An Easy Ride
Italy (Sicily) Stage 07 and Stage 08 – Licata to Ragusa 107 Km (Mon 28 May 2018)
*** BY TRAIN***
Weather: 16⁰C min – 23⁰C max, clear and sunny
“Hills. We love them. We hate them. They make us strong. They make us weak. Today I chose to embrace hills.” ~ Unknown
Hills! I am ashamed to say I did not embrace them today, choosing instead to catch the train from Licata to Ragusa high on the mountain. What a wimp!
I must say though I enjoyed my lazy day hanging around in the fascinating very old city of Licata waiting for the 4:18 pm train. No pretentiousness here, just a solid old town that you can’t help but grow to like. Killing time was no problem … leisurely breakfast, servicing my bicicletta in a quiet park, applying a more permanent fix to my broken panier mount, icecream and lemon soda at a cafeteria gelateria, riding around the maze of alleyways marvelling at the aged buildings, walking my bike around the corso, panini and coffee for lunch, more exploration of the laneways, another gelato, another coffee, etc, etc.
The 1 1/2 hour train trip was pleasant enough, passing through some lovely countryside. Whilst I was able to buy my Trenitalia ticket through The Trainline website, there was no provision to buy the 3.50 Euro bicycle ticket online and the Stazione at Licata is unmanned so I couldn’t buy it there. However the conductor was unconcerned and didn’t even charge me a bike fare, which was a big relief!
More muscle replenishment tomorrow, as I have a rest day in the marvellous old hill town of Ragusa, before heading down to the resort town of Cava D’Aliga on the south coast.
So that is why today was an easy ride … on the train, climbing effortlessly up to Ragusa. Hills can wait for another day!
Perhaps you should try and find a bridge club to occupy your rest day Kevin?
Really enjoying your blog – thank you!
Would love a game of bridge David, but alas I might have to wait until I get to London and can try out the ACOL Bridge Club in West Hampstead.
Ragusa looks beautiful! It sounds like you had a very relaxing day – well-earned!