RTS2103- Sicily to Rome
Good morning from Sicily,the biggest island of the Mediterranean Sea, where another great tour is about to begin! The group has arrived, riders from the USA, Germany and Norway, and everybody is looking forward to exploring Southern Italy! Stay Tuned!
After a good night of sleep (and a good breakfast, of course!), we are finally ready to ride! Today we reached the southern coast of Sicily, one of the southernmost parts of Europe, being at the same latitude of northern Africa! After a first stretch on the highway to leave the traffic of Catania behind, we stopped in Raddusa for a coffee break and then reached Piazza Armerina, where we could see the archeological area of the Roman Villa with its impressive collection of ancient mosaics. After lunch we continued, through very rural areas and twisty backroads, until we reached Agrigento with ist magnificent greek temples!
Another beautiful day is waiting for us. Today it goes from the south coast to the north coast. We drive straight into the middle of nowhere. One hour from Agrigento we see few people. Sometimes you see old men sitting in front of their houses talking and drinking coffee. We find our first coffee stop in Cianciana. on to Prizzi, it's getting fresh, but we have to see where the mafia bosses come from. That's why we stop in Corleone. I have reserved a table for lunch in the natural Gordano with Domenico, who has prepared a delicious picnic for us. We wanted to see more, so we are on to Caccamo with an old fortress. Our destination for the day is the romantic town of Cefalú, where we ended the day with a walk and a cold beer. What a fantastic day.
Time to cross the island again, this time from the northern coast to the eastern one! After leaving Cefalù, we soon turned towards the inland and entered the Madonie mountains. First stop was in Castelbuono with its pretty medieval castle and historic centre, and then we continued reaching an altitude of around 1000 metres above sea level (A little bit chilly!). After countless curves we reached the little town of Sperlinga, where we visited the ruins of the old castle and admired the wonderful view from above.... and also had lunch. Before reaching Taormina, a picture stop at the Alcantara gorges was the last highlight of a wonderful ride!
Rest day? Well... not so much of a rest, but what a great day! First we rode on Europe's biggest volcano, hundreds of curves between woods and lava fields... and we also took the cable car and the 4X4 tour to reach the highest elevation allowed to tourists in this period! After we came back to the hotel, time for a quick shower and then another cable car took us to the beautiful historic centre of Taormina, where we also had dinner after a nice walk. Time to go to bed now! Enjoy the pictures!
Today was the day to say goodbye to Sicily but before that we drove one of the most beautiful roads of this island Fitst coffee stop was in the enchanting village of Novara. Then we went to Messina to take the ferry and cross the strait. Last look back to say goodbye to Sicily and then we reached mainland Italy. In Scilla we had a very tasty lunch and then a nice drive along the coast to reach our destination in Tropea.
A relaxing ride along the coast or a challenging one through the tiny roads of the mountains of Calabria? Difficult to decide, so after the first coffee break in Amantea some of us followed the van on the easy route while the others went for the challenging ride! In the end... everybody had a great day!!!
The weather forecast for today wasn't good, but fortunately we stayed dry! Only in the morning the wind was very strong, so unfortunately we had to cancel our picnic! Our first stop was on the top of the mountain above Maratea, to see the italian "Christ the redeemer". A quick photostop (the wind was very strong up there!) and then we continued to Sapri for our coffee break. Another quick photo stop in Ogliastro Marina, on the coast of the Cilento National Park, and then we quickly reached Paestum where we had lunch in a beautiful diary where we could taste fresh mozzarella! But today's highlight was definitely the guided visit of the ruins of Pompei!
A successful rest day, with a nice tour around the Amalfi coast, a sightseeing tour in Naples, best pizza in town and ice cream. The husbands were also found again ;-)
Last riding day of this tour, and also the longest one! Leaving Pompei, we had to use the highway to escape the metropolitan and crowded area of Napoli, and our first stop was in Caserta to admire Europe's biggest royal palace, an impressive building from the 18th century! After that, we reached the coast in Sperlongw where we had lunch and then reached Roma under some light rain, that reminded us how lucky we were with the weather during the whole tour! Everybody made it to Rome safe and sound (and gained some weight too!), what a great tour!
Beautiful blue sky and pleasant temperature, what a perfect day to visit the Eternal City! The Coliseum, Piazza di Spagna, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Vatican... in one day we walked many km but we could see the most enchanting spots of Rome! What a beautiful day and a perfect end for this tour!