In the morning, we had breakfast at our hotel, then Roberta met us for our tour briefing. After orienting us to all the maps, she drove us to Segesta, where we explored the ruined temple while she put the wheels on the bikes. Then we all tried out our bikes, after which Joe, Scott, and i stuck around to look at the archaeological site some more, while the rest of the group headed to Scopello directly.
First breakfast in Sicily, featuring what we eventually decided were persimmons, croissants filled with jam, and an extremely salty cheese containing red pepper flakes and herbs |
Roberta's van is loaded with our bikes and ready to go |
Sarah, Tom, and Dave, ready to go |
Bill, Tom, and David, ready to go |
en route to Segesta, ruins on a hilltop |
en route to Segesta, about to enter a tunnel |
ruined temple in Segesta, visible on a hillside above a gelato and souvenir shop |
ruined temple in Segesta |
Tom, in front of houses on a hill near the Segesta archaeological site |
hillside near Segesta |
Sarah and Tom, near the ruined temple |
we have our bikes and are ready to go |
the ruined temple, in context |
hillside; we suspect the plants in the foreground were blackened by fire |
ruins of the agora |
ruins of a building |
the wheel! (reused as a building material) |
columns and a wall in the ruins |
view from the ruins |
read all about about medieval church whose ruins are here |
one of these buildings is the ruined church |
approaching the walls of the amphitheatre |
the amphitheatre |
Scott in the amphitheatre |
more amphitheatre |
an elevated highway snaking off to the northeast |
the strip of land containing the airport is visible across the water in the distance |
more hillside views |
interior of the ruined church |
watch out for the trick step |
don't drop your camera in the bottomless pit |
more church ruins |
information about the 12th century mosque in the ruins |
ruins from above |
a wall in the ruins |
more building ruins |
more information about the agora |
looking up at the ruined church |
looking down at the ruins of something round |
the temple from above |
we saw these guys all week, though i did not get enough information to identify them as worms or beetles |
ruins of somewhere you don't want to be |
After checking out the archaeological site, Joe, Scott, and i headed out for our first bike ride, a zig-zag north through the mountains to Scopello. We had a nice ride, despite the first of several encounters with wild dogs and the first of several encounters with racing the sunset to our hotel. We had dinner at a restaurant which took an hour to get us a table and served us very slowly, and provided vast quantities of food in each portion. It was a little silly, but much of the food was tasty.
Scott, ready to get underway |
ruined buildings by the side of the road |
everybody likes windmills! (i like windmills. you'll be seeing more of these guys) |
Scott, underway |
trees, mountains, clouds, hills, windmills: all the things |
we take a break after an incorrect shortcut up a steep hill near Bruca |
more windmills, as we climb up towards Scorace Woods |
I was slightly confused by this picture, because you can see water here, and at the time i assumed it was the water to the north (the Golfo di Castellamare) towards which we were riding. But in fact it can't be, because we're still going northwest and the view is off the left side of the road. So the water in the background must be the west side of Sicily, including the islands off Marsala we'll be seeing later in the week |
more of the same, windmills and water --- google corroborates that the windmills are to the south, so this view has to be southwest |
map of hiking areas in Scorace Woods (irrelevant to my crazy theories about water orientation) |
we stop in this park in Scorace Woods (which turns out not to be the stop recommended by our cue sheets, but rather an earlier one) |
bark peeling off a tree |
an amusing illustrated sign about correct mushroom-picking practices (oddly, 'avoid poisonous mushrooms' is not mentioned as a good practice) |
Don't go to Fulgatore |
Joe and Scott, thinking about going to Fulgatore |
a glimpse of one of the lakes on the interior of Sicily |
more hills and windmills |
i think the mountain in the background must be one of the ones on the north coast (i'm thinking Monte Cofano), though perhaps i am confused about this too |
the road winds on (there's that mountain again) |
Scott, stopping or going or underway or something |
shy snail hiding in the grass |
not-shy snail, doing snail things |
a rock that looks like a sheep. or possibly like a rock |
solar panels on a tile roof |
we're going to the right |
switchback and mountains |
beginning of sunset over the mountains (oops) |
a cave |
inscription above the gate of what i think is the Castello di Baida |
we briefly stop to read about the Castello di Baida, but encounter a stray dog and decide to move along |
panorama of sunset over the Golfo di Castellamare |
we're not supposed to be out after dark, but these clouds are great |
more sunset |
sunset over the Golfo di Castellamare |
this water is definitely the northern edge of Sicily (you can see the airport again in the fog) |
Scott looking at the view |
me, not looking at the view |
by the time we reached the hotel, it was pretty much dark |
At dinner, we encountered an island where all clams are truthtellers and all sardines are liars, or possibly vice versa |
decorative clock, plus bonus gecko tail |
gelatinous potato cube |
a reasonably tasty amaro |