A quick trip indeed! Barely 16 kilometers is all! proclaimed Freddy as they bounced out of Ragusa on the way to Modica. And to boot, net downhill!

Once again, the fertile mountains of Sicily were to humble our intrepid adventurers. The short ride included about 7 kilometers of constant, fairly steep uphill on a highway which, sad to say, did not seem to be short! Though the end of the trip was, at least, downhill. It must have been opposite day when the Modicans built Modica, as this town was at the bottom of a valley, not at the top of a mountain.

Still, panting and heaving, Freddy and Stan eventually pulled up to their Airbnb in Modica, ready to conquer yet another Sicilian locality. The host arrived to meet them, a jolly man, and show them about their Airbnb carved into the stone building around it. This included a description of the hot water heater, which (as was common on the island) needed to be turned on a few minutes before showering.

Stan and Freddy turned on the water heater while they unpacked, then showered (separately!!!) and prepared to explore the town. Before heading out the door, Stan turned all the heating units to their highest setting and stopped Freddy from turning off the hot water heater. “Ummm…” stammered Freddy, “if we’re not using it, shouldn’t we leave the water heater unplugged? Since the host leaves it that way.” “Freddy,” Stan responded, in his most patient and reassuring voice, “we are here now.” Still filled with doubt, Freddy bowed his head and submitted to his friend’s wisdom.

Freddy and Stan had a grand day about Modica, seeing churches,

oh so many stairs, alleyways and vistas,

and a cave church from some of the very earliest days of Christianity on the island. The frescoes in the church had suffered from the place being used as a garage and from some poorly-planned preservation methods which washed away some of the main frescos, but was fascinating to be in nonetheless.

Modica is also famous for its chocolate, which Freddy and Stan were happy to sample, finding it a bit dry and crumbly.

Freddy delighted in the variety of culinary foods found here and elsewhere on the island, gladly slurping down squid ink pasta, fish balls, large cuts of pork and the occasional spleen and lung sandwich. Stan was game to try most things, but had mentioned that he especially liked cheese ravioli with tomato sauce.

Beaming with hope and pride, Freddy guided Stan to their surprise dinner destination – a restaurant specializing in ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce! “Oh,” said Stan, unimpressed, “OK. I just worry it won’t be good.” But it was! Well, not bad, anyway.

Freddy and Stan returned to their room. As Stan retreated to his room to rest his weary head, Freddy noted that the wifi was out. A quick investigation revealed this to be a symptom of a yet greater problem – the power was out! Luckily, their jolly Airbnb host came over quickly to look into the matter. Leaving all the heating devices in the apartment on at once had overloaded the building’s fragile electrical infrastructure, and the primary circuit breaker needed to be unbroken, which was fairly easily done.