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Here I have reproduced the blog I kept while I was on my self-supported European bike tour from Amsterdam to Switzerland and the travelling I did before and after. The original is kept on my blog at http://henrythehorrible.blogspot.com.
Monday, October 29, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 8:00 AM
Well, I haven't posted here in a few days because internet has been spotty. Last time I posted I had arrived in Basel, Switzerland and had reached the end of my bike journey. From there I took the train to Milan where I spent two nights. The difference between Milan and the French, German, and Dutch cities to the north is incredible. Milan is dirty, disorganized, and generally falling apart. It was not a safe place to bike and the hostel was abominable (although I did, for the first time in a hostel, meet some cool people who I will keep in touch with). The Duomo there is pretty cool, but that's all I really enjoyed. You couldn't walk more than 10 feet without having to worry about being run over by a tram, car, scooter, motorcycle, streetsweeper, etc. Also, the Italians are not engineers and this is most apparent in the big cities. Compared to the German and Swiss cities, the infrastructure was laughable. It was really just a chaotic jumble. Anyway, I couldn't care less if I never make it to Milan again.
I gladly left Milan on a train bound for Lake Maggiore last Tuesday (the 23rd) and met up with my uncle in the small town of Verbania. I was certainly happy to meet up with a member of the family and someone that I knew. We spent three days relaxing at the feet of the pre-Alps and enjoying the Italian lake district. Unfortunately the weather was overcast and rainy and didn't get out on my bike at all. However, we did take a cable car up to Il Mottarone (around 5000ft) and hiked down from there. There were some great views between the clouds and we saw an ancient church tower that's supposed to have been built around 1000AD.
From Verbania we took the train and then a taxi to the Milan-Malpensa airport where we flew down to Sicily. We stayed one night in downtown Palermo and now we're staying at a very nice resort just outside the downtown. Palermo is just as dirty and crazy as Milan. There are trash, broken bottles, and spraypaint everywhere. Everything is in a state of decay (especially the limestone mountains) from the acid rain. However, the food is great and the people are friendly.
Two days ago I went for a bike ride up Monte Pelligrino which was a 2500ft ascent over about 6 miles and yesterday we drove our rental car to the southern coastal town of Agrigento which had some spectacular Greek ruins. In fact, we saw the largest Doric temple in the world there. Today I'm going to head out for another ride to try and find the beaches and climb the nearby Monte Gallo.
Here are some pics from the last week or so:
Milan's Duomo. I believe it's the second largest Gothic cathedral in the world.
The marble quarry near Verbania. I believe it provided much of the marble for the Duomo in Milan.
The gardens of Villa Tarantano near Verbania.
The Pre-Alps from Il Mottarone.
That's me on top of Monte Pellegrino. The place is supposed to be sacred as it's dedicated to the saint who supposedly saved Palermo from the plague. You can see how sacred the locals think it is.
A view of Palermo through the smog from Monte Pellegrino. Our hotel is right down there in that bay.
An extremely intricately detailed cathedral in a place called Monreale outside of Palermo. The light wasn't too great inside, but it was amazing nevertheless.
And, finally, the largest Doric temple in the world. I believe it's called the Temple of Concordia. The place was littered with trash and the information was only in Italian so it was hard to grasp the historical perspective, but it's pretty amazing that it's still together. The stuff was mostly built between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 4:01 PM
So Tuesday the 30th we arrived in the eastern Sicilian town of Taormina. It’s right on the coast and quite lovely. However, on our way in the rental car to Taormina we made a day stop at Mount Etna. Etna is a sprawling, smoky mass that tops out at about 3300m. You drive up on switchbacks from the south for about 30 minutes to a place called Rifugio Sapienza. Don’t be fooled though, it’s not a little hut - it’s basically a basecamp for tourists. We parked there (1 euro) and then took the ancient gondola (25 euros) to 2500m. From here (for an additional 25 euros) you can take a 4x4 up another 500m or so to the Italian Alpine Club’s guide hut where you can hire a guide for another undisclosed sum of euros to reach the summit craters. I hiked from the top of the gondola to the guide’s hut. I strayed off the 4x4 path to cut off a bunch of switchbacks as we were in a tight spot for time. I almost passed out once from either over exertion or getting stuck in a gas pocket, I’m not sure and it was kind of scary. Anyway, I made it up to almost 3000m (just past the guide’s hut) and decided to turn around – it was getting late, I was the only one up there, and I was afraid of hitting more gas pockets. However, I did take some great photos of the smoky summit cones. I then came down and we made our way to Taormina.
Some photos of Etna and my time so far in Taormina:
Etna from far away during our driving approach.
Hiking to the guide’s hut. It was a total dusty volcanic wasteland. Now I know what Mount Doom was like.
This was shortly before hitting the gas pocket. Me with Etna in the background.
The wind picked up once I got up there and became quite chilly. You can see how much steam this thing produces.
A house buried in volcanic crap on the drive down.
A view of the Ionian from my hotel porch in Taormina.
Looking down on Taormina from the castle summit above. You can just make out the Greek/Roman theater on the far right.
Lots of trash washes up on the beaches – this was a particularly interesting piece.
It’s hard to see but there were probably 10 bolted sport routes on these overhanging rocks right on the beach. I wish I had my climbing stuff. They even had (French/Italian) ratings painted below each route. I did a little bouldering, but I wasn’t very successful in bare feet.