sicily 2024

 Going home. Location: Siracuse (Ortiega) Traveling west is easier than traveling east. It just feels like you stayed up too late. I am, as Mike points out, an expert napper, athough I read some sleep studies that say that's because I am sleep deprived. I had at least three naps during the day, one (or more) on each flight. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, a rooftop location, but it was too narrow to get a picture of us and the harbor in the background at the same time. Besides, by now we were done, so I actually have no pictures from the day worth posting. Here's a picture from the day before. It was the nicest bike we saw on the trip (a high-end Specialized mountain ebike). We said our goodbyes and got in a cab arranged by VBT. We had the driver once before and we chatted on the way to airport. Turns out he was a competitive cyclist and he was thrilled to talk about bikes with people who knew something about gear. We flew from Catania (the airport was a complete zoo)...

 We travel to our departure city, Siracusa, today. Mike and I agree that we are ready to go home. I took a picture of this contraption yesterday but only found out today that is for grinding flour. I'm not sure how it works, but it looked pretty cool. We had a final presentation by our tour guides on hand gestures.  Here's Lea demonstrating thirsty (the English version - note the raised little finger). I had to ask about the gesture that looks like "rock on" or "hook 'em horns" if you go to UT-Austin. It turns out Vince was right: it is obscene and pretty offensive. We were in a room with an oil press. We got into three cabs (nminivans) and drove to Siracua, actually Ortiega, an island connected to the mainland by two small bridges. We got dropped off at the back door. The front door is understated too. The lobby is a little more ornate. The elevator is glass with a view of an open atrium. We had a walking tour with a woman hired by VBT. The commercial s...

 Our last day of riding. Location: near Siracusa Mike usually wakes up before me and his morning routine takes about 15 minutes. I was awake when he went into the bathroom, so I just stayed in bed, hoping to fall back asleep but knowing I probably wouldn't. I think I look a little like Bob Chin in this picture. Mike loves taking pictures of me sleeping and since I nap a lot, there are a lot of opportunities. I went to the garage where the bikes were kept to retrieve my Garmin (more about that later) and here's the system for charging the ebikes. Today's ride was a long one.  We did some climbing and got some nice views. We crossed a few bridges spanning some gorges. There was no water below. Parallel to this new bridge was an old stone bridge. We did some climbing and were rewarded by some nice vistas. And an action shot. It was staged. The sign commemorates a victory over some foreign invaders. Our first stop was a visit to a honey farm. Here's the owner.  We were give...