When our group pedaled into Torino Friday, June 3 – the final day’s schedule included a gathering at the city’s Velodrome with local delegates from the city, bike clubs and even a group from Salt Lake City Utah!. They finished with a bike parade to the official Italy 150 exhibition hall where they were greeted in true Italian fashion with food and wine.  A fitting end to this 1,400 mile adventure from Sicily to Piedmont!

As participants go through their photos, we are adding links and photos to this page.

Photos from the Italian Newspaper that covered the arrival: http://multimedia.lastampa.it/multimedia/torino/lstp/51743/

Elizabeth’s photo gallery

A participant’s blog

For a full tour description see our itinerary.

In May of 1860 one thousand “Garibaldini”, or Redshirts, sailed from Genoa to Marsala to free the idyllic isle of Sicily from the Bourbons. Leading this group of volunteers was Giuseppe Garibaldi. Although he was proclaimed the “Dictator of Sicily,” this popular hero was fiercely dedicated to liberty and individual freedoms. This movement swept from Marsala north over the Straights of Messina to Sessa Aurunca where, in an act reminiscent of George Washington turning power over to the people at the end of the American Revolution, Garibaldi handed over power to Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy. These events were the beginning of Italian unification whose 150th anniversary is being celebrated in 2011.

ExperiencePlus! Italia 150 riders will conclude their celebratory 1,400 mile ride from Palermo, Sicily with their arrival in Torino on June the 3rd. If you have hopes to some day join this tour, or any ExperiencePlus! bicycle tours of Italy, this is the year to be inspired by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa’s “Il Gattorpardo” (The Leopard).  Beautifully written, “The Leopard” is recognized as one of Europe’s 20th century classics. What makes the book so amazing is that it couples great historical and cultural themes with personal situations that have great resonance to the individual reader.

On the one hand, “The Leopard” brings to light the still unresolved problems of Italian unification. It gives insight to the malaise that has gripped the Italian people who struggle over the future direction of their country. It does this through a portrait of a once great aristocratic Sicilian family dealing with how unification is transforming of their world.

On the other hand, as we look more closely at this portrait we see ourselves in their faces. There are those who will see in themselves Don Fabrizio, the Prince. Who, looking up at the stars, knows that his time has past; knows that the vitality of youth is well past its ebb. Others will see in themselves the impetuous Tancredi for whom this new world holds nothing but a promising more prosperous future. Still others will relate to the passion between Tancredi and Angelica, a woman whose sensual fecundity exudes from every page.

If you are going to Italy this summer, or if you are simply interested in reading a very good book, I recommend Giuseppe Di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard.”

http://cyclingmarsala-torino2011.blogspot.com/

After two days of sunshine, the third day of cycling was rained out.  We heard today they are back on their bikes on their way up the western coast of Italy where they will also get to see a Giro d’Italia stage finish in Tropea on their rest day.    Follow Robin or get our RSS feed from this blog to keep up to date with photos and stories from the road.

Italy in 1860

Our celebration, however, begins the year before in May of 1860 when Giuseppe Garibaldi actually sailed from Genoa with his 1080 volunteers to the port of Marsala in Sicily to ignite the local populations to rebel against the Spanish monarch, Francis II, sovereign over the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and based in Naples.  The Two Sicilies were the richest parts of Italy before unification although the wealth was concentrated in the cities and the peasant populations in the countryside were poor and ready to rebel.

Follow us on this blog or pick up our RSS Feed as we bicycle from Marsala beginning May 7th to Turin where we arrive on June 3rd to end our ride the next day, June 4th.

The process of unifiying the entire boot continued from March of 1861 until 1871 when Rome finally became the capital of Italy.

Find our full itinerary on our website.

A Great Cook Book:
“La Scienza in Cucina E L’arte Di Mangiar Bene” or Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi

Pellegrino Artusi died 100 years ago this year. At age 71 he finished his cookbook, La Scienza in Cucina E L’arte Di Mangiar Bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) and though no publisher was interested at the time, slowly it grew in fame and more than 50,000 copies were sold before his death in 1911. Today it is a perennial best seller in Italy and has been translated into several languages including English. This was the first cookbook that included recipes from all of Italy’s regions which had been unified at the time of writing for just 20 short years. Full of interesting anecdotes about the history of the recipes this cookbook provides insights into Italian culture in many ways. Available online we highly recommend Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well as it provides a unique lens into the history of Italian cooking.

Recipes that feature the Italian Flag’s colors.
Any celebration of Italy has to include delicious food so we’ve translated two recipes featured by one of the larger grocery stores in Italy that highlight the three colors of the Italian Flag – red, white and green!

Zucchini and Eggplant Rolls (Preparation time 40 minutes). 

Ingredients for 4 people:
One hot pepper sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
2 large zucchini
1 large eggplant
8 ripe tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chives

Wash and dry the vegetables.

Slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices and then lay out on two platters.

Dice the eggplant.
Drop boil the tomatoes to easily peel and remove the skin, cut them in half and dice them finely.
Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, add the eggplant and stir fry on a medium flame, stirring as necessary. As soon as the eggplant browns a little, add the garlic. Brown that as well for a few moments, after which add the tomatoes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes (adding a few tablespoons of hot water if necessary to keep it moist). Remove from the flame and add salt, pepper, hot pepper and parsley.

Brush some olive oil onto the zucchini, salt and pepper. Roll the zucchini to create a wide cylinder. Tie with some chives or with a toothpick, then place onto the platters. Fill the cylinders with the eggplant/tomato filling. Any sauce/filling that remains can be used as garnish on the plates. Serve immediately.

Tomato and Cheese “Bruschetta” – Preparation time: 15 minutes.

This is a variation on the traditional bruschetta—this recipe calls for “old” bread or hardened bread, which can easily be substituted with toasted sourdough bread or English Muffins for example.

Recipe for 4 people.
4 toasted English muffins or sourdough slices
4 ripe tomatoes
scamorza cheese about 200 grams, available in specialty stores (you can substitute with fresh mozzarella)
8 basil leaves
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Cut the scamorza into 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes. Quickly boil the tomatoes, cut in four, remove the seeds and dice. Mix the tomatoes and the cheese in a bowl, add the chopped basil and olive oil. Don’t salt or the tomatoes will lose a lot of water. If you are using “hard” bread, quickly dip the bread into warm water to soften it, let it drip and then place on a platter and top with the tomatoes and cheese. Salt lightly and serve.

Buon Apetito!