Friday, June 3

As the campground was right next to the sea, I started the morning with a compulsory swim, something I love. The water was so velvety!

I then found out that my tent neighbors were fellow road bikers from Austria, having started in Catania and touching Etna on its westward flank. Chatting with them and the caretaker, I found out that there was an interesting highlight about 20 km away from the coast - and started heading towards it. The heat, again well above 40 degrees, posed a big burden, especially as the road was winding upwards. I rode through a landscape I had gotten so found of: flowers of various colors flanking the road, I had seen lush vegetation at some places, others barren, it was an interchange of hills, mountains, valleys - at times I felt like being on the moon.

The spot I was heading to was an ancient Greek temple of Segesta. Suddenly, right in the middle of such a landscape, I spotted this structure, which built some 2,500 years ago, sitting there so tranquilly, just at the bottom of a hill - it was an impressive sight. Speaking of hills, one thing was to catch a glimpse of it the temple, the other was to get up there - especially the last 3 kilometers were grueling. Some tourists cheered me when I arrived. Inside me, all my liquids were close to boiling.

The temple was impressive, it must have been a gigantic undertaking pulling it up. It was missing the roof, though, I had learned that the builders had to flee the armies of Carthage a couple of dozen centuries ago.

Just as impressive was the Roman theater that was carved on a nearby hilltop. There was buses going up, but I opted to walk up on foot - thus saving not less than two euros. Midway to the top was a small museum - in it, a small bronze statue, sculptured so brilliantly that my camera detected a human face.

The view from the top was amazing...I imagined how it must have been there sitting some 2,000 years ago, watching a drama or a comedy. The Romans on the top of the hill had a nice view of the Greek temple.

Back at the restaurant, I was given some nice cold water, and I started heading back to the coast. It was even hotter than earlier and now I was riding on real back-country roads, middle of nowhere.

There was a patch of road that was so steep I had to shove my bike, which doesn't happen all too often. After quite a struggle, I made it to the top, from where it was an enjoyable ride to the coast, me thriving for a nice, cool beach. Well, not quite - just prior to the shore another hill had to be crossed, but then I got what I wanted - that swim was super refreshing. I was now in Rio Forgia.

From here, I was looking up another mountain, as it later turned out, this was Erice, a historic town at an elevation of 750 meters – and I was pretty much at sea level.

I decided to go for it. Google Maps, so many times a faithful companion, wanted to be nice and offered a short toad, but it failed to mention the lack of asphalt, at least for the first few miles. It was rather tough going, and when I did reach the real road, it was really steep...

Then came a series of switchbacks and it was getting dark by the time I reached town at the top. Google recommended, for the second time, a shorter route, this took me around town, rattling on cobblestones. There were countless old churches with fantastic views, but all of them closed, it being evening time.

I reached my hotel, Hotel Villa San Giovanni, a rather average 2* room with a 5* view - the room offered a view of both the mountains and the sea. I had planned to go for a walk and maybe a light dinner, but as soon as I had sat down in my room, I was no longer able to get up - 100 kilometers in the heat, with lot of elevation gain. Enough for the day...