In Caltagirone: day ride to Grammichele

March 31, 2023

We’ve done well in choosing our lodging in Caltagirone. It’s a modern, apparently recently remodeled unit in an old building in the historical center. it has a shared kitchen, but the other two rooms are unoccupied so for us it works more like having a whole apartment. And we did well last night in choosing a restaurant - Trattoria Anima e Core, just a short staircase away, served us up an excellent meal. We shared an imaginative antipasti plate with about ten different items, all good, and we each ordered the salmon for our mains. We should have taken pics, but we’re going back for seconds on our last night here and will try to do better next time.

We’ll note in passing though that Anima e Core is another of those curious places with a weird presence on Google Maps. It supports online reservations, but when we made one for 7 we surprised the staff when we showed up then because the restaurant wasn’t open for another half hour.

We fell down though on the planning side when we decided to stay in Caltagirone for three nights. I envisioned it as a good inland base for a pair of day rides; but if I’d bothered to consult the posts from our previous two visits I’d have been reminded that it’s another of Sicily’s very difficult cities to navigate by bike - or on foot for that matter, because many of the streets are very narrow and have only a token sidewalk about a foot wide to shelter you from oncoming traffic. It’s especially unnerving after dark, when we find ourselves squeezed into doorways and inhaling time and again to evade the protruding mirror of the next passing car.

Also, I should have given more thought to walking or hiking possibilities, in case Rachael wants a day off the saddle (as she does today). I remembered how striking the countryside is around here but didn’t notice how long the walk is just to get out of the city. My bad.

A typical central street, atypically empty of cars.

I map out a pair of rides for Rachael’s consideration, and am not shocked when she turns up her nose at both because they’re definitely on the challenging side. Unless you’re going to spend your time on the precarious SS roads, most of the others in the interior are decidedly well contoured. She does a bit of research though and finds a highly rated local ride that looks easier so I map that one out too. Better, but not today. Yesterday’s long ride was enough and she’ll just walk around town today. Today is the windier of the two days anyway, so there’s that; and her digestive discomfort is still with her this morning.

In the end, she takes a pretty modest walk by Rocky standards. She hangs out in the room all morning, has lunch, waits another hour for digestion to transpire, and finally gets out the door about 2:30. As I knew and was a little concerned about because I can see on my Garmin when she finally starts up.

It’s not like I’m much more ambitious myself today. I don’t get started until 11, after we’ve met up with Stephano to pick up our bikes from his uncle’s office. We get there several minutes before him and just sit on a basalt step and wait. While we do so I see some small movement in the tree above and score a shot of a great tit before he sinks back into the tree and disappears.

So I don’t start biking until 11; and it’s pressing noon by the time I finally escape the city and reach a quiet country lane that will be typical of most of the rest of the day’s ride. In the intervening near-hour I spend a lot of time spinning in place - stuck in traffic jams, cautiously and slowly working my way up and down steep lanes surfaced with uneven basalt pavers, and getting lost. It’s irksome when I find myself clutching the brakes and with one foot out for stability on one of these streets when I realize I biked down the same street twenty minutes earlier.

Windy today. It’s no surprise Rachael opted out of a ride.

We’ve been at a standstill here for about a minute. Something in front of the bus is holding up the parade. There’s a lot of horn action going on.

Caltagirone won’t win any awards as a cycling city, but there are a few bikes around.

Once I’m finally out of town I enjoy a fast descent for several miles as I cross a narrow ravine east of town. After that it’s generally up again as the road climbs out the east side of the trench to Grammichele, the main destination for the day. The climb isn’t bad and the ride is generally pleasant with one small exception - a virtual cliff that rises nearly 400’ in a half mile right at the start. I see it coming and am not tempted to challenge myself against it. It’s challenging enough walking it up as it steepens to 20% at the top.

Nearing Grammichele I crest the ridge and briefly get a glimpse of the summit of Mount Etna, and immediately lose sight of it again when I drop into a shallow depression. I’m thinking I’ll get a better view when I climb up the other side, but it’s not to be. The land just keeps sloping up as I come to the outskirts of the town.

The interior is so lush here in the interior, much greener than the drier western half of the island.

Looks innocent enough at first, even though it’s already climbing at 10%.

The view looking back from the top gives a good perspective on it though. 20%, if my Garmin’s to be believed. In the distance, crowning the ridge beyond the ridge, Caltagirone.

Everything is in bloom, it seems. The fruit trees are flowering, and the poppies are just coming on.

We’ve seen Grammichele before, and even stayed here once if I’m remembering correctly. It’s a surprising place - small, pretty run down in the Sicilian Way, but with an unusual hexagonal layout and a striking collection of statues and monuments that make it not quite like anyplace else I know of. The town is ‘new’, built in 1693 to replace Occhiola which was totally destroyed by an earthquake.

Construction of the new town was commissioned by the feudal landlord, Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte. A man of science and letters, he is honored by the central plaza named after him and I assume by the artworks in rhe square and nearby.

Piazza Carlo Maria Carafa, the hexagonal plaza at the heart of the rebuilt town. In the background are the city hall and Mother Church. The statue is of Cafara, who commissioned the rebuilding of the town.

A forget what you call an instrument like this. Note that the dark band and light figures across the base are from the band above.

Leaving Grammichele to the northwest, it’s a steady drop for the next five miles as I fall about a thousand feet. Not far into the descent it’s a shock when I round a bend and get a good glimpse of Etna through a gap in the hills. Assuming it’s the best look I’ll get, I stop and scramble across the guardrail and into the weeds to get a clear shot from between the trees.

I’m wrong though - the views just keep improving as I near the bottom of the descent and cross the broad depression that angles northeast a thousand feet beneath Caltagirone - it’s like a spear aimed right at the mountain forty miles away, giving a broad unubstructed view.

It’s thrilling when I round a bend and get the first really good look at the mountain. The views just keep improving all the way to the bottom.

Mineo, I believe. Mineo! I recognize that name. Sal (Salvatore) Mineo, one of the actors in Rebel Without a Cause, was of Sicilian descent.

This must be one of the best long views of Etna on the island.

Looking across the trench at Caltagirone at the top of the opposite ridge.

After a flat couple of miles crossing the floor of this trench it’s a steady five mile climb back up to Caltagirone. Let’s just say that this went considerably more slowly than the descent. And did I mention the wind? Most of the climb was straight into a 15 mph blast. There’s nothing like a warm climb into a strong headwind to make an old man feel his years.

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Ride stats today: 31 miles, 2,500’; for the tour: 306 miles, 22,800’

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2023 Bird List

132. Blue tit

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 306 miles (492 km)

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