Avola Antica and Cava Grande Cassibile Nature Reserve. Sicily, Italy
Today, we marked the daring debut of our self-guided bike tour. We opted for the more difficult route to Avola Antica and Cava Grande Cassibile Nature Reserve, where we looked down into Sicily's Grand Canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe.
It was a scenic but challenging ride, as it seemed like most of it was uphill. Wendy and I had our secret weapon - those magical e-bikes that could take the edge off the uphill battles when needed. But Norm, brave soul, was on a road bike, and Alastair, well, he went hybrid. They were the heroes of the day.
Our journey clocked in at over 46 kilometres, ascending a whopping 791 meters. Uphill marathons aside, the thrilling descents had us zigzagging through some interesting scenery. The bright sun and warm breeze contributed to a great day.
We stopped at the ancient city of Avola, on top of Mount Aquiline. Built here as you could see the sea of all south-eastern Sicily. The Mount was dominated by the Arab-Norman castle, with an entire town extending across the valley.
Only remnants remain as this was demolished during the big earthquake of 1693.
We also rode past the original site of Noto, also demolished by the devastating quake and rebuilt where we stayed, 10 miles away. This earthquake caused over 60,000 deaths in this region. It was a biggy!
So, here we are, conquering the ups and downs of Sicily, with history lessons thrown in for free. And let's face it, nothing makes history come alive quite like a day of biking in the Sicilian sun!
