Wobbling Winos: Day 8. Gela to Sampieri.

Day 8. Gela to Sampieri. 78 km.

We had a good look at the map while in Gela and our planned route to Ragusa. The road inland to Ragusa is very twisty and the background colour of the map turns bark grey which only means one thing - mountains. Sense prevailed and we worked out a route along the coast with one inland excursion up to Noto the next day. Kindly our accommodation just outside Ragusa did not charge us for the cancellation.

Good coffee was the redeeming feature of an otherwise uninspiring breakfast. Gela has a reputation for hectic traffic in confusing narrow streets. Being on bicycles made it easier as one-ways don't apply to bicycles here. We found our way out of town easily only to be confronted by a blocked road due to construction. After trying a few options we were stopped at a circle trying to work out a route when two cars stopped separately and the drivers spontaneously offered advice on how to get to Scoglitti - fortunately both sets of advice were the same.

We then had a flat route through an area of wall to wall plastic tunnels - not pretty but I suppose we all need to eat. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, artichokes, peppers, brinjals, courgettes. Cappuccino in Scoglitti overlooking the harbor was followed by more tunnels on route to the upmarket coastal resort of Marina di Ragusa. Here we found a small cafe on the coast for a slice of pizza and panini before a pretty cycle along the coast through Donnalucca and Cava d'Aliga to the small coastal fishing village of Sampieri.

Sampieri is a quaint place with a long sandy beach running out to limestone rocks at the end. Small fishermen's houses line the shore.

Our anxious hostess and her daughter at our simple bur pleasant B&B fell over themselves to make us welcome. It could have been the Sicilian girls edition of Faulty Towers, but at least there was a washing machine, a decent shower with piping hot solar water, and a pleasant balcony to enjoy a beer and bowl of chili olives. We spent the afternoon on the beach and then set off to find a pizzeria for supper. The only one was closed - there was a wedding in the village so presume the owner decided that was more important than feeding two hungry cyclists..

We found a restaurant on the beach, Votavota, which was smarter than planned, but we had an excellent dish of pasta each (Jen had an ancient wheat spaghetti with sardines - typical Sicilian, and I had pasta with colrabi and anchovies - both delicious) with Marabino Eureka Chardonnay - very different from Chardonnay as we know it, with greater minerality and less wood. Excellent WW8.