TAORMINA, Sicilia -- For reasons I cannot figure, Ettore, the once obliging proprietor of www.rentbike.it, is now as unresponsive as the late Cardinal Ducmet whose body (pictured above with death mask) lies prone in a glass coffin in the cathedral in Catania.
I don't know what to make of Ettore, who promptly responded to all earlier e-mails and phone calls. Perhaps he can't meet our order for 58 cm bikes with 78 climbing gears. At any rate, despite repeated attempts by your faithful correspondent and advance man, Ettore non mi rispondeva. So I got worried. I figure the only two things we cannot do without in Sicily are bikes and two decks of pinochle cards.
Consequently, I have forsaken Ettore for Helmut. I have put down a 50 euro deposit for seven bicycles with Helmut, a German who operates a cycle renting business near Siracusa. He claims to have large frame bikes for all of us and is offering gli americani anciani a rental price as attractive as Ettore's.
You can find out more about Helmut Walter and his bike rental business at www.sicily-bike.de. One of the links on the latter site will take you to amazon.deutschland where you can read Helmet's book on cycling in Sicily. In German.
Renting from Helmut allows us to avoid the petrochemical autostrada from Catania to Siracusa. Instead, for a mere 3 euros, we can ride the train from Catania, arrive fresh in Siracusa and proceed to pick up the bikes.
I realize this sounds like cheating but I have yet to meet any Sicilian who thinks cycling down the coastal highway from Catania to Siracusa e molto gentile e divertimento. Sta bene?
Location:Taormina, Sicilia
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