Caltavuturo to Prizzi

April 25, 2023

Another lovely day of riding in inland Sicily, on quiet roads lined with wildflowers and in the sunshine.

We rode on SS highways (sometimes even with shoulders) and past more than one strada chiusa sign. We cruised on smooth asphalt and wove our way between potholes. I don’t remember any thrilling descents but I will not forget pushing my bike up more than one very steep ascent. Yes, a lovely day.

Roadside flowers. I'd been seeing this one occasionally since the beginning of our tour but finally stopped and got a non-blurry photo.

Roadside scenery: green pastures and green energy

Roadside scenery--just another castle on a hill.

Yellow avalanche! I don't think it's canola.

We stopped to get more water in Valledolmo and it was a good thing we did. We had thought we would get lunch in Lercara Friddi, which looked to be a decent-sized village at 44 km of our 68 km route. Once again, though, it seemed everything was closed when we rode in just before 1 pm. Except, strangely, for a pasticceria that was doing a brisk business but only had cakes, pastries, and gelato. We thought the chocolate bar I’ve been carrying since Randazzo might have to be lunch. Then, just as we were riding towards the end of town, another pasticceria, also doing a brisk business with a steady stream of customers leaving with packages of pastries, but this one had tables outside and was worth a look inside. They had cakes, pastries, and gelato, but also a few arancini so one of those each was perfect for lunch. Followed by a small gelato, of course, since we finally have the weather for it.

Strada Chiusa sign, one of several styles we rode by on this tour.

When I saw Al pushing, I knew I was in for it!

I needed a few rest breaks as I pushed up this hill; it wasn't the first I'd had to walk today but it was definitely the toughest. It didn't help that my Garmin wasn't noticing my effort while I was doing it. I guess it was too slow and the elevation view of my track below is vertical.

In any case, I heard this strange sound over the increasing volume of the wind turbines as I drew nearer to the ridge. Then I had to grab my phone for a video. Sheep! Running down the hill toward me, with no dogs or shepherd driving them. I looked back when I reached the top and the flock was milling around in a dell beside the road.

A closer view of the red mossy plant often seen on the verge. The flowers are only a couple of millimetres across.

That's Prizzi on top of the hill, of course.

We continued on to Prizzi and it was on our way into that town that we saw a roadside restaurant with a large, full parking lot and more cars parked on the verge. It must be a holiday, we decided.

Scalinata della legalita in Prizzi. Recognise the names second and third from the bottom?

Today is Liberation Day in Italy, as I learned when I checked my calendar. We were in Vernazza on Liberation Day last year. That was the day we encountered the Fiat 500 club on the ferry—but I don’t remember businesses being closed or difficulty finding food. Regional differences, I suppose.

We found our accommodation in Prizzi and let ourselves in; the host had left the key in the door. And then the fun ended. I took photos to bolster my complaint to the owner (the host is a contractor, I think) and to include with the very negative review I'll be leaving on Booking, but I won't include them here. Some things I'd like to forget.

The place smelled like old campfire. The source may or may not have been the woodstove which was jammed full of cardboard, sticks, and who knows what else, some of which was partially burned. I opened the adjacent door to the balcony and checked the kitchen. The fridge had a part bottle of wine and other jars of stuff I didn’t want to look closely at. This was the newer fridge; the old one that matched the cupboards contained cleaning supplies, in addition to the cleaning supplies scattered throughout the apartment.

The cupboards didn’t look clean and appeared to contain a part bottle of vodka (I didn’t want to touch it to bring it down to see). There was no hot water at the sink (nothing came out when I opened to hot water tap), no plug, and the dishwasher was rusty and crumbling inside. So we would not be touching any dishes. Nor would we be microwaving anything; the microwave front glass was missing. Given the condition of everything else, there was no way we would even try turning on the stove.

The bathroom, at least, had hot water. Not a lot of pressure, but a shower was possible. More cleaning supplies in here, including a toilet brush actually *in* the toilet.

I note that this place had very good reviews on Booking, along with a “quality rating” of 3. The one bad review is dated after I booked last September so from now on, I’ll review the reviews again before the free cancellation deadline.

As soon as we got cleaned up, we headed out to explore Prizzi. There’s not much, if anything, there. The town is trying, sort of. It seems it’s a stage on the Magna Via Francigena, one of four Vie Francigena in Sicily (none of which had I heard of before). We first noticed tiles set in some streets, in addition to those directing tourists to the “historical monuments” oh the town—almost all of which were churches with illustrated signs outside describing the wonders within and all of which were locked up tight.

Sign outside a church you can't visit (though this particular church looks like it's the one used for services)

We saw several of these embedded in the streets

Then we came upon some murals, along with an information sign similar to those at the churches. Here's what it said:

The murals date back to 16th September 1989, when the local administration invited three Sicilian artists to paint some of the walls of Spiazzo Sparacio, located in the heart of the historic centre. These painters were Franco Nocera from Monreale, Tot Bonanno from Lercara and Mario Bardi from Palermo.

From that moment on, Spiazzo Sparacio has become an open-air museum, a landmark for the people of Prizzi and visitors alike. It represents one of Prizzi's most evocative views.

The walls became a symbol of our forefathers' culture. In fact, the three decided to depict a typical Sicilian scenario between the 19th and 20th centuries, reproducing traits of our culture, customs, and traditions. Each figure wears typical clothes of the past (such as the coppola, the coat, etc.).

Mario Bardi depicts Sicily's memories of the past. He portrays a group of men in the shade of a tree, sitting down in their neighbourhood and chatting in the Prizzese dialect of the past.

Tot Bonanno depicts the work of the fields in memory of past life. In fact, one can note the threshing floor with the mules, the rich harvest, the farmer's wife (typical symbol of the Sicilian woman) carrying a jar to relieve her companion's thirst, and the joyful flask of wine.

The mules' threshing floor and the good harvest are important in this depiction because they remind us of wheat.

Franco Nocera represents the season of love by depicting two women, one dressed in gold, symbolising the awakening of the senses, the other dressed in blue representing the queen of Eros, i.e., love. Symbolically, this third painting denotes the awakening of love. Between the women appears the figure of a man, a Saracen, handing a bouquet of flowers to the queen.

And here are the murals. They say something about Prizzi, I think.

We then noticed others looking at the Magna Via Francigena tiles. Other tourists? Here? Yes, there were others. Eighteen, to be exact. One group of two who were just leaving the one open trattoria as we arrived for dinner and a group of 16 walkers, possibly the same group we had seen on the road earlier in the day? We were curious where they might be staying because there certainly wasn’t much in the way of tourist services here. (We saw them in the trattoria for breakfast the following morning so we know they stayed in Prizzi. I hope their accommodation was better than ours, for their sakes.

Al opted for a sandwich for dinner. He had no idea what he was going to get, but he looks very pleased and ate every bit.

I had a Caprese salad and a nonphotogenic but tasty pasta dish.

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Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 1,529 km (950 miles)

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Rachael AndersonSorry to hear about the problems with your lodging!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonRachael’s sorry? I’M sorry! I’m the one that pointed out to you that lodging existed in Prizzi.
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1 year ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonNot your fault! The reviews were very good on Booking--except for the one from last November, after I'd booked, which also mentioned the place being dirty. I'll be leaving a review after I hear back from the owner (a company in Germany).
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1 year ago