Sunday 5 June 2011

Day 16 - Trapani

The Englishman, Italian and French woman went to the beach……. it’s no joke, we were truly European today.

Mileeta was carrying full panniers, Iris and myself. We rode along the sea front of Giardini Naxos then on to the picturesque Isola Bella (Beautiful Island). It is actually connected to the mainland by a shingle causeway. We parked the bikes and walked down the steps to the beach. We swam in the crystal clear water and sunbathed. As we lay their soaking up the suns rays, Sergio had a little chuckle to himself. “What?” I asked. He then recounted the story from the book ‘The Alchemist’. A Sheppard decides to go on a journey to discover treasure. He travels far and wide but doesn’t find treasure. When he returns he finds the treasure was actually what he already had. The beach we were lying on was the most beautiful we had experienced all trip and it was on Sergio’s door step.

We return back to Diegos’ and had lunch with the others. Then when the weather got cooler, and they had had their afternoon snooze, at 5 o’clock we pack up, said our goodbyes. A big thanks to all at the farm, I'll be back with friends or family if you'll have me, thanks again, the perfect place to chill.

We headed West to Trapani. The trip was 220 miles in to the sun but, when it began to set, we were rewarded with a sky that would have delighted the Shepard in Sergio’s story. The colour matched the glow from Mileetas dials or, if you prefer, rather than shepards delight more a Turkish delight.

Sergio’s trip was coming to an end, Turkey (the Asian side) now a memory but the 4,500 kms are all his. His riding quickened, only curtailed by the evening traffic around Palermo. He was taking the bends like Valentino Rossi and now even remembering to cancel the indicators. Tenuous link: Trapani is named after the sickle the crescent shaped tool that used to be used for cutting grass. Turkeys flag has a cresent and a star. Sergio, you are a star. Thanks for making this part of Mileetas Adventure what it is. I would never have gone to Albania, drank so much coffee, eaten cake for breakfast or get hooked on Gelato (the best icecream ever!).

We celebrated with pizza, beer and gelato while writing blog.

2 comments:

  1. Actually the shepperd in the Alchemist had to travel all the way in order to find out where the treasure was. If he had never set off for his journey he would have never found the treasure even if it was under his bum.
    The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a nice little ispiring book, for the people who like to travel even just with their mind...

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  2. You boys have been doing all the travelling for us all back at home, and for that i thank you both for your stories and sending us some sunshine. Really nice to see all the photos too. Next year I'm coming along just for the good old fashioned fun factor. Ride safe, both of you and see you soon bro x

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