Sicily - Rome RTS1404

The last tour in Italy for this year - Sicily - Rome is about to start. 3 bikes only - it is like being on holiday with friends.  Nevertheless a quite international group -  2 Brasilians, 1 American, 1 Estonian, 1 German tourguide, 1 Italian tourguide - so 6 people, 5 nationalities - let`s go.... I had a perfect flight into Catania 1. Riding Day: Catania - Agrigento view from the breakfast room in Villa Paradiso del Etna to the vulcano. Most of the time it is in clouds, but for us it shows up clearly in the morning sun. Toomas from Estland and Alan Alan is cleaning my helmet - very good :-) Luggage is loaded and after the morning briefing off we go The guys are preparing their bikes Toomas from Tallinn is installing the Estonian flag Toomas has been on a lot of Edelweiss trips and actually we know each other from the Israel Scouting tour 2008. Nice to have you on a tour again :-) here the Brasilian one Roberta from Sao Paulo Gerson and Roberta - the Brasilians Dave from Idaho Coffee stop in Raddusa - they getting in touch with the"frutta vendolo" Villa Romana del Casale - our first highlight today. 2500 year old mosaic covering 3.500 sq in the old Roman Villa. 700 years preserved under mud, discovered 1950, restoration completed in 2012 - a real treasure the Corridor of Hunt the Bikini girls Lunch in "La Trinakria" Agrigento - yes it is not Athens it is Sicily the temple of Zeus 2. Riding Day  Agrigento - Cefalu Selfi.... on the way up into the Mafia area a short stop Cianciano Prizzi And last not least Corleone After Corleone we had a nice picnic in Godrano After lunch coma On the way to Roccapalumba On the way to Caccamo Good luck that they realized afterwards that it was going down 5 m behind them Flying Toomas the castle of Caccamo After arriving in Hotel Alberi del Paradiso we went with the group downtown Cefalu. Here the famous Norman Dome 3. Riding Day  Cefalu - Taormina we left beautiful Cefalu in the morning sun riding along the coast - sunny and warm - and then up into Madonie Mountains towards Castelbuono Gangi - clinching to the hill - you can buy a house there for 1 € - would be a perfect winter location We climbed up the castle of Sperlinga Prodotti tipici - and an portugese speaking owner. Gerson loved it the lava fields round Randazzo Mr. Herkules 4 . Riding Day Restday in Taormina - Mount Etna First coffe stop in Refugio Bruneck - it started to get a little bit colder Mount Etna in snow Lava, lava all around Snow on the street, 4 degrees, brrr before we went to the hotel a short loop to Forza d`Agro - the filmset for "godfather" - what a spectacular view and the street up there is like in the alps 5. Riding Day - Taormina - Tropea the swimmingpool of Baja Taormina hotel - and who is in there??? Toomas.... is taking a morning swim view from the hotel terrace come on Toomas - briefing time we are crossing the Messina Strait today, going to the Italian main land The group was going again on the long route - inland  into the mountains direction Francavilla di Sicilia lots of curves, nice views - awesome Francavilla di Sicilia - a quick coffee before we embarked on Caronte ferries to the main land of Italy bye bye Sicily - what a great time what a good riding!! this is not an Edelweiss Picnic - a wedding is going on in Hotel Tirreno in Tropea Maybe there are some leftovers for our dinner :-) Tropea is well known for its red onions 6. Riding Day Tropea - Acquafredda riding north along the Calabrian coast First coffee stop in Falerina Marina in the afternoon we reached the Basilikata. Il Redentore high above the port of Maratea Toomas in the GS Estonia Club T-shirt - elegant riders these Estonians Ohhh.... Dave has something to celebrate Happy birthday Dave And of course there is a surprise 58 - Marco Simoncellis number - it happend nearly exactly 3 years ago... we hope you like the t-shirt! Have fun Dave - a toast on an exciting new year 7. Riding Day - Restday Acquafredda we are going into the Monte Pollino National Park - lots of hills, lots of curves. Trecchina, Nemoli, Laganegro and back to Sapri Beautiful Villa Cheta Elite in Acquafredda - a perfect view to the dramatic cost of the Thyrennian coast of Basilikata The Redeemer - where we have been yesterday You get the feeling it is wedding season in Italy. Even on a Monday morning it doesn`t stop As the Estonians are good singers - so Toomas went into the church and sung a little bit :-) The weeding car - an old Volkswagen Beatle Lagronegro is the city where  Mona Lisa died. after another 1000 curves we arrived in Villa Cheta - Alan has prepared a very tasty picnic for us  8. Riding Day  Acquafredda - Pompej Along beautiful Amalfi Coast - we visitedthe Dome of Amalfi - sorry I can`t turn the picture so turn your head :-) a desatrous eruption of the Vesuv 79 AC buried Pompej under tons of ashes (not lava). All inhabitants died. It preserved a whole Roman city for hundred of years. Pompej was discovered incidentally by construction workers in the 17th. Pompej by night.... Dinner in the Forum Hotel the cathedral of Pompej the Vesuv vulcano 9. Riding Day - Pompej - Rome morning briefing - how to enter Rome without getting lost - you better pay attention :-) a little excitement on the last riding day - Dave had a flat tyre. At the end we fixed it with the help from friendly Italians. Next to the mechanic was a wonderful lunchplace where all the locals go Everybody ended up well in the ESH Hotel in Rome. The tour is over :-(  -  we had a lot of new experiences and new empressions. We tried to show you as much as we could from this beautiful country. But believe me - there is much more to see. Perfect weather, good food and not even a single tip over made the trip very memorable. Thank to all of you for a good time. Stay in touch - Ursula und Alan