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Day 2

Today we walked 32 km, which is more than expected. The weather was nice with no wind. Yeah!

The first 20 km was walking on roads again but then we finally hit a real hiking trail. That was quite enjoyable.

We passed through the town of Noto, a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE. The city looks old, but I still need to figure out why it is a UWH.

Even though we find some nice landscape I want to say something serious about and to Sicily. It is full of trash. There is garbage, piles of garbage everywhere. It‘s really disgusting.

Traffic here is an adventure. People drive like crazy. It seems they take laws for a suggestion. With us road-walking it is quite an adventure sometimes.

I want to end today’s story with a sad encounter. We found a stray dog sitting on the side of the road hiding behind a garbage bag. He was too weak to get up and really scared of us. I tried to feed him with something out of my bag, but it worked only semi-well. I decided to pick him up and carry him to next town, Noto, to bring him to a pet-doctor. After a little while carrying the dog he jumped out of my arms into some bushes. I couldn‘t follow him but begged him to come back. He didn’t so I had to leave him behind knowing well he‘s probably going to die soon. That made me sad.

The view out of my tent

For pics, visit www.instagram.com/jaredturtlechip, #thatshowlivinisdone

You want to follow our hike and like stats? Click here.

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Day 1

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Portopalo di Capo Passero, our starting-point and southern terminus of our adventure. We decided to cowboy-camp, to sleep under the night sky with no shelter, right at the beach. Our first trail-dinner was Pasta with sauce. Since we forgot to buy salt, it tasted a bit pale. During that night my mattress ripped and I had to fix it at 2:33 a.m.. What a start! We woke up at around 8 and started to hike at around 9 a.m. The night was cold, maybe 5 degrees Celsius max. with a breeze making it feeling way colder.

It’s a sunny day and we start out with a 21.5 km street-walk. Even at day-time the wind is cold. We find a nice place to pitch our tents between some ruins nearby a lake. For dinner it’s Pasta with sauce again, and nosalt, of course. It gets dark at 5:30 p.m. and I decide to sit in my tent. Sunrise is at 7:15 a.m. It’s going to be a long lonely night, but I’m tired and fall asleep quickly. I hope it’s a bit warmer tomorrow, maybe with a little less wind. I’m really excited about this trip.

Every beginning holds its magic!

Our last view south before we head nortbound

For many pictures more please check out Jared’s instagram at www.instagram.com/jaredturtlechip, #thatshowlivinisdone

For hiking stats go here.

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Sicily…finally

14 month ago, while hiking on the Camino in Spain, Jared and I made the plan to meet here in Sicily. Since then we haven’t talked or written a lot. After me arriving last night, Jared arrived today. I think it’s safe to say it was a big joy for both of us to see each other again. I personally had a tough month of work in December with its peak in the last week. As I worked in the entertainment business, the christmas season and up to New Year’s eve is one of the most stressful time of the year. I flew here from Germany via Rome and when I got here last night I soon went to bed and slept to mid-day today.

Jared arrived today in the afternoon after an exhausting 5 day trip from the USA. His last month, so he told me at dinner, was filled with work and meeting up with friends. But he finally got here. Tomorrow is dedicated to some sight-seeing and buying last necessities before we start hitting the trail by the end of the week.