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.
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!
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!
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