Southern Italy Delights & Twisties CUI2403
Florence welcomed us with a wonderful blue sky and pleasant temperature! The motorcycles are here, the group has arrived and everybody is eager to ride, we are soon heading south!
We left Florence on a sunny sunday morning, no traffic and soon entered a wonderful backroad that, through woods, vines and olive trees took us to Arezzo, where we had a delicious lunch in the wonderful medieval main square. Our next stop was in Cortona, well known for the movie "Under the tuscan sun", and soon after that we left Tuscany and entered Umbria, the green heart of Italy! A last photo stop by the Trasimeno lake and shortly after that we finally reached Perugia. Tonight we are sleeping in a castle!
After a delicious breakfast, we were ready and excited to leave. Not far from Perugia is the very famous Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis, so we had to stop for a photo before taking the road that took us to the Sibillini Mountains, one of the most beautiful regions of the Apennines which unfortunately is also the scene of earthquakes. Castelluccio, despite being severely damaged in 2016, is still a beautiful place and we stopped here for lunch, before leaving Umbria and entering Abruzzo. Tonight we sleep in a small village that has been saved from abandonment thanks to tourism, and our rooms are nothing more than the homes of the old locals!
Calling it a rest day would be excessive today, the tour around the Gran Sasso was much longer than expected due to a couple of roads closed to traffic... but it was beautiful anyway! We started from Santo Stefano and after a few kilometers we were already on the Campo Imperatore plateau, from where we could already admire the Corno Grande, the highest peak of the Apennines. Then, going towards Castelli, the road was unfortunately closed and so we took a "slight" detour. After various adventures we finally arrived at Prati di Tivo, at the foot of the mountain and, after the ritual photos, we set off again for Campo Imperatore and finally returned to Santo Stefano. What a day!
After a delicious breakfast with typical products of the region, we left Santo Stefano and headed towards Castel del Monte and then, after a coffee break, towards the Maiella massif (the second highest in the Apennines after the Gran Sasso) before arriving in the ancient city of Sulmona, where we stopped for lunch and to taste the typical confetti! After that, we entered the Abruzzo National Park, one of the oldest and largest in Italy and, through the Gole del Sagittario, the Passo Godi and the Forca d'Acero pass we arrived in Lazio. What beautiful roads! Tonight we sleep in the Comino Valley!
The weather forecast for today was not very good, and in the morning we realized that it was correct! So we decided to change the itinerary a bit to avoid the narrow mountain roads and headed towards Monte Cassino, widely known for its abbey, the first house of the Benedictine Order, and also for the Battle of Monte Cassino in the Italian Campaign of World War II (January–May 1944), when the Abbey was heavily damaged. After a visit to the abbey, we left Lazio and entered Campania, home of one of the most famous Italian specialties in the world, pizza! In Caserta there is the pizzeria that in recent years has won the award for best in the world... so we had to go there! To get to the Amalfi Coast, then, we avoided the traffic of Naples and used the highway. Tonight we sleep in Furore, about five hundred meters above sea level, what a beautiful view!
The Amalfi Coast is home to 13 cities and towns, scattered along the 55-kilometer, UNESCO-listed coastline that is considered one of the most magnificent in the Mediterranean Sea. Dazzling landscapes and fascinating historic and cultural sights awaited us along the winding road skirting dramatic cliffs thick with tiny villages and luxurious villas clinging to the rocky slopes and breathtaking views behind every curve. Today each one decided to do their own visit, some by motorcycle and others using the public transport. Positano, Amalfi... and so on, the area was crowded as usual by tourists and, yes, there was traffic, but everybody had a great day!
This morning while we were having breakfast it was raining heavily, and in hindsight it was our luck because it ended early and, even though it was Saturday, there was very little traffic on the Amalfi Coast and we could enjoy a great ride! We left the hotel and after about an hour we stopped for a coffee in Cetara, one of the smallest but also prettiest villages on the coast. Shortly after we took the highway a bit to avoid crossing Salerno and headed towards Padula, where Michaela was waiting for us with an excellent picnic next to the ancient baptismal font of San Giovanni, present on the site for over 1500 years! After lunch, a quick visit to the huge Certosa di Padula and then, following the tortuous route of the SS19, we finally arrived in Morano Calabro. A long day but full of memories!
What a beautiful sunny morning! From Morano Calabro we quickly reached the Ionian coast and from there we entered Basilicata. A stop in the ghost town of Craco and then around lunchtime we were already in Matera. After checking in at the hotel and a light lunch, we met with a local guide for a walk in the "Sassi", the area well-known for their ancient cave dwellings inhabited since the Paleolithic period. The "Sassi" have been described as "one of the most unique landscapes in Europe" and the guided tour was very interesting. This place is truly special!
Today we went for a nice tour in Puglia, the region that forms the "heel" of the Italian peninsula, and we went to see Alberobello with its trulli, the typical houses of the area that seem to come out of a fairy tale book! After a coffee in Alberobello, we then went for lunch in Polignano a Mare, a beautiful Mediterranean village perched on a spur of rock overlooking the sea... and so we also completed the "Coast to Coast" of the peninsula! We returned early to Matera and so we had time to relax a bit. What a beautiful day!
Unfortunately, the last day of this trip has arrived. The distance between Matera and Trani is quite short but logically we managed to add a few curves in Basilicata before entering the flatter Puglia. After a coffee in Grassano, we headed towards Gravina where we admired the beautiful ancient bridge (scenes of a James Bond film were also shot there) and then we finally arrived at Castel del Monte, where we stopped for lunch before going to see the beautiful castle up close. We arrived in Trani in the early afternoon and had time to walk around the old town before dinner. Today we also had an anniversary to celebrate! Thanks to everyone for this beautiful trip together, see you next time!