Stage 8: Racalmuto - Joppolo Giancaxio, 25 kms, Hot, +30

This Isn't The Buick Your Father Drove!

May 2: Yesterday and today I was in touch with the blog app creator and he helped me to correct the problem! Excellent!

Last night using Google Maps I mapped the way out of town on a piece of paper so that I could find my way given that nothing is marked through the towns. We test walked part of the exit route before dinner last night ...

and being safisfied that it would suffice we went for a wonderful dinner at a steak and pizza place. We'd had no lunch and I was pretty hungry and it was after 8:00 by then, and we were still the first into the restaurant. Trying to sort out how much to order in a language we were a bit challenged with resulted in the predictable. The order was by weight of meat and we ended up with a decent portion and in the end a decent sized bill! I was very hungry so I ate more than my share of the food, including some excellent potatoes cooked in olive oil and rosemary. Yum! 

Annemarie wasn't very hungry as she was still dealing with the effects of the heat and strenuous trail these past days, so of course I had a bit more than I usually might. And I was still hungry! After dinner Annemarie decided to take a rest day and I would walk with Constanza.  We were told in the restaurant that it wouldn't be a problem to get a taxi for Annemarie in the morning. So with that plan in mind we went back to our hotel and I sorted gear for an early morning exit and went to bed hoping to get a little sleep. 

Backing up a bit, did I mention that we were the only people staying in a very nice 3* hotel? Well we were, and the desk person (daughter of the owners) went home saying she would be back the next morning at 7:30, but would leave basic breakfast stuff out for us. So I was awake before 5:30 to get ready to walk and hoped to leave Annemarie sleeping, but realized that she would have to let me out because we had the keys to the whole hotel. No kidding. The keys to the whole very nice hotel and I couldn't very well leave the front door unlocked for hours. So we went downstairs together and I ate breakfast before Annemarie locked me outside in the just waking town. 

I headed out to walk the 4-5 kms to Grotte to meet up with Constanza who had completed her stage there yesterday. The dogs enjoyed the sound of my bell as I wandered along. I've brought along my Buddhist brass bell from Japan because it has a beautiful tone and as designed it helps to keep my head present. However, it also has the interesting side effect of alerting every dog for 20 kms that I'm in the area and they bark crazily! Too funny as I walked along to a chorus of barking dogs in the early morning light. I even took a really nice sunset shot and early morning view of the town from above which I'd like to show you, but can't. Sigh. 

Arriving in Grotte I found myself confronted with 5 possible routes, and I guessed the middle one. I asked at a bar along the way and the kind owner came outside with me and sent me onwards in what proved to be the correct direction. Checked out this church too.

Constanza showed up a little later and we set off to find our way out of town. That challenge overcome, we happily wandered through a really nice Sicilian town (close your eyes and imagine). 

Just out of town we passed a Neolithic cave site and had a bit of a look before beginning a sharp 300 m climb to a ridge where we found an observatory. 

Seth I photographed it for you, but you'll have to wait to see it. From high on the ridge we enjoyed stunning views back northward towards the higher mountains we'd passed through earlier. Was that just days ago? We could make out vague images of Sutera and Cammarata in the distance. 

As we descended to the town of Comitini we discussed the route and specifically how it would be difficult to walk longer distances than we had achieved. For example, yesterday was a pretty tough day during which we'd walked 23 kms across some rough terrain where the maximum slope we had to climb was 32%, the vertical elevation climbed over the stage was 1,050 m (3,400') and the descents totalled 1,125 m (3,700'). Yesterday was a tougher day when you add the heat, and yet it was pretty typical of this route, and certainly not the hardest day. Frankly it's no wonder that Annemarie's allergy triggered, and she did so well to tough it out the last 2 days. She is on the mend today and should be able to join us again tomorrow. As I wrote this I thought of my friend John who would laugh at these comments having walked the very difficult route on Corsica last year. John is clearly a mountain goat!

Hence the name of this post:) But that's probably just my tired brain that gets the connection. 

Arriving in Comitini where we'd planned a refuelling stop...I was hungry and in need of a cup of tea, we found everything closed.

The light bulb popped on in our brains and we realized that it was May 1st, May Day in Europe which is like Labour Day at home. A National holiday. I had two thoughts. How was Annemarie going to get a taxi, and more importantly, it was the fourth anniversary of my retirement:) We messaged Annemarie and she had discovered the lack of a hotel manager this morning and of course she solved her own problem by calling our host for tonight. He agreed to come and pick her up without charge (taxi would have been €30 minimum) on his vacation! Amazing support for the pilgrims here, as you'll hear below. So I could rest easy knowing that I wouldn't have to climb all the way back over the mountain to get Annemarie! So then I could let my bell addled mind cast a back to the past four years as I walked along. Pretty amazing four years with a variety of wonderful experiences where I've met some fascinating people, visited far off places and taken on new things from yoga to distance walking. Endless fun!

As we approached the hill top town of Aragona (sounds like something out of Middle Earth), I spotted a sign for a bar called Lo Sperdicchio which caters to walkers. So after we'd climbed all the way up to town, we went in search of said bar. Sadly after much wandering it turned out to be closed. So we went on to see the family business of Constanza's friend in northern Italy, Bar La Preferra where we proceeded to have the time of our lives. 

Well that might be stretching it a bit, but we did have fun. We messaged Annemarie with a photo of our pastries and drinks, 

and as we were enjoying those one of the employees came outside and gave us a gift of four beautiful pastries. Wow! 

We sent another photo of the new goodies to Annemarie to make her feel better and then I went into pay and was told that there was no charge. Handshakes all round and then group photos which you'll just have to imagine followed by a gift of chocolates. 

Somehow all this extra stuff ended up in my pack for the rest of the day and we brought them to share with Annemarie. See, we aren't so bad:) I also took a photo of an Irish type thing for Paul, but unable to post it. 

We wandered this lovely town for an hour then tried to find our way out of town. Loads of fun. 

Eventually back on our way again, having climbed out of town...what's that about? And eventually Joppolo Giancaxio came into sight and we climbed up there as well in the heat. 

Best thing on this earth. Not the climb, but the cold beers we purchased from a vending machine:) We took those back to our apartment and had a bite to eat. Thankfully our landlord made sure that Annemarie was able to find places to stock up on food so we had lunch and the three of us will gather here for a pasta dinner tonight. 

A very nice day ended in a small village with just a short walk into Agrigento tomorrow to complete this near 200 km wander north to south. I could smell the Med today as we walked. I could also see it in the distant haze. Always a special sight that I have enjoyed since I first saw it in 1975! 

So there's the day sans photos. Will see what might be possible to fix the posting problem. Too tired to do this until after we finish the walk tomorrow. A rest day is planned in Agrigento and maybe then I can sort it out. I may even go back in and finish off the post from yesterday. This is my travel journal after all. Hope everyone is well. 

A rest station:) UVic students will go to great lengths to dump their stuff on the side of a road!

So now that I have the blog working, I'll be writing the next stage tonight or tomorrow. It's time to go out into the thunder storms to find our supper. Very hungry, but do pleased to have this problem fixed with the fall walk ahead. 

Buon Cammino!