RTS 1803 - Sicily to Rome
What a great ride! We left Pompei and headed to Naples to admire one of the most iconic landscapes of the country, the Bay and the Vesuvius on the background. Then we headed to Sperlonga, one of the prettiest vilages of Italy, where we had lunch, and then tiny backroads took us almost to Rome, where we (of course!) had to face sone traffic before reaching the hotel. Thank you to a wonderful group for a great time together!!!
A very bad weather forecast did not stop us... and we made the right choice! The weather was not the best possible, but thanks to that the Amalfi Coast was not too crowded, we could ride through Positano and have a good break in Amalfi before coming back to the hotel. And only then it started raining quite much... so we decided to stay in Pompei for dinner and have a great neapolitan pizza!
Our day started with a nice climb upon the mountain where the big statue of Christ the Redeemer was overlooking the Tyrrhenian sea. A spectacular view from up there. After descending to the coast we stopped for a nice coffee and a sweet pastry at the seaside. Then time to go up further north towards the temples at Paestum and a great picnic at a buffalo mozarella farm. The last part of tour ended up in Pompeji where we met our local guide Antonella who guided us through the incredible excavated city of Pompeji. A nice dinner at the hotel and the day was done again. Great time together!!
The longest ride of the tour so far, finally with great weather! We left our hotel and, after a picture stop in Tropea, we rode along the coast until Amantea, where we stopped for a coffee and gelato! Then we were ready to hit the Sila mountain roads, a real rollercoaster that took us to Altomonte (where we had a delicious lunch!) and then back to the Thyrrenian coast. Another break in Diamante, famous for its murals and the spicy peperoncino, and then we entered the fantastic coast of Maratea!
We have made it to the continent! This morning we left Taormina under pouring rain but, after a few kilometres, the sun came finally out and we crossed the strait of Messina with a wonderful weather. A good lunch break in Scilla, where we met another Edelweiss group, and then some thrill to reach Tropea (the main road was closed and we had to use some "not perfectly maintaned" backroads)! But we made it in time to enjoy a drink by the pool before dinner...
We could not see mount Etna this morning, so many clouds around the biggest volcano in Europe and high chances of rain, but some brave riders decided to go for the rest day ride anyway! And we managed to complete it, sometimes through clouds and fog, but without getting wet! Well done, and then in the evening we also went for a walk and dinner to Taormina, the pearl of Sicily... what a beautiful place!
Wonderful weather in the morning until Castelbuono, and heavy rain approaching Mount Etna; then sunny again in Taormina! We had a bit of everything today, and Sicily amazed our senses! Leaving Cefalù, as soon as possible we left the busy coastline and headed to the Madonie mountains, reaching an altitude of around 1000 metres above sea level. Castelbuono, Gangi, Sperlinga... rural Sicily is incredibly beautiful, and many (not all...) roads have also been recently paved! Enjoy the pictures!
What a blessing: a complete dry riding day!. Even with the sun out from time to time this was a perfect riding day! First dealing with the detours in downtown Agrigento we found our way out and headed direction north. As soon as we passed the city limits the rush of the city fell away and the traffic became less and less. And soon we found ourselves on the nice twisty backroas of the hinterland of Sicily. A nice coffestop with , as always, good Italian coffee, in a a smal local coffe bar filled up our caffeine level again and we followed our way to Corleone, a place of birth for several mafia bosses as wel as the name of the ficitive mafia boss, DON Corleone in the movie the Godfather. And of course we had to prove that we have been there! A nice and extensive lunch in an old trainstation was a very pleasant break of the ride. And then there were a lot of curves again waiting for us (as well as some roadcontruction sites and detours...! But the reward was very good: we stayed in Cefalu at a gorgeous hotel right at the northcoast of Sicily with a splendid view! A fantastic dinner followed our welcome Prosecco and we could look back at a nice day !
Weather forecast was not really good for today, and actually during the morning we had some rain, but then the sky slowly cleared up. Anyway the heavy rain during the night left its marks, some roads were quite dirty and we had to pay a lot of attention! Not too bad though, we completed our first riding day without issues and we could enjoy a visit to the ancient mosaics of the roman Villa del Casale and the even more ancient greek temples of the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento. Now it's time for a good dinner, stay tuned!
With the saying in the back of our head: “ what falls today doesn’t fall tomorrow” the entire group arrived today with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms throughout the day. But like good motorcyclists always do, they made the best of every situation! So: umbrellas out and into the nice city of Catania, rain or not! And in the late afternoon we gathered together for the welcome briefing of tourguides Ted and Domenico and for handover of the motorcycles. After all was done, it was time for a welcome drink and the welcome dinner.