To San Leone

March 27, 2023

We’re relieved this morning when Rachael wakes up feeling better, but she’s not fully well yet. She doesn’t trust her system yet and restricts herself to yogurt for breakfast, with no coffee. Rachael lives off coffee, so it’s clear that something’s still off if she’s taking a pass on it.

It’s almost 46 miles to San Leone, the beach community below Agrigento that we’re booked into tonight. A ride on the long side with more than a few hills along the way, and one we’d planned to break in half with a stop in Montallegro until Rachael pulled up sick. It’s a long ride, and then there’s the weather to be considered. It’s very windy today - over 20mph, with gusts to 40 possible. It’s generally going our way, but wrestling it for control of the bike for 46 miles when you’re a recovering sickie doesn’t sound like the wise plan.

I’ve done the research already and know the bus schedule. One leaves at 11:45, arrives in Agrigento at 1, and hopefully takes bikes. I map out the route for the mile to the Sciacca station outside the old city in Piazza Leoni and another for the four mile drop from Agrigento to the beach, Rachael loads them, and we’re set to go.

It’s unfortunate that checkout at our hotel is at ten, because it sets us up for a long wait at the bus stop.

Leaving Locanda al Moro, a hotel we enjoyed much more than we expected to at first.

We’re at the bus stop at 10:20, with a lengthy wait ahead. There’s no depot or ticket office, just slots for the buses in a large parking lot; so we pull up a wall and wait. Rachael goes into the store to break a twenty on a purchase of a small treat so we’ll have fare change when we board, but otherwise we just hold down the wall, watch buses to other directions come and go, and wait and hope. It’s a good thing that it’s not raining.

Finally the bus to Agrigento arrives. It’s fifteen minutes behind schedule, long enough that I’m getting seriously anxious - maybe I’ve gotten the schedule wrong? - and when a large cab pulls into the lot I take a photo of its phone number just in case. the cabbie takes note, steps out to hand me his card, and quotes me a fare of €100 for the drive to San Leone. I thank him and stuff the card in my wallet just in case, and a minute later our bus finally pulls in.

There’s room for both bikes, but the driver urges us to hustle when we struggle to load them because he’s late already. About three minutes after he pulled in, we’re on the road.

If you’re in need, Lumia runs a regular service along the coast between Trapani and Agrigento, as well as inland to Palermo. It takes bikes, as an added fare. Now that I think of it, it would be an alternative way to start a tour without biking from Palermo.

Agrigento is a large, sprawling city draped along the top of the ridge above the famous Valley of the Temples. In its day it had a population of 300,000 and was one of the most important Greek cities in the Mediterranean. Now though it’s a congested mess, and not a place I’d want to bike into. I don’t like the thought of coasting down out of it either, as I nervously watch the bus climbing the sinuous, busy narrow road up to the city.

Rachael and I have a safety chat before riding off - what do we do if we get separated by traffic, etc. - but it’s all a fast ride downhill and much better than I’d expected. Traffic gets bunched up by the lights so we find large gaps and bike them for a quarter mile or so before pulling off and letting the next queue pass, and before long we drop down below Temple Row and the coast highway and leave most of the traffic behind.

Partway down Rachael stops to call ahead, and our host is waiting for us when we arrive. We’re staying in B&B La Sorelle, an excellent place and our favorite lodging of the tour so far. Emma is great. After showing us around she asks if we’d like refreshment and for the next fifteen minutes or so we enjoy drinks and treats (coffee for me, camomile tea for the recovering sickie) while Emma chats: she tells us about the house, the village, recommends restaurants and so on. It’s a large split level house. She lives upstairs and lets out the lower level. There are two units but we’re the only guests tonight so we have the floor to ourselves.

Our host Emma, at B&B La Sorelle in San Leone. Highly recommended.

Our plan in booking here had been to arrive early and hike up the the Valley of the Temples in the afternoon, but the timing of the bus ride chops up the day awkwardly; and besides, Rachael’s not up to much if any of an outing. I’m considering whether I have the time and energy for the six or seven mile hike I’d need to take in the temples, when Rachael sensibly reminds me I have a bicycle waiting outside.

Ten minutes later I’m on the road climbing the two miles up to the temples; and after a few false starts I finally find the parking lot, lock up the bike, and start walking. If you come to Sicily, this is really one of the can’t miss destinations. I could say more about the place, but I’ll just refer you to our first visit seven years ago; or more recently to Al and Jackie’s post from just a few hours ago that you’ve likely read already anyway, since they’re here today also.

Climbing up to the archeological park from below, I get a nice view of the Temple of Concordia. The Valley of the Temples is a UNESCO world heritage site, and you might recognize this temple because at one point UNESCO adopted the temple as its icon.

The Temple of Dioscures, with sprawling Agrigento in the background.

A fallen angel. See Jacquie’s post for the even more revealing flip side.

The view toward the sea from the Temple of Concordia. That small village by the water is San Leone, where we’re lodged for the night.

A zoomed shot of the Temple of Concordia, from the Temple of Juno.

A Girgentana goat, indigenous to Sicily if Jacquie is to be believed. If that’s incorrect, blame her.

It’s not all temples and goats in the Valley of the Temples.

You should be impressed with how clearly this shot came out. Remember we have winds gusting above 30 mph today.

It’s about half past five when I make it back to the B&B. Rachael, who’s been tracking my location, is at the gate to let me in when I arrive. She’s feeling better, well enough that after a short nap she’s already walked down to the beach about a mile away. She didn’t stay long because winds are gusting to above 30 mph today in case you’d forgotten the fact.

The plan is to have dinner at the beach, at one of the three restaurants Emma recommended to us. I decide to go down early to see the beach for myself, catch thr sunset, and maybe spot a few birds. Ha, ha. With 30+ mph winds there’s no chance of seeing any birds other than a few gulls sailing high above; and the wind is blowing so fiercely that I can barely stand against it when I’m taking a shot; and the sunset surprisingly doesn’t amount to anything.

Dinner though - dinner is terrific, at Mark Polo’s. There could be a whole battery of food photos here but we’ll just show the most photogenic one, Rachael’s swordfish roll. It visually compares well with the pistachio/orange ice cream cake from Mazara del Vallo. At this rate, I’m going to need a gallery of most attractive servings by the end of the tour.

Ride stats today: 12 miles, 300’; for the tour: 192 miles, 14,300’

Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 192 miles (309 km)

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Keith AdamsThe bus sounds like the perfect option for the day. Glad it was available for you.
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1 year ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesSo glad Rachael seems to be on the mend. Good idea to have given biking and hiking a miss for today.
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1 year ago

Bruce LellmanI'm glad you are feeling better, Rachael.
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1 year ago

Rachael AndersonTo Bruce LellmanThanks. We had a challenging day yesterday and now Scott has the stomach bug and I’ve had a minor relapse. Let’s hope it doesn’t last long.
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1 year ago