Expedition: Retirement

When we booked our airfare, the best flight schedule for the price we were looking at had us flying into and out of Palermo. This meant that after the bike tour ended, we needed to make our way back across the island. We have had good experiences with trains elsewhere in Italy, so naturally that was what we decided to do here. Later, after we had already purchased our train tickets, we learned that a bus across the island is probably more efficient.

After we finished our second walking tour in Siracusa, we made our way to the train station to catch our first train to Catania. This train left Siracusa on time, but was slightly delayed enroute, but we still had 15 minutes to catch our train from Catania to Palermo. Once we were on the train to Palermo, though, it became clear why the bus is a better option. For long stretches across the center of the island, this route only has a single track, so trains have to take turns going opposite directions. We spent a lot of time sitting at small stations along the way, waiting for the train going the other way to go by before we could continue. By the time we reached Palermo, we were more than an hour behind schedule.

The good news is that the Italian train system provides compensation for such delays, specifically 25% of your ticket price is refunded for delays of 60-120 minutes. After we returned home, we filled out the online application, and our compensation was quickly approved for direct deposit into our bank account.

After spending the night in a rental room in Palermo, we took another train out to the airport. When we checked in for our flights home, we discovered that we had been upgraded to business class for the first leg of our return trip. That was nice, though I would have appreciated it more on the longer leg from Istanbul back to Washington, DC. In any event, our flights home were uneventful, though there was a little delay on the second leg, so we were about an hour late getting home, which wasn't a big deal.

Our mid-day break on the fifth day of riding was a Masseria near Palazzolo Acreide. This lovely compound is believed to have been the estate of a Jewish farmer who hid his faith after the Spanish expelled the Muslims and Jews in 1492. The building that is now used as the reception area is believed to have been a private synagogue or mikveh. Regardless of its history, it is a lovely structure.Before we settled in for lunch, we went truffle hunting in the woods on the estate. Our truffle hunting dog, Siri, was eager to work, and as we entered the woods, she began to roam around, sniffing for buried truffles. Unfortunately, we arrived very late in the truffle season, and we were unsuccessful in finding any truffles. Still, it was a pleasant day for a walk in the woods.

The Trinacria is a primary symbol of Sicily and is featured on the Sicilian flag. This symbol features the winged head of Medusa (a talisman to ward off evil and an acknowledgement of the importance of Greek culture on the history of the island) with ears of wheat radiating from the head (to symbolize the rich agricultural heritage of the island) and three bent legs. These legs represent the three capes that define the roughly triangular shape of the island.We would only visit one of those corners during our visit to the island. Capo Passero marks the southeaster corner of the island, and has become more of an island than a true cape because the sand bar that used to connect it to the shore has eroded away. This was the end of our bike ride on our fourth day of the VBT bike tour.

As we approached, we could see the ruins of the Spanish fort out on the cape, which became clearer as we approached. When we reached the end of our ride, we had time to take in the views out to the Ionian Sea to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. We took the opportunity to dip our feet into the water, but the surf was too rough for us to be comfortable swimming. In addition to the fort out on the cape, there was also a monument to the Virgin erected in the water just off the shore.It was a pretty place, but not particularly significant except for the accident of geography that made this the southern most place in Sicily.

Like the other Baroque towns and cities of the Val di Noto, Scicli was devastated by the 1693 earthquake and was rebuilt. And, like the others, the town sits in and on the sides of a steep valley or canyon, with many of the homes on the hillsides taking advantage of quarry excavations (or "caves"). But Scicli is smaller than either Ragusa or Modica, and it was easy to see most of the significant buildings in a relatively short walk through the center of the town.

Our first glimpse of the town was from above, as our bus began its descent into town from the plateau above the canyon. We would later enjoy this view as we rode our bikes up and out of town and then back into town on the second day of the tour.There were a number of lovely Baroque churches in the town, although most of them were not open when we had free time to explore. But the town was compact and pleasant, with narrow alleys, and charming facades.

After our visit to the Ancient Theater on our first visit to Taormina, we took some time to figure out some of the logistics for when we returned on our own in a couple of days. Once we scoped out our accommodations and the meeting point for our VBT itinerary, we began to explore the town a little. For the most part, we stayed on the main pedestrian street through the center of the town, taking in the sights. The entire town is built on the side of the hill, so the side "streets" were mostly staircase alleys climbing up or down to the next parallel street.The Duomo of Taormina is a solid, Norman-style church, with a stone relief carving of the Last Supper on the altar. In the center of town, the Piazza IX Aprile looks out over the valley below, and marks the boundary between the Norman expansion of the town and the older section that predates the arrival of the Normans. The Church of San Giuseppe dominates the north side of the square.When we returned on our own two days later, we had extra time to further explore the town. We discovered some of the old city walls, and the Roman Odeon. And we spent a little time in the Trevelyan Park, a charming green space on the cliff at the edge of town. There were interesting trees and flowers, a war memorial, and some interesting buildings that look positively whimsical. It was a refreshing, quiet spot, soothing after a couple of weeks of constantly being on the go.

I caught my first glimpse of Mt. Etna from our aircraft as we began our final descent into the Palermo airport. I happened to look at the flight map and noticed that we were passing by the volcano, so I opened my window shade to see if I could get a glimpse of it. I immediately pulled out my phone to snap some photos, because I definitely could see it, and it was emitting a cloud of ash that morning.But that would be my last glimpse of the volcano for a couple of weeks. Even when we reach Catania, at the base of the mountain, the bulk of the volcano was shrouded in clouds, denying us clear views. However, we had a gorgeous day to visit Mt. Etna, with blue skies and only scattered clouds. We drove up onto the flank of the volcano for hour hike, which began with a walk through a birch forest. These are Etna Birch, which only grow here on the flanks of Mt. Etna and are specifically adapted to the conditions here. As we neared our destination, the trees thinned out and we began walking amid lava flows. We were in the area of the 1865 eruption. This was a flank eruption that opened a fissure here, giving rise to a string of cinder cones where the lava erupted from the fissure before flowing out and down the flank. These cones are very well defined, and it is easy to see how they were built up by the eruption, and how the lava flowed out of them to form a large flow through the forest. Even though the eruption occurred 170 years ago, new plant life is just beginning to take root on the lava flow, which is still readily identifiable.We climbed up one of the cones and walked around its rim, taking in the vistas around us as we fought not to loose our hats to the wind. In the distance, we could see the shapes of older cones, covered with trees, and looking up the mountain we could see some more recent lava flows from the last few years.Later, as we prepared to head south for the bicycle tour portion of our trip, we had one last clear look at the mountain. It was a completely clear morning, and Mt. Etna was sending us off with another plume of volcanic ash from the summit.Mt. Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The people of Sicily have adapted to life on the mountain, and almost seem to take its behavior for granted. Most of the eruptions occur high up the mountain rarely last long enough to present any risk to populated areas. Even when a flank eruption occurs on the lower parts of the mountain, the lava flows are generally slow enough that people have more than enough time to evacuate the path in front of them. The biggest inconvenience are the disruptions at the airport in Catania, the busiest airport in Sicily. While we were there, airport operations were interrupted or shut down for all or parts of five days.

In the Odyssey, Homer describes the cyclops Polyphemus hurling boulders after Odysseus and his crew as they sailed away. According to tradition, these boulders now sit just off shore at the present day town of Aci Trezza. Our hotel for the final two nights of the OAT tour were located on the water, with a spectacular view of these sea stacks, which are actually volcanic formations that are estimated to be 500,000 years old.

The previous day, while we were in Siracusa, we were supposed to have a boat ride around Ortigia as part of our itinerary. However, our visit to Siracusa that day ended in a thunderstorm with heavy rain and very close lightning strikes, so, clearly, the boat ride was canceled. Our trip leader decided to make it up to us by adding a different boat ride along the shore at Aci Trezza.

Our boat departed from the harbor at Aci Trezza and sailed out around the sea stacks, which sit inside a Marine Protected Area. We got to see these islets from almost every angle over the course of our sailing. We also sailed a little ways down the shore to see the Norman castle on the cliffs above Aci Castello before circling back between the islets and shore to complete our loop at the harbor.These formations are impressive in scale, and surprisingly close to shore. It is not difficult to see how they could have come to feature so prominently in Homer's saga. In a sense, we were following in the path of the Odyssey.

While it wasn't a strong emphasis on this trip, there was evidence of World War II scattered throughout the island. In Palermo, we saw areas of the city where damage from Allied bombings was still evident more than eighty years after the island was liberated. And as we rode bikes in the countryside in the southeast corner of the island, we rode past bunkers built to defend the island from Allied invasion.We also heard how the US Army used contacts with the mafia to assist their efforts to cross the center of the island towards Palermo in the race to encircle and trap the fascist troops on the island before they could escape across the Straits of Messina to the mainland of Italy.

But what really brought these events into focus was our visit to the Historical Museum of the Landing in Sicily 1943, in Catania. While the primary focus of this museum is the liberation of Sicily from the fascists in 1943, it does place this invasion in the broader context of the larger campaign for Italy and the overall war in Europe. The exhibit begins with a facsimile of a Sicilian town square from the 1930s or 1940s. The buildings are decorated with the banners of Mussolini's fascist regime, and there are notices posted on the walls about the war effort. From here, we moved into a simulated air raid shelter, where we listen to the sounds of a bombing raid, feeling the vibrations from the bombs exploding. Finally, after the all clear sounds, we emerge to survey the damage to the square.

This is a pretty visceral introduction, intended to evoke an emotional response to terrible tragedy that results from war, before we enter into the rest of the museum, which presents artifacts and summaries of the combat and troop movements on the island during Operation Husky, the slightly longer than one month long campaign to liberate the island. We learn about the plan to trap the fascist troops in a vast pincher maneuver, with the American army under General Patton sweeping north to Palermo before turning east to Messina, while the British and Canadian troops under General Montgomery were to push north along the eastern coast, taking Siracusa and Catania before meeting the Americans in Messina. The goal was to cut off the escape route across the Straits of Messina, taking the trapped forces prisoner, thereby removing them from the war and reducing the resources available to the Axis for the defense of the Italian mainland. Unfortunately, the Allies were not able to execute the plan quickly enough, and the bulk of the Axis forces were able to evacuate the island.

The final part of our visit was a presentation about the efforts of the museum to build a searchable database with the names and records of American soldiers who served in Sicily during Operation Husky. This is an ongoing project, funded, in part, by donations made through the Grand Circle Foundation, which has already helped the museum install QR codes on most of the exhibits to provide visitors with English translations of the displays.

War museums, especially good ones (and this was a good one), are sobering reminders of the human costs of war. They serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made in previous conflicts and warnings that the prospects of going to war are not to be taken lightly, without exhaustive efforts to resolve conflict through other channels.

One of the most visibly striking features of the countryside in Sicily are the stone walls. These carefully constructed walls are used to terrace hillsides and to mark boundaries and enclose pastures. We had seen similar structures in Puglia, during our tour there in 2019, but we never had an opportunity to learn more about them or how they are built and maintained. The techniques used for these walls are included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.The day after our Fiat 500 ride, we visited a farm in the nearby countryside. As we walked from the road to the farmhouse, we learned how the family not only uses the crops they grow, but also takes advantage of the wild bounty around them. This farm was another agriturismo, and much of what they produce is used to prepare meals for visitors.

After lunch, our host took us out to show us one of his projects. He is building a retaining wall to install a small, terraced garden near the house. He demonstrated how he cuts the rocks, using only hammers, and shapes them to fit into his growing wall. And this is the secret to these walls, which are built entirely without mortar. The walls are not constructed using stones of random shapes. Instead, the stones are carefully shaped for the spot where they will fit into the wall, to minimize gaps and to ensure that the stone sits securely in place. These walls are also thicker at the bottom, so that the outside rows of stones lean towards each other, for mutual support. The wall is traditionally topped with a rounded rock to provide a smoother, more finished look. The construction of these walls requires a considerable amount of physical labor, which makes the landscape, with its seemingly endless stone walls all the more impressive to contemplate.

When I learned that our itinerary included a ride in a classic Fiat 500 in Modica, I must admit that I wasn't particularly impressed. The Fiat 500 is not my idea of a sexy car (I mean, is it *anybody's* idea of a sexy car?). These are tiny cars, with little engines, built to be affordable cars to drive in cities. I figured it would be interesting, but didn't expect it to be a highlight of the trip. Boy, was I wrong.

What I forgot to factor into this equation was the setting. Modica is another Late Baroque city in the Val di Noto, not far from Ragusa. Like Ragusa, Modica is built on a hilside (actually, two hillsides, the opposite sides of a steep, narrow valley), and it is full of narrow alleys with tight turns. In other words, the perfect place for a tiny car like the Fiat 500.

The cars and drivers were members of the Associazione FIAT 500 Modican Club, a club for owners of classic Fiat 500s, and they were waiting for us at a scenic overlook above Modica. In preparation for the ride, we each had to sign a membership form and were issued temporary membership cards for the club. We were then split up, two riders per driver and climbed into (although in my case it was more like folded myself into) our Fiats. Once everyone was settled in, we set off for our ride.We drove down from the overlook into the town. After a short stop to visit the Cathedral, we continued up the hillside on the other side of the valley. We stopped to take in the view of the town from this side before returning to our cars for the final leg. And this is where things got fun. Our drivers got off of the larger streets and wove their way down to the valley floor using a series of extremely narrow streets, often with very tight turns. In one case, the turn was too tight for the cars to negotiate, so we had to take turns going past the turn, turning around, and then proceeding the other way. At another turn, each car had to do a three-point turn to get around the corner.Overall, the entire ride was around an hour, and at the end, our drivers dropped us in the heart of the city, where we would spend the rest of the evening, before returning to our hotel in Ragusa. It was far more fun than I had expected it to be, and because it was such a unique experience, it ended up being one of many highlights from the trip.