RTS2404 Rome to Sicily
Today is the day our tour starts...well not start, but almost start. Carla and Joe set off with Thomas towards the city center to get an overview of the city's most important historical sights. Among other things, we visit the Coluseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and Castel Sant'Angelo. A marathon and the fact that many of the famous fountains and buildings are currently undergoing restoration make for another visit to this fascinating city. In the afternoon we all meet for a briefing in a cozy atmosphere and discuss the details for the next few days. After a briefing on the finer points of operating our computers on wheels, we sit together over dinner and start to get to know each other better. Tomorrow we finally leave Rome and our adventure begins. stay tuned
And today the time has finally come. Our first day of riding and also the longest of the tour. But first things first. First of all, we have to leave the city. This turns out to be quite exciting on a Monday morning. But we find our way through the traffic and into the mountains. But before we plunge into the abysses, we make a short stop at Lago Albano, where, according to legend, not only is the cradle of Rome but also the summer residence of the Pope. The traffic eases noticeably. Here and there we are really alone on the road for a while. The roads up here are varied, winding and mostly in good condition, in keeping with the region. Again and again we are rewarded with magnificent panoramas. And so we roll through small villages and towns until we finally reach the Mediterranean. From here we take the quickest route to Pompei, our destination for today. On the way we get to know the Italian way of refueling and paying highway tolls for the first time. You have to experience it;-) Tomorrow is a rest day, so we have enough time to explore the world-famous Pompei and its surroundings.
Today is a rest day. But no one is resting here. The day is full of highlights. First we visit the excavations at Pompei. This is where the terrible eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried an entire Roman city. What was suffering back then is a stroke of luck for us today. Because we now know a great deal about life in Roman times. Incredibly detailed mosaics and wall paintings amaze us. In the afternoon, after a short break, we head to the Amalfi Coast. Here we drive along the world-famous coastal road. We enjoy the ever-changing views after every bend and, after a few photo stops, reach Amalfi, the town that gives this beautiful region its name. Here we enjoy ice cream as promised and a church that is more than 1000 years old. Afterwards, it's not far to the hotel where we are already looking forward to tomorrow.
Today we ride from Pompei to Maratea. Because we're not done with old stones yet. Today we are visiting a world heritage site. The ruins of Paestum, a Greek city that was built over 1600 years ago. For the lunch Thomas surprised us with a perfect picnic and then we continue along the coast on the finest roads. We reach our hotel with a big grin on our faces. Today we have enough time before dinner for a dip in the pool.
After having breakfast a little later today, we set off at 9:00 a.m. freshly fortified. First a stretch along the coastal road. Then after a quick coffee stop in Diamante, a small coastal town famous for its painted facades, we headed off into the mountains. Just under 2 hours of uninterrupted bends on empty roads. A feast for every rider. For lunch we had Italian sandwiches the way they should be. Freshly prepared, warm and incredibly good. After this short break and a short ride on the highway, we headed back to the coast and our hotel in Tropea on small and tiny roads.
Today's riding day will be a day of farewell and welcome. Even though the tour is far from over. But today we will be saying goodbye to mainland Italy. Because the crossing to Sicily awaits us. So the tour goes into round two. But before we cross over to the island, we first stop off in Scilla. This small village, overlooked by a centuries-old castle, invites us to pause for a moment. We enjoy a coffee right on the beach and catch our first glimpse of Sicily. Once we arrive at the harbor, we don't move forward for a while. This gives us plenty of time for conversation. No ferries seem to want to dock. Until they suddenly pile up in the harbor basin and everything has to happen very quickly. Welcome to southern Italy;-) After an entertaining crossing, we are finally in Sicily. As soon as we enter the harbour, we realize that there are a hell of a lot of mountains. And of course we don't miss the opportunity to do a little welcome lap. And as the sight of the mountains already suggested, the roads are winding, very winding. And so we drive up to over a thousand meters and then back down to the coast. This is where our destination for today awaits us, a real gem at the foot of mighty Mount Etna, Taormina
Today we only have a short round ahead of us. At 155km, it sounds very short. But we're riding up and along an active vuklan all day today. Etna is Europe's highest active volcano (3369m). There are countless bends and hairpin bends here. But be careful, because there is often black sand from the volcano on our way. After a short coffee stop, we head up to a cooled lava field. The landscape is incredibly impressive. You can almost feel the power of the volcano here. After a short descent, we head back up to 1900m on the south side of the volcano. Here we see some old craters up close. After a break, we swing back down to the coast, follow the highway and reach the hotel early today. After all, we still want to enjoy the afternoon in Taormina.
Today we cross the island from Taormina to Cefalù. But not before we visit Forza d'Agro, a place where parts of the movie “The Godfather” were filmed. You can get there via the highway, but that wouldn't be much fun. That's why we take the winding country roads, which are so much more fun. Yes, there are no long straights today, just bends. Via Sperlinga and Gangi, the place where you could buy a house for one euro a few years ago, we reach Castelbuono. Here we end up in the middle of a major event and escape to the coast where we finally reach Cefalù. We landed early today. So we have enough time before dinner to take a quick look around the old town. What a day!
Today was expected to be a beautiful sunny day, and so it was! After a delicious breakfast, we got on the bikes and followed the coastline to Termini Imerese, from where we headed inland. After a coffee break in Caccamo, we headed towards the Ficuzza woods, where once the king had his hunting lodge, and where Dominik prepared a delicious picnic. Immediately after, we passed through the two towns most famous for Mafia stories, Corleone and Prizzi, which are now two very nice towns. The SS118, which crosses Sicily from North to South, is beautiful and in some parts has recently been resurfaced, so it was a great ride up to Agrigento!
Finally the last day of this beautiful journey has arrived, today we crossed Sicily again from one side to the other and arrived in Catania. We drove on a lot of secondary roads, without traffic, among cultivated fields, hills and small quiet villages. After a coffee in Sommatino, we headed towards Piazza Armerina, where in the last century a Roman villa was found, that is now one of the most beautiful collections of ancient mosaics in the world. We couldn't miss it! After a delicious lunch we set off again and then the last challenge of the tour was to deal with the traffic around Catania, but we made it! Dear friends, it was a pleasure to meet you and share all these beautiful experiences with you!