen hats!

One for any yachties reading this.

Lovely old street house in the centre of Ortygia

The streets are full of baroque buildings and we had a very happy time exploring down the small side streets. There are so many churches it is difficult to know where to start but fortunately most are locked. We enjoyed looking in St Lucy’s church where they have a lovely Caravaggio painting of St Lucy after she had died. The painting has been well restored but is now hanging so far away behind the altar that it is difficult to see well. After we arrived on Friday night we had tried to visit the Greek and Roman ruins on the outskirts of town. They are supposedly open until 1 hour before sunset, so today we had planned it well and arrived there at 3.20 ( sunset is about 6.20) and needless to say they decided to close early. We retired rather annoyed so visited the Archeological Museum instead, which was very interesting but there were an AWFUL lot of broken pots and vases so our eyes were slightly glazed (good pun there!) by the 4th room.

Strawberries in the market which looked and smelt delicious but were in fact crunchy and tasteless - ah well!

Our backs to St Lucy's and the Duomo up on the right.

yet another Baroque fronted church.

We then called in on the 1960’s Duomo which was huge and circular, with a very tall concrete spire coming up from the middle. A bit like a squat circular marquee with an enormous pole in the middle. There are little rectangular pods coming off the sides which are gradually being put into use as chapels. It actually had a very nice feel to it all, so we left in a better frame of mind and forgave the archaeological site keepers and the Museum curators!

We walked into the old town on both nights and had good suppers, we are so used to being on our own that we are always surprised to hear other British people in the restaurant. Being a popular place to visit, there were several so we sat in a different room as our manners might be too bad to be seen in public these days! On the Friday night the restaurant recommended by the hotel was about 15 minutes walk in the ‘old town’. Most of the route was ‘light’ but there was a gap of about 100yds in the middle where there were gardens traversing the road and a large ornate church at one end.

Church by the dark part of town!

It was in this dark bit that we spotted 2 girls dressed as if they were going swimming, or something. No need to guess any further but call me ‘old fashioned’ I still find it uncomfortable walking with Vivi past scantily clad hookers! Anyway enough said and on we went to supper. An hour and a half later I reckoned it would be pretty safe to go back the same way as obviously if they were any good then by now they would be busy and therefore not there. Hah – not a bit of it, there must have been 15 of them if there was 1, all yellin’ and shoutin’ at each other, flirting with boys on motorcycles in fact anyone who came into their orbit. It was all extremely good natured and almost looked as if it was a community service they were providing which I suppose it is.
Sadly I had forgotten my camera so we had to go back the next night to see if I could get a record of the scene. But, trying to take a surreptitious photograph knowing that if you are caught a man in black with a baseball bat will probably show you the error of your ways does not make it easy. So I bottled out and only managed a rather blurred attempt but expanded you can see a swirl of legs and car headlights!!

Bit too scared to set up a professional photo here but if you click on it there are definitely lots of long legs!

On Sunday morning we made sure that we went to the ruins first, and we had a glorious morning wandering around. The area is vast, encompassing remains of both Roman and Greek civilisations. It was fascinating but without a guide book a certain amount of guesswork is required understanding what everything was for. There were guides but you had to be in a group of 20, so we lurked around the English and French ones and learned a little more. The shop was shut so no chance of buying a book either. The amphitheatre is enormous and a group of French students were enacting a Greek drama we think, which was fun to watch while we chomped our picnic sitting on the steps. It is a strange thought that people had been sitting on these same steps for at nearly 3000 years. Every second summer they put on a season of Greek plays in it which would be lovely to be around for. It was very spring like with lots of butterflies, spring flowers and birds and terribly peaceful.

This cave known as Dionese' ear goes a very long way underground and is very dark!!

And it's right beside the Corderi's cave who are now know as Cordwainers!

The Roman amphitheatre where they held markets, elections, lectures, plays, fights and there were shops, offices in fact life in general in 300BC went on in this oval. Unfortunately Tekso Romanicus opened an out of town superstore with excellent slave trading and covered facilities and since then it has been allowed to decay somewhat.

The Greek Theatre (please admire my first attempt at 'stitching' a photograph. Where we had lunch in the seats to the left. BC 700!!

Click to open.

Known as Archimedes' well. And we presume that is the same Archimedes who invented the 'screw'.

Afterwards we chained the bikes to the Duomo and took a look inside. This church is absolutely splendid. For a start it has been magnificently restored but also after walking about for a while you realize that you are in a Greek temple but that the gaps between the Doric columns

The 'infilled' Doric columns and a couple a pictures of the stunning ceiling paintings.

have been filled in making it into a modern building. The huge stone slabs that lie across the top of the columns are all still there it must be thousands of years old. There are Chapels along the southern side which have been added subsequently. They have spectacular ceiling paintings and in one a small silver box a ‘relic’ of St Lucy of whom we still know nothing, but are relying on JS-B to enlighten us!

Relic of St Lucy, we weren't able to see which part of her it was.

Later that evening I was determined to visit the ‘grand port’ as I had hoped we could get a ferry to Malta from there. Firstly getting to the seaside is incredibly difficult as most of the foreshore seems to be privately owned, fenced and locked up and secondly on this occasion it was all warehouses and factories. Eventually we found a gap and discovered a small world of fanatical fishermen and for the first time in 5 months actually saw a man catch a fish. About as big as your little finger mind you but into the bucket it went and undoubtedly by now will have fed the smallest member of his family.

Man unhooking his catch!

Caught fish swirls in the water!!

Catania to Siracuse

Friday 19th – Monday 22 February
Catania to Siracuse
In a way it was a good thing we mucked up yesterday because today we had the morning to take a quick look around the centre of Catania before catching the train to Siracuse. The old town centre, like every other town in this part of the world is full of baroque buildings. This is because in 1693 everywhere was flattened following a massive earthquake and they were all rebuilt at the same time using the same architect (Vaccarini). The outskirts of the town are pretty shabby but once you enter the old centre, it is in immaculate condition - well, apart from the odd ‘palazzos’ whose owners have clearly fallen upon hard times. In England they would have been hoovered up by developers, in Purbeck you’d be told to restore it or the council would do it for you at your expense!
I'm sure that once upon a time this must have been a very handsome family home. The beach is just the other side. The car presumably still has an engine in it too!



Alec took a quick look in the Duomo which he says was fairly impressive, while I guarded the bikes. I then got in at 11.59 am, lucky for me as they closed at midday sharp and certainly did not hang around for random tourists. There is a rather nice statue of an elephant made from lava and standing on a plinth in the main square in front of the Duomo. This had been taken from an ancient temple (somewhere no-one really seemed to know where) and the intention was that it would terrify and subdue the local population; it is now part of the Catania crest.






The little eli in front of the Duomo

I just can't get enough of the gilding and the sheer opulence!

Duomo with the elephants backside.

The train ride was fairly entertaining as it was only a couple of carriages long and stopped at all the little stations on the way south to Siracuse. As we seemed to be the only people on it who had tickets the ticket collector was fully employed trying to persuade people that to travel on the train you really did need to have one. He stopped the train and made 2 young girls get out at one station to buy theirs at the local bar. When his back was turned they immediately got back on without bothering to buy one and hid at the back. There was also a tramp who was using the train as a place to sleep and keep warm. Rather unfairly, when we finally arrived at Siracuse the police were waiting and arrested him and not the girls. But it did give them a bit of a fright and they looked very relieved to be let off with a caution. The tramp was presumably taken off for a hot bath and a good meal. There is a very high police presence, with lots of road blocks. No one seems to pay much attention to rules and regulations like seat belts, crash helmets and using mobiles whilst driving. We saw a young couple being pulled over for not wearing crash helmets and the police looked pretty sinister, scores of other riders screeched to a halt 20yds away and dutifully put on their helmets which are usually swinging from the handlebars! We have since been told that the only people who wear helmets are assassins so it is best not to!

Aci Trezza to Catania

Thursday 18th February.
Aci Trezza to Catania (with an excursion to Lentini)
The plan is to get down to Siracuse but the route is made difficult by there only being a dual carriageway south out of Catania. So we set off anyway and cycled mainly downhill into Catania. It was a very easy ride and we were soon in the town which is quite large and has a pleasant feel about it.

The black lava coastline between Aci Trezza and Catania.

We spent the morning exploring the centre and along the coast to the north and south of the station. There is a real buzz to the city and the streets are tiny and narrow, full of washing hanging out to dry, motorbike shops and very small people. We thought we were being very efficient checking out train times to Lentini from where we hoped tomorrow we could cycle down to Siracuse. The station Tourist Information was closed and didn’t look as though it ever opened and the Rail Information people were positively hostile!

In amongst the narrow streets are people cooking food, the smell is delicious and we wonder why anyone would have a kitchen in their home. Unfortunately we didn't have this as it was too early and we had the Romanian sausage instead!

The sun was hot and bright and all was good. We had a bratty and a Romanian sausage thing in a little bar for lunch. The Romanian job was just raw flesh (probably horse) heavily spiced with garlic and herbs which we decided to pass on for fear of future repercussions, but the bratty was fine! After that we returned to the station and against warnings of there are ‘no hotels in Lentini’ set off anyway.

Poseidon abducting someone but we can't remember our mythology as to who she is.

Lentini looked to be the ideal place from where to explore the surrounding countryside but is in fact a rundown sort of place made worse possibly because there was a big funeral in progress with a lot of sombre fellows giving the town a gloomy appearance.
On the other hand it is the centre of orange production and there are huge warehouses outside the station with lorry loads of fruit being delivered literally 24/7 at this time of year. The smell of oranges was intoxicating almost as good as having a cointreau! Unfortunately for the country, the headline in today’s local paper was ‘the death of the fruit picking and agriculture in Sicily’ which would be a disaster for these parts. So we make a point of buying as many oranges and other fruits from the little stalls on the side of the road. The blood oranges in particular are delicious.

Vivi and her 'new best friend' negotiating a fair price for 3 tangerines and an orange. He gave her 12 anyway!

Anyway we cycled around the town centre, found the ‘only’ B&B, rang the bell to ‘no response’ and as it was now beginning to get dark cut our losses and headed back to the station. Since there wasn’t a bike friendly train going to Siracuse we had no option but to return to Catania. On the plus side we did see Etna without a trace of cloud on top which is unusual we are told.

Look! Etna - no clouds, amazing!

Railway stations in this part of the world are not somewhere to hang around as all the undesirables in the area do this too. Most of the stations are un-manned and the underpasses usually have a few youngsters smoking weed or drinking, and vagrants lying in bags. Some look as though they might have been there for weeks without moving. There are also the station dogs, nice looking mongrels who hang around in gangs too. One puppy was having a happy time chasing the trains as they passed through. I don’t think his life expectancy will be too long! Luckily the lines are not electrified in these parts.
Back in Catania it was pitch dark and the evening rush hour was in full flow. Getting into the centre which we know as ‘hotel land’ looked ominously dangerous in the dark so we set off up the coast again in search of a bed. All we could find were 4*. We rejected the first on account of the price being ridiculous, the second was the same (even after his ‘very best’ discount) but when I went back in with a map to say OK so give us the name of a few that are more reasonably priced suddenly it was – so how much can you afford? It was still too much but much better and we spent a very comfortable night!
Thanks to our girls (who we txt’d in despair from Lentini Station) for trying their best to find us hotels in Augusta (another alternative) but we couldn’t go there as that train would not take the bikes either.
It’s amazing who you meet in hotels. One of the boys at reception turned out to be German. When we said we had come to Sicily from England by bicycle via France and Spain he first of all translated that for the benefit of the rest of the hotel and then told us his uncle had walked from Berlin to Rome – Jum, we think you’ve got a bit of training to do!

Giardini Naxos to Aci Trezza

Wednesday 17th February
Giardini Naxos to Aci Trezza (Hotel Lachea)
At last, we woke to blazing sunshine; the Med looking like it is meant to so we leapt out of bed with a spring, into the biking clothes (SHORTS) and set off at speed. Actually it wasn’t quite that fast as I had to collect the laundry from the most expensive launderette in Europe and they didn’t open till 10. Three old harridans with moustaches with whom there was no discussion, negotiation or cyclist’s discount. Anyway it was most refreshing to be off again and we had a very enjoyable day biking along the coast towards Acireale. We weren’t quite sure how hilly it would be - in fact not at all at this stage- and we followed the coast along between Fiumefredde and Riposto. The buildings, bridges and walls in this area are made from Etna Lava bricks, so they are particularly black; rather like old city buildings in the U K which have not been cleaned. It was bliss to be on quiet coastal roads with little traffic. There were only a few cars and a horse galloping flat out along the road, with a hatless rider looking very happy. Can’t think how long that horse’s legs will last.
This is the centre of orange growing country and we passed mile upon mile of orchards with rather beautiful old villas in their midst. The road wound through them and it all was most picturesque with Mt Etna always changing in the background.

Etna, always with a sneaky wisp of cloud on top!

No Brimstone, but looking fairly springlike.

We came upon an old fashioned Alimentari in Riposto full of every kind of veg, fruit, bottles, cheese etc where we stocked up for lunch. All the old men in there were wonderfully friendly and we had great fun choosing food and being regaled with questions about our trip. They all think we are barmy but are full of enthusiasm. We then thought we would find a quiet sunny spot to eat this picnic, but this proved difficult. In Italy everything is fenced off, including many of the beaches as they are privately owned so getting off the road is almost impossible. No chance of a quick nip behind a bush as there is always a 10’high fence with a large Alsatian or Doberman behind it. You always have to stop at a cafe, buy a coffee or something, use the ‘facilities’ and start the whole process all over again.
Anyway lunch was finally eaten several hours later as we found we had to climb a cliff towards Acireale. It was one of those curvy coast roads that wind round and round and up and up for miles. The views were stunning but no time to take them in as we were pushing too hard on a road with very little space for us, the school buses and local traffic. Thankfully, once we had reached Acireale it was the main road down to Aci Trezza which is a most attractive fishing village, where we booked in for the night. We took our picnic lunch down to the harbour and sat on the wall as the sun was setting and watched a family have their photographs taken in a most posed and uncomfortable fashion.

Harbour pics where we had our lunch on the sea wall.

Aci Trezza is also another home of the ‘Cordwainers’ so if my friend Ollie the king Cordwainer is still reading this you had better get your cyclists to start here and take in Cordoba on the way home!!
The coast here is known as the Riviera of the Cyclops due to the three Faraglioni (rock pillars) which stand in the sea just outside the harbour.

Faraglioni rocks and Island

The Odyssey tells us that these were hurled by Polyphemus the Cyclop against Ulysses who had blinded him by thrusting a flaming stake into his ‘only’ eye. Ulysses and his gang then escaped by clinging to the bellies of rams belonging to the Cyclops – and any more you can get from Roald Dahl’s BFG!!!

Old men in the square at Aci Trezza, heaven knows what they are on the noise of shouting, arguing and laughing could be heard all over town!