We awakened to beautiful weather, and after another great breakfast went out to see the view.
Looking
out over the fields and orchards we could see clouds in the distance
but the temperatures were mild and the day promised to be a good one.
We
gathered on the patio for our daily briefing and entertainment because
our guides Sandro, Marco and Mauro, besides being great bikers were
comedians too. The morning ride was mostly downhill to a natural reserve
by the sea where we to spent some time exploring.
Being
the oldest and slowest of the group by far, we took off early so I
could grab some shots of some flowers I had seen the day before. This
was the first opportunity I had to photograph poppies.
The country roads were lovely and free of traffic - my kind of biking.
We
reached the Vendicari Park and Bay and Sandro, who was already there
with the van gave us directions to this blind looking out over the marsh
lakes, already alive with birds.
Walking along the boardwalk to the sea we saw many flowers and lizards.
At
the upper edge of the beach were these curious brown balls which we
thought were seed pods, but found out they came from the Mediterranean -
a form of algae that washes up on the beach when dead.
From the beach we could see the ruins of an old tuna fishing and packing factory that closed after WWII.
We walked to it and spent some time exploring the ruins, and enjoying the flowers there.
Ruins of the Tonnara (fish factory)
We continued our walk along the beach enjoying the sea and the vegetation on land.
The ride back to our hotel in the afternoon was of course a lot of up-hill, and I was glad to reach it.
The
two younger couples from Boston wanted a photo of themselves in their
biking shirts from the Wilson Farm ( owned by Jim and Cindy on the
left). We hope to visit them there this summer.
That
evening at out hotel, the Kalliloros, a cooking demonstration was
planned. Aubergine Parmesan appetizers were compiled by Peggy
under the watchful eye of the chef.
Cindy shows off her successful creation, and Dave works on eggplant parmigiana rolls.
The results were beautiful and delicious.
After dinner we all enjoyed the "Cannolo Sicillanos" for dessert, which we stuffed earlier.
And I couldn't resist snapping a photo of our guides Mauro, Marco and Sandro who also had a good time.
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