Tres Fratelli in Sicily

Tres Fratelli in La Bella Sicilia

Lorenzo, Leonardo & Les

Catania to Noto - Heavy rains during our short warm-up ride in Noto. Beautiful and ancient baroque architecture, guided tour of the city, umbrellas from our guide, Marcello. Tried on our Janis Brothers shirts from Leonardo -- Excellante!

Noto to Ragusa - 52 miles of many long climbs and great down-hills. Extraordinary scenery - olive trees, stone fences everywhere, beautiful vistas. Great lunch at Farm house - cheese, eggplant in bread, olives, pizza. Our hotel, the Mediterraneo Palace, located in "new" Ragusa (only 400 years old). Long walk - stairs - to "old" Ragusa (Medieval). 7 course dinner, wine.

Ragusa to Mediterranean coast - 55 miles - panoramic ride over gorgeous countryside, very friendly people. "Buon Giorno" - 19 people in our group, 20-mile option with long switchback climbs and incredible views - only 5 people volunteered. Naturally 3 of the 5 were the Janis Brothers and, of course, we did EFI. Our side trip to the little town of Scicli was an extremely long and steep climb, worth the effort. Great lunch on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. Tour of Donna Fugata castle. Wine tasting in the evening. 7 course dinner in old city in stone cavern-like settings.

Ragusa-- to Caltagirone - 75 miles - Down hills to great valley with spectacular views, then up to high ridges and gorgeous vistas. Caltagirone was re-built after terrible earthquake of 1693. Italian lessons from Marcello and Paolo. Sang Volaré by Domenico Modugno (1956). Still very popular after almost 40 years. Leonardo and Paolo sang this song everyday!! Dinner at La Scala at the base of the famous 143 ceramic stairs we climbed after dinner.

Caltagirone to S Giovanni La Punta - 60 miles - Roller coaster hills to Morgantina and a walk along extensive excavation of a Greek city dating back to 600 BC. Great picnic lunch of olives, cheese, bread, eggplant and tomatoes. A challenging 8-mile climb after lunch. Views of Mt. Etna. We arrived at our final destination at sundown, just in time after completing EFI. 10 Italian beers with Marcello & Paolo and we all sang Volaré.

Mt. Etna - We all hiked through the top portion of this active volcano. The last eruption was just a year ago. A small restaurant that lava just missed near the top (visited by Pauline of Field Container - introductory pictures and note for owner - given to Larry). We arrived early (restaurant closed but took pictures).

Spectacular views of lava fields and new plant life (starts after 200 years). Lady bugs everywhere. They feed off micro-organisms. A lot of volcanic ash and dust - tiring climbs, but very different from anything done before. "WILD" taxi ride to Catania airport for 2 day visit to Historical Rome.

Highlights

Last night's dinner at Villa Paradiso del Etna - Private room with unbelievable performance of 20 local Sicilians in traditional costumes - inspiring songs and dancing. We all joined in at the end, held hands and danced. A great experience - unforgettable!!!
Volaré - Our animated guide Paolo with help from Leonardo.
Certificates from Marcello and his kind words about Janis Brothers.
Towns built on sides of mountains - magnificent views.
Fabulous food - especially the bread
Lorenzo saying how delicious his smoked cheese tasted - then corrected and told he just ate smoked swordfish!!
Great movie filming by Leonardo
Les - 100 digital pictures
Lorenzo - 48 Kodak instamatic shots
Sicilian people - friendly - Very enthusiastic
Our two guides - Marcello Bonini and Paolo Nicolosi
Gelato - new flavors every night, except Les - always chocolate
Les getting us upgraded & Leonardo's joyful reaction - "can you believe the drinks are free?"
"The Brothers" being together again for our 10^th ride was "the best highlight". Hopefully, we'll ride again next year at ages of 62, 60, and 57. Even better will be when we ride together at 72, 70, and 67!! Perfecto!!