Suffering with pleasure

We have one more day on Vulcano island. We packed in so many things yesterday: we climbed the volcano, had a mud bath, walked around the central bit of the island, gone fishing… What’s left to do on this 21 sqkm island?

There are a few shops around the port selling activities to tourists. A couple have bikes to rent. “Let’s go cycling” I suggest to Gary. He looks at me perplex .

My relationship with cycling is that of a love-hate one. I have bought and sold three bikes in the last ten years. I like the idea of cycling. However, my knees hate it. My knee caps sit wrongly on my knee joint, sort of downwards and inwards. Because they are so badly designed, they cause me trouble when I undertake high impact activities such as running or cycling. If I was religious I would blame god for this cockup in my design but because I am not, I blame my mother .

“I remembered last time we went on a cycling trip” Gary says. “It was ten years ago, to the Isle of Wight. You spent most of the day carrying your bike up and down the hills”. So, you can now understand why he is so sceptical about my suggestion.

“That was because it was a hilly island” I reply.

“So is this one”.

He is right. But that was a long time ago. I am older. I can better cope with pain . Besides, there is quite a bit of the island we have not seen which we won’t be able to cover in a day if we walk it. We can also rent a motorbike or a quad bike for a day but I refuse to. They are dirty and noisy, (and bloody dangerous. GDR)

So I persuade him, or I think I have.

 

The next day, walking down to the rental bike shop, he still sounds a bit concerned: “This is a really hilly island, baby. We don’t need to go cycling. We can still go for a nice walk if you prefer ”

“We are going cycling. I am going to prove you wrong”.

And we rent the bikes for the entire day for €5 each. Another foreign couple is also in the shop, they have had the same idea. She is actually quite fussy. She has tried three bikes since we have been here. We have chosen ours, paid and are now leaving, and she is now asking to try the fourth one. I feel sympathy for her partner but also the bike shop owner.

It is already 11.00 am. Let’s press on , we’ve got the whole island to cycle. “We may see you later on” We say to the couple.

“Or maybe not” Gary jokes.

We head off south, passing the base of ‘the cratere’. We can’t see the smoke from this side.

The road is flat and easy so far.

The south of the Vulcano is the highest part of the island. We gradually start climbing up as soon as we leave the shop. I can manage well playing with the gears and putting in a bit of effort.

We continue to cycle around ‘the cratere’. The mountain losses his volcanic character on this side; there is none of those lava rivers, black rocks or burnt sand. This side has more life, it is more vegetated with trees and shrub. It may be because, here, the landscape is more exposed to natural elements, i.e. water and wind. And as it is south-facing, the landscape has had the chance to regenerate itself quicker.

The road gets steeper. We have just passed a group of men shredding trees on the right hand side of the road. “Only 5 minutes to the end!” One shouts in Italian. They think they are funny.

Interestingly, it would be the same joke that a Spanish would also make to a cyclist who is suffering climbing up a road. Sometimes, I find Italians and Spanish’s characters very similar.

We are heading to our first stop, the ‘Capo Grillo’. The hill is relentlessly up. My face is bright red and quite hot. But I am not doing bad, I keep up pace with Gary.

After an hour, we reach the cape. We have cycled 10 kilometres.

The views are stunning. What can we see from here? We think that the bit of land circled in blue is the north end of the island. The bit of land circled in orange is Lipari, the next island along and also the biggest of the archipelago. Our ferry will stop there tomorrow on our way to Stromboli.

After enjoying the view and the rest, we press on. We still have 25 kilometres to cycle the around the whole of the island.

On our way down, we see the couple we met earlier in the shop cycling up. At last she chose the bike she liked! (It is pink! GDR)

Impressed by my speedy face? It is only because I am going down. I am making the most of it. The hardest climb has yet to come.

Our second stop, a beach located at the furthest south point of the island. Here, we will stop for lunch.

Although it is a bit tough, we are enjoying our cycling very much. We get to see parts of the island we wouldn’t  be able to otherwise, as we only had one day left here.

This part of the island is very different from the area around the port, where most tourists stay. It is less populated, more agricultural and wilder. The vegetation is bright, tropical, multi-coloured, typical of a volcanic landscape. Plants grow happy and healthy here, as volcanic soil is so fertile.

The beach is another 10 kilometres away downhill, so the cycling is fast. I am dreading cycling up, especially after lunch. But I promise myself not to moan.

Fabulous views of the deep blue Mediterranean sea.

We arrive at the beach at 13.30. The dock looks derelict. There are only two buildings by the shore: a restaurant and a B&B, both shut down for the season.

A guy is laying down on the beach, probably having a siesta. A group of people are walking slowly and relaxing along the shore.

The pace of life is so different here compared to our rushing, stressful and busy lifestyle back at home. I am saying this without knowing what these people’s lives are like. They may be happy or they might be bored to death. Sometimes we think that if we lived another life, we would be happier. This could be true or it could be simply we are frustrated and bored. How can we know? Most of the times we don’t. We just need to change our lives to find out.

Here is the perfect stop for lunch.

We finish lunch. Now it comes a decisive moment, we have go back up 10 kilometres on a steep and windy road. Interestingly, there are no signs of the other couple.

It is incredibly hot, it must be over 20 degrees. Gary goes first. I cannot keep up with him this time.

The road becomes steeper. I am in first gear and it is no longer enough.

I am cycling up slowly and slowly, zig-zagging up from one side of the road to the other, to keep my balance. But I am no longer stable. I am cycling so slow that I am going to fall. So I get off and walk up. I am expecting a “I told you so” from Gary when he sees me carrying my bike. But it was either this or dying from exhaustion.

So this is how I tackle this climb: on flat bits of the road, I cycle. On steep bits I carry my bike. And we finally get to the main road, only in an hour. Not bad. Now all down hill again. Hurraaahh!!

Here we sit and rest for a bit. Gary confesses that he has also got off the bike only 2 kilometres before the end of the climb. He is now suffering from a sore bum. He puts his jumper on his seat for a bit of extra padding.

We are back on the road we were this morning. We started down there!

Before we go to the furthest north point of the island we turn off east towards Lentia, a residential area. No photos here except from this one of the view. A barrier prevents the public from entering the area. The houses have been strategically built on hilly points for nice views.

Horrendous, gated communities of well to do Sicilians, horrible. GDR

Back down along ‘the cratere’. It is now 17.00. We have been on our bikes for six hours. We still have the furthest north bit of the island to get to before we finally give the bikes back.

We stop at the hotel to rest for a bit and take the fishing rod to try fishing again. One day we will catch a fish, we promise.

We are here, in the Balle dei Mostri, highly recommended in the island for being a strange natural congregation of lava rocks. We are too tired to be impressed. And quite frankly, if you want to see lava rocks, you must climb the volcano.

We sit on the cliff and Gary takes out a cold beer that he sneaked in his bag before we left the hotel. Well done Gary!

Here, we enjoy the beer and the sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SM