Sicily VBT (Vermont Bike Tour) 2018
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Summary
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A description of our VBT ten day tour of Sicily that occurred from June 10
to June 20, 2018. This was our first experience both with VBT and going to
Sicily. We began by arriving by flying into Catania from Torino and then
transfering by car to Taormina for 2 days. The cycling portion began in Scicli
and lasted for six consecutive days. We spent the last day at Siracusa before
returning to the USA by way of Catania-Munich-Washington.
Map of Sicily showing locations of Catania, Taormina, Etna, Ragusa,
Scicli, Modica, Noto, Syracuse on the eastern side of the island.
All of the travel arrangements were made by VBT. I was the only one to bring
my own bike. All the others used bikes provided by VBT. They had road, touring,
and electric Fuji bikes available. Rosemary used an electric Fuji bike with
a Bosch battery, which she really appreciated.
A great experience with many unforgettable scenes. Well organized and the
guides, Angelo and Lea were very special. Daily morning briefings of the
rides including key turns and extensive discussions on the history of Sicily.
Personal comments: Even though I felt I was ready, the cumulative effect
of riding consecutively for six days took its toll. The two-ride segments that
included a stop for extensive lunches was tough on me. On the non cycling days,
the walking exceeded 16,000 steps and that was not counting the actual
vertical steps taken especially in Taormina and Scicli. My biggest regret was
that I did not test out the Garmin navigation and the first ride from Scicli
was a personal mess-up on my part. Otherwise, the Garmin navigation for the rides
was great. The GoPro unit gave me some problems and was not able to record
some segments of the ride.
Personal ratings:
Best Breakfast: Borgo Pantano
Best Lunch: Agri Milo Farm
Best Dinner(s): Liberty Restaurant (Noto) ; Da Cristinas (Taormina)
Best Ride: Afternoon Rocky Canyon descent overlooking Siracusa to Hotel Pantano.
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A brief summary of daily events follows.
Jun 10 Sun : Ryan Air flight from Torino to Catania. Car transfer from Catania to
Taormina. Hotel Monte Tauro. Self Walk and Sicilian dinner @ Da Cristina.
Jun 11 Mon : Morning walking tour of Taormina. Lunch. Hike up to Madonna della Rocca
Church on hill overlooking Taormina. Afternoon visit to Greco-Roman Theater.
Swim in pool, evening dinner @ Taormina restaurant.
Jun 12 Tue: Trekking along the northeast sides of Mt. Etna on Sentiero
Sartorius. Visit to ski area partially destroyed by lava flows.
Lunch at a Rifugio Ragabo. Exploration of a small lava cave. Stop and walk
in cool water to scenic Alcantare river gorge. Dinner: return to Da Cristina
for great pizza and arancine.
Jun 13 Wed : Transfer to Scicli. Lunch stop and sightseeing at Ragusa Ibla.
Borgo Hedone hotel on rocky hillside overlooking Scicli. Assembly of bike.
First ride: a warmup loop near Scicli. Garmin navigation chaos: got lost.
Dinner at nearby Osteria Tre Colli. Bike 10.5 miles.
Jun 14 Thu: Morning ride to Sampieri / Marina di Modica. Final segment on
bike path. Garmin Navigation worked. Picnic lunch at pine forest by sea
by Angelo and Lea. Swim in chilly waters of Mediterranean. Afternoon ride
back to Scicli. Very high winds. Switch-back descent into Scicli. Rosemary
nearly blown over by high winds at end of ride in front of San Bartolomeo
church. Bike 25 miles.
Jun 15 Fri : Bonus morning ride to Modica under huge bridge. Chocolate Factory
Antica Dolceria Bonajuto visit. Solo ride up to start point. Morning ride north
thru Noto valley to Nella's Organic Farm. Making fresh Ricotta.
Threat of rain. Afternoon ride to
Hotel Kallikoros interrupted by mid afternoon rainstorm. Stopped and waited
for rain to stop. Biked rest of ride on wet roads. Rode past Radio astronomy
Antenna and climbed to Hotel Kallikoros overlooking Noto valley.
Cooking demo of eggplant parmigiana and cannoli. Dinner at hotel.
Rode 40.2 miles
Jun 16 Sat: Morning ride included intermediate stop at Villa del Tellaro with
Mosaics. Stop at beach resort and swim. Then rode to village of Marzamemi and
had a lunch of freshly made panino. Walked along elevated walkway and saw
the bay. Very warm. Afternoon return ride against high winds and rather hilly
back to Hotel Kallikoros.
Returned around 1600. Had a great swim in the the large pool. Threatening
dark clouds but no rain. Evening shuttle to Noto. Dinner at Liberty restaurant.
Ride 39.7 miles
Jun 17 Sun: Day began with another great breakfast. Short shuttle ride up
a significant climb (Saw many Sunday cyclists) to Testa Dell'Aqua. Morning bike
to Agri Milo farm hosted by Salvo and his Brothers. This was the most sumptuous
lunch we had on the trip. Great food. Had to have coffee to get going.
Afternoon ride down a scenic rocky canyon overlooking Siracusa in the distance.
Arrived at lush Hotel Borgo Pantano and had a great dinner on the 2nd floor
outdoor dining area.
Ride 30.7 miles.
Jun 18 Mon: Morning ride with stops at rocky Ognina beach and the tall
lighthouse. Then continued ride to Gulino winery for a tour of the winery
and an excellent lunch with tasting of three wines. Again had to have coffee.
Rode back along the citrus groves and vines and along the Syracuse bay to
Borgo Pantano. The accumulation of daily bike mileage was being felt.
Packed bike in bike case.
Bike 33.7 miles
Jun 19 Tue: Transfer to Syracuse in morning to Hotel Livingston Relais Spa
on the shore of Isola Ortigia, the Old Town of Syracuse. Spent morning walking
all over town had lunch at town market by temple of Apollo. Had to rest in the
afternoon. Evening took cab to the ancient Greek theater and saw the Greek
tragedy "Eracles".
Jun 20 Wed: Transfer to Catania. Return to USA. Catania-Munich-Washington.
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Subsequent detailed Daily discussions with photos and films
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Jun 10 Sun : Taormina arrival
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Left Torino in the afternoon and arrived in Catania, flying
past the impressive Etna volcano
We were picked up by a VBT sign holding man named Fabio. Even
though he had a large Mercedes, the bike case would not fit
completely inside the trunk so we used a strap to Rosemary's
carry on bag to clip to the trunk lid and the bumper and thus
nearly close the trunk. Fabio put the other suitcases on the
front seat.
Arrived at busy Taormina and drove to Hotel Monte Tauro (4*).
These are the 37 steps we had to negotiate each time we went
out and came back:
View of the bay from our room:
We went out in search of a good place to get Sicilian Arancini.
Arancini are essentially fried rice balls with special fillings.
After asking 3 people and a little wandering we finally found
Da Cristina, a popular little place just down from the Duomo
square. First got a Arancini sampler, then bought four more.
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MOVIES (mp4) Note: you must download the file to your computer and then
play the file on an mp4 compatible player
Movie of Labyrinth route from our room at Hotel Tauro:
Labyrinth to/from Hotel Tauro Room
Movie view of scenery from Hotel Tauro Elevator:
Hotel Tauro Elevator
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Jun 11 Mon : Taormina Walking Tour/ Madonna della Rocca Via Crucis/
Greek-Roman Theater
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The first full day at Taormina was spectacular. Our hotel
was on the side of the cliff overlooking Naxos Bay with cruise
ships anchored there.
In the morning we took a walking tour that included the
Public gardens. The Madonna della Rocca Church is on top
of the hill with a white cross on the left. That is where
I climbed up to around noontime.
Went by the narrowest street in Taormina:
We went thru Taormina to see the main sights including
the Duomo (the Main Taormina Church) and altar.
At the end of the walking tour, I decided to climb up
the hill overlooking Taormina to the Madonna della Rocca,
a small church on top of the hill with a ceiling of natural
rock. The climb was appropriately called the "Via Crucis"
In the afternoon we went to Greco-Roman Theater that overlooks
Taormina and the eastern bay towards Calabria.
In the evening we went out to local restaurant and then
went to dessert shop and had a lemon granita (ice dessert)
and a gelato.
This day I personally walked over 16,500 steps!
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MOVIES (mp4) Note: you must download the file to your computer and then
play the file on an mp4 compatible player
Movie view of Taormina Public Gardens Walking Tour
Taormina Gardens Movie
Movie view of Taormina Overlook Madonna della Rocca Via Crucis:
Taormina Overlook movie
Movie view of Taormina Greco-Roman Theater:
Taormina Ancient Theater movie
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Jun 12 Tue : Trekking near Mt. Etna / Alcantare River Gorge
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The second full day at Taormina began with us being picked
up by Eddy, an experienced vulcanologist and guide. We
drove along the coast going south and picked others at the
train station and a German couple at a agriturismo B&B.
We drove then turned west towards Mt. Etna.
I was impressed with Eddy's driving style and the number
of people he knew, even including beggars at small towns.
He had a great knowledge of volcanoes their histories and
characteristics. He could speak fluent Italian, English
and German. The areas we went to were mainly on the north
-east side of Etna. We essentially did a clockwise loop on
the NE side of the mountain.
We stopped at a little town for a pit stop and saw a church
built using the black lava bricks. Then we went by a small church
that as a miracle stopped and diverted a lava flow.
Eddy enumerated all sorts of lava flows we saw and crossed.
We went by many disastrous lava flows over the countryside.
We eventually went to the beginning of Sentiero Monte
Sartorius named after a famous volcanologist. Eddy
took us thru some beautiful white birch woods.
Then we began to climb over many crater formations of
past eruptions. Sometimes the paths were very steep
and made slippery by the loose pumice gravel.
The scale of the events just magnifies the power
of nature. This is a photo of the main craters from our
hiking vantage point. Note the scale of hikers on the
ridge in the foreground.
We then went to a ski area that was being reconstructed
after being destroyed by the 2002 lava flow.
Etna is a volcano that is NOT apt to erupt suddenly and cause
widespread disastrous damage (like Vesuvius). Its damage is made
primarily with large lava flows. That is because
the content of silicon dioxide is relatively low and this makes
the eruption more gradual and not explosive.
Here are two aerial photos of the main craters I saw posted
at the ranger station in the ski area. Note the size of
trees around them for comparison.
We then drove to the Rifugio Ragabo set amongst a beatiful
pine forest and had lunch.
The next phase was an exploration of a lava flow tunnel. These
caves are formed when lava flows cool at different rates and
leave tunnels. We were issued hard hats.
Next, for our final stop, we drove thru vineyards
and finally arrived at the famous Alcantare River Gorge.
This was were scenes from the film "Barabbas" starring
Anthony Quinn were shot. I kept my hiking boots on
and waded into the cool stream because I was afraid of
slipping or cutting my bare feet on the rocks.
The descent to the gorge was at least 100 steps.
Finally here is a scan of a map provided by Legendary Sicily
SRL, the Travel Agency of Eddy. It shows the locations of the
main Etna Craters as well as Mt Sartorius craters we trekked,
the Rifugio Alcantare and the Alcantare River Gorge.
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We finally got back to the hotel at 1900 and I was
not able to go for a final swim in the hotel pool.
We then decided to pay a return visit to Da Cristinas
and this time got a sampling of pizza as well as arancine.
On the way back we stopped at the Bam Bar and got some special
granite for dessert to close out a great day.
Again, more than 16,500 steps of trekking!
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MOVIES (mp4) Note: you must download the file to your computer and then
play the file on an mp4 compatible player
Trekking on Sentiero Sartorius by Mt. Etna:
Trekking near Mt Etna 1 Movie
A second view of Trekking near Mt Etna:
Trekking near Mt Etna 2 Movie
Movie view of walk along Alcantara Gorge:
Walk along Alcantara Gorge river Movie
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Jun 13 Wed : Transfer to Scicli / Ragusa Isla / Warmup ride
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Link to RideWithGPS Map of warmup ride:
Warmup Ride Map
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The next day we had breakfast and then loaded our luggage for
the transfer to Scicli. We also met Angelo and Lea, our bike
tour leaders for the next six days.
Final photo of our special Monte Tauro Hotel @ Taormina showing
the offset spacing of the round balconies on the slope to the pool.
On the way to the departure we again walked thru the gardens.
During a delay because of a backup on the the narrow switchback
caused by several buses I took a photo of this building.
We then drove to Ragusa Ibla, the lower part of the town of Ragusa
that was rebuilt after the catastrophic 1693 earthquake that destroyed
most of southeast Sicily and killed thousands.
We walked around the town. A TV film crew was filming for a
popular TV series. We went to several churches including the
Duomo and the main square. Ragusa is a UNESCO World Heritage site
for its Baroque churches and palaces.
We also saw the palace of the Baron who was the model
for the character of the novel "The Leopard"
We continued on to Scicli and after arriving, we again
found that we had to climb hundreds of steps to get to
our Borgo Hedone hotel on the side of a rock cliff.
We checked in and had our first
meeting discussing our bike assignments and our warm-up ride.
I went to the garage and with Angelo's and Lea's help
quickly assembled my bike.
The ride proved to be a navigation disaster on my part.
I loaded the Garmin 820 with the course but because of some
confusion on my part, I pressed the wrong buttons and
missed a key turn of the ride. I missed a key R turn from
a roundabout that would have taken me to Via Tagliamento and
then subsequently to make a R to Via Christoforo Colombo. This
would have gotten me to the loop we were supposed to ride.
However, by missing this turn at the roundabout, I (we) went
on the main road that eventually led to SP 39 towards Donnalucata.
NOTE: Missed V. Fiumillo @ roundabout that would have
taken me to a R @ V. Tagliamento; R @ V. Christ. Colombo;
L @ v. Ospedale.
By the time we got to the outskirts of Scicli we realized our
mistake and turned around. Many of the riders got lost.
I found Rosemary on her E bike and then we tried to find
the missed turn, but I ended up losing contact with her. I
wandered around Scicli and finally decided to go back to
St. Bartholomeo Church and there I met Angelo when everyone
else eventually came back, including Rosemary.
In the evening we had dinner at nearby Osteria Tre Colli at
the bottom of the hill to the hotel.
We went back to our room and went to sleep with some trepidation
because our bed was immediately under a slab of rock that
had been incorporated as a the ceiling to the room especially
after all the talks about earthquakes!
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Jun 14 Thu : Morning ride to Sampieri / Marina di Modica.
Picnic Lunch / Return ride to Scicli: High winds
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Link to RideWithGPS Map of Scicli-Sampieri ride:
Scicli-Sampieri Ride Map
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The next day we got up at 0700, had breakfast at 0730, went to
our morning ride and history review at 0830 and began our ride at
approximately 0900. Overnight, I had reviewed my Garmin 820 navigation
directions and this time I loaded the ride and followed it.
It worked perfectly! I start each ride after having selected the
proper saved ride, then selected "Start Ride". In the map display
mode on the screen, it tells me when a turn is coming up and beeps.
It also tells me if I am "Off Course".
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Garmin 820 Discussion and Preparation
As prep for the rides I had downloaded all the VBT RidewithGPS rides
to my personal RidewithGPS area. For each ride I had exported a .TCX
file and saved it on my computer. I then accessed my Garmin 820 by USB
connection and saved each .TCX file in the Garmin/NewFiles folder.
I then ejected the Garmin 820 from my computer connection.
When the Garmin is turned on again, it processes each .TCX file and
generates .fit files and places them in the Garmin/Courses directory
of the Garmin 820.
Maps for the Garmin
The Garmin only provides maps for the USA. In order to get street maps of
Italy, I went online and found a Free maps website that allowed me to
generate street maps for Italy. (Email me if you want more detailed info.)
It generated a .img file that I renamed as italy.img and then copied it
to the main directory of the Garmin 820.
The Garmin 820 automatically loads the italy.img once it senses you are
in Italy.
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This was a much more relaxed ride and I generally rode with and followed
Rosemary on her E bike, which she really liked. She had ridden two other
E bikes in prep for this tour and found that the Fuji bike with the Bosch
battery was much better. This route was generally south and gradually
downhill to the beach area in Sampieri.
Photos of Rosemary riding
Max and a defensive pillbox used in WWII:
The beach trail we followed near the end of the ride:
View of old Brick Factory by the beach with colorful oleander.
Max being cold after a swim in the Mediterranean Sea
Picnic area in Pine forest
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Link to RideWithGPS Map of Sampieri-Scicli ride:
Sampieri-Scicli Ride Map
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The return ride was made memorable by very high winds. We rode very
conservatively, and I reminded Rosemary to slow down on the downhills
because the increased speed could be cumulative with the wind speed at
an angle and could push the bike to the side. The ride was in the
northerly direction with a gradual increse in elevation.
The most memorable parts was the panoramic descent on switchbacks into
Scicli. We followed the Garmin directions back to the garage.
However, during our transit right in front of the San Bartolomeo Church
a gust of wind pushed Rosemary and her bike to her right and she
bumped her right shin on the bumper of a parked car. No major effects other
than two small cuts on her right shin.
Views of Scicli from the Borgo Hedone Hotel room site:
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Link to Part 2 of blog:
Sicily_VBT_2018 Part 2
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Updated Dynamic 2018 /
Copyright © 2018, Max Prola