The perfect Southern Italy Extreme!
A new tour is starting, the weather is great and the sun is warming up the air. We leave our hotel in the Campi Flegrei and head north towards Mondragone where some good pastry is waiting for us. After a good coffee we keep riding and we visit two nice towns like Gaeta and Sperlonga where we will also have our lunch. In the afternoon the first real curvy roads are awaiting us, as also some rain drops! But we don't care...the first riding day was great and we get to Pescasseroli tired but exicted!
Today the weather seems not perfect to ride, it rained all night and the roads are wet. Half of the group decided to have a relaxed day by taking advantage of the spa area and walking around town to see the interesting places that the little village has to offer! The other half of the group decided to go for a ride and reached Sulmona and Roccaraso. Incredible curves and no traffic!
The sky is clear and the temperature is really low (3* C / 37* F) before breakfast...but nothing can stop us. The air warmed up a little and we start our day riding towards the Matese mountains, a rough place that was basically never conquered by anyone during the centuries and that has always been ashelter for criminals or people who didn't want to live under a certain king. Nowadays is a very beautiful valley with almost no inhabitants. After a great pizza for lunch we visited Benevento and Melfi!
The weather is great again and the mood couldn't be better! We leave Melfi and our first stop is the laghi di Monticchio. They are very famous in Italy since their water is considered really good due to the fact that all the area is vulcanic and rich of minerals. We start heading south and the views change. The regions of Puglia and Basilicata are really beautiful and the colors are incredible. We reach Venosa for a coffee and than Castel del Monte for a quick visit to the incredible octagonal castle! Our destination for today is Matera, a really old (10^000 BC) and unique city. The old part of the city is called Sassi and it's basically an incredible amount of caves where around 30 000 people lived in really poor hygienic conditions till 1968! Luckily today everything has been restored and in 2019 Matera became European Capital of Culture! JUST UNBELIEVABLE