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The Etna show continues!
Mount Etna, the highest and one of the most active volcanoes in Europe, is about 80 km air distance from Siracusa, near our base. So, if the air is clear, we can observe the spectacle from a safe distance. In the last few weeks, the volcano has surprised us again and again with eruptions, but mostly in the middle of the night. This morning, however, the timing and visibilitly was perfect.

It is a sign of great energy that fuels the lava fountain emerging from the South-East crater, which has reached a height of 500 metres, and the emission of a tall eruptive column that is 12 kilometres high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great cycling week April 22-29 throught the Baroque Southeast of Sicily with a lovely group and spectacular weather <3 Sicily

 

 

Sicily was always under the rule of a foreign power. For more than 2500 years it was systematically colonised and never knew the bittersweet taste of freedom gained through the powerful mean of a revolution against an unruly master (with the exception of the War of the Vespers which began as a popular revolt on Easter Monday 1282 when a French soldier decided to search a Palermitan woman for weapons, offended her modesty and enraged some local people into a spontaneous uprising – from Best of Sicily Magazine; the revolt lasted for seven years during which Sicily was formally independent of a foreign ruler). The Greeks were the first, then the Romans, Vandals and Goths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Savoys, Austrians, Bourbons, until 1860 when Garibaldi liberated the island from the Bourbon rule… or not.

What does it actually mean to be Sicilian then? Who were the Sicilians throughout so many centuries of exploitation and foreign domination? Sicily was the ‘Granary of Rome’ and the nurse whose breast the Romans fed on, but it was also the biggest island in the Mediterranean and many would swear the most beautiful. Like the monuments that represent the multiculturalism of our history, Sicilians are made up of layers. Years ago, in Australia, I hiked through magnificent ancient rock stacks, once underwater, onto which you could easily recognize the layers of the passing years: ripples on their surface showed the slowly receding motion of the water they were once submerged in. Sicilians have been stripped of their lands and traditions through years of colonization but they still retain all the signs of each and every one of them.

I often get the impression that the passing of time is like the advancing and receding of tides which bring or leave debris, colourful seashells and precious objects behind; our oldest buildings do the same by revealing layers of history, habits and traditions.

On marveling at the cathedral of Ortigia, the old town of Siracusa, you can overlook the fact that beyond its baroque façade, rebuilt in the eighteenth century after a terrible earthquake, the ancient pillars of the original Greek temple dedicated to Athena in the 5th century BC, still stand miraculously on its lateral side.  The crenelations above these ancient columns testify to the time when the church was turned into a mosque by the conquering Arabs. Layers of history are visible here even to the inattentive eye.

Sicily is like a present which cannot be unwrapped in a hurry; if you do, you might fail to appreciate its beauty but if you have the patience to slowly work your fingers through its outer surface, it will reveal its allure.

Excerpt from the book “A fork in the road – Cycling around Sicily” written by our guide Daniela Petracca

Our new E-bikes have arrived. Droessiger CTA Steps Sport 2 bikes with Shimano Steps motor and derailleur gears that make climbing even more fun. The batteries offer a travel distance from 60 to 120 km* Now also avaiable with comfortable wave frames for easy access.

*on flat roads and depending on gear usage and rider weight

In early February we did the first tour of this season. A short, two day road bike tour between the Baroque cities of South East Sicily. A little bit of rain during the first day, but bright sunshine on the second day. Spring starts early in Sicily and temperatures rarely drop below 10°C which makes Sicily a year round cycling destinations.
Scenic roads with very little traffic, various landscape with rolling hill but also challenging climbs, spectacular turnpikes and last but not least cyclist-friendly drivers make Sicily a road bikers paradise.

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