to Corleone

Two days left until I will fly back to Frankurt and one destination is still on my list: Corleone. This village had seen very bad times and gave the name to Vito. It needs some climbing needed to reach it.

It rained from time to time. Often, I made it to some Bar and had a Cappuccino. 

Climbing higher, the rain changed to hail and the mountains had some white toppings. 

Finaly, I made it to Corleone. I will stayed there for the night. 

Tomorrow, I will drive back down and straight to the airport. 

1.000 km Beer - a puncture und rain - short day

Leaving another nice Hotel.

It´s not far to Palermo. I do not have to take the short way. Last year, on the trip from Palermo to Barcelona, I rushed through the rain. Leaving the big rock in the distance on my list. 

Not too long, the rain came to me this year again 

and that seemed to be the perfect time for my first puncture. 

The sun came back and with it, the 1.000 km mark. 

With only 40 km today, the #Festive500 is going to be hard (currently at 381 km)

Into the dark

The day was planned to be short. Out of the Gate of my Guesthouse and onto the road.

Only 55km to Cefalù was the plan.

But was not even 2pm, so rode on. The weather was ok, just headwind and big clouds. 

I made it to Termini Imerese, but the Hotel, I booked seem to not like the bicyclist, thy wanted 5€ to store the bicycle. There was some kind of bad vibrations that made me go away (the owner screamed that he will call the police (don‘t know why). By the time, I went back on the street, it was already dark . 

The Schmidt-Family light system (SON28 and Edellux II) is incredible effective. 

I continued a little further and found a nice boutique Hotel. Double the price, but once in a while the right thing to do.

My luxurious place for the night: Hoel Tonnara Trabia

On the road with many cyclists

After 10 nice km of rolling, a hill waited. 

I wondered where all the people on the racingbikes where going. I followed them up the hill to a monastery. They welcomed me and got me on their picture. 

Lots of sun at the beautiful Sicilean cost. 

At 5pm, the sun was already gone, when I pushed my final  5 km

25. December ride. Many things closed

So I rode my bicycle at natale - der erste Weihnachtsfeiertag. Very little traffic and tons of men on their racing bicycles. 

Waiting for more riders

 I started this morning in the sun, but  clouds darkened the sky to the North. 

My Christmas Hotel in the morning

Fortunately the clouds went within the first hours letting me enjoy the ride. 

Costal road bending inland

In Milazzo, I did the big loop to the very end of the road. I was rewarded with views

Piscina du Venere 

and more km for  Rapha #Festive500, a challenge to cycle 500 km between Christmas and End-of-year. 

[Nachtrag 25.12.  19:35. - ich bin derzeit 8.306er — von 73.738.  ;-) ]

After noon, nothing goes in Italy at the 25th of december. I had a hard time to buy water. I needed to search for my accommodation quite early and only one Pizzaria was open in town. 

Empty roads

10 days on the road and reached the North-East-Cape

This morning in Taormina I decided to climb up to the garest open air Theater. Good choice, as the view is amazing and the I was literally alone up there. Winter...

Teatro Antico do Taormina

I followed the beautiful coastline to Medina and a little bit further to the very End (or beginning) of Sicily. An old tower used for the powerlines from the mainland years ago.

One of the corners of the island

As it´s Christmas in Europe, I checked in to a nice Hotel. I was prepared to pay the extra for this special event, but ended up paying less (42€) for that junior suite than I payed in most of the B&Bs so far. 

Sun in Sicily

After a good breakfast, I crossed Piazza del Duomo again. In the morning, the light shines from the East and that opens up new perspectives for the hobby photographer.

The elephant in the sun

North, direction Medina. I could have reached the town today, but I have plenty of time left for this trip, I am not so much into break-days at the moment. The result is shorter days or better, more breaks.

Checking the route with a nice cappuccino

Not much headwind let me enjoy the ride today. Turning my head right, I see the sea

 The Mediterranean 

Turning it left:

Mt. Etna next to lemontrees

I ended up in Taormina, a beautiful city with great views.

 Sunset at Piazza IX Aprie

The volcano

According to the weatherforecast, I would have faced headwinds up to 70 km/h. Fortunately, the wind had been calm after I have left the Syrakus area. I left on another old railroad with the ocean always to my right.

Intensive sea

After about 10km, I saw Mount Etna. I wondered howclose it looked.

Mt. Etna is near

My legs felt pretty good today, so it was an easy ride into Catania.

Catania, Piazza del Duomo. My cloth hanging from the fron the paniers in order to dry them after having washed yesterday

I checked in Liodoro B&B in Via Gagliani 13 and am impressed by the style of the common room. 

B&B Liodoro

Heavy headwind - who cares?

Today, only 35km. That was the plan. And that plan had been executed.  A false start uphill gave me a downhill. The night was rainy and the remains where still on the streets.

the ship Klaus

Heading north brought a lot wind in the face. But it did not take long to reach Syrakus. I found myself a nice Hotel on the (half-) island Ortygia. 

waves in the wind

Finaly, after a week on the road, I applied the needed sticker to my bike. 

My Rad-fernweh.de

Later, I went to visit the town 

Duomo di Siracusa

Short ride to Noto

Downhill from Ragusa. The old-town is incredible.

Ragusa from the South

 Unfortunately, I haven‘t had the chance to see the town in the sunlight. But in the rain, yesterday:

Rainy streets of Ragusa old-town

I passed another old baroque city, Modica

Fresh citrus fruits the whole year

After a short day, I arrived in Noto, the crown of the late-baroque towns in the South-East

Old and new doesn‘t always mix

Goes well  together

Uphill to the late baroque town Ragusa

I started early today. To get the most out of daylight.

Gela in the early morning light

I left the old oil-town of Gela to the South, seeing the remains of the past. 

Old oil refinery

After 40 km, reached Comiso, where I made a break and ate some fruits to gather energy for the climb up to my final destination for the day. 

Comiso main square

View while climbing

Finally, I reached Ragusa where I spent the rest of the day plus night. 

Ragusa