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Sicily to Rome RTS150A

Friday, October 9, 2015 | Domenico Schiano Moriello / Andreas Fetzer | Europe

Day 9, Pompei - Rome

Last riding day, unfortunately! This morning we left Pompei, heading north, and our first stop was by the sea in the nice little port of Baia, near Naples, before reaching Sperlonga where we had lunch. After that, the wonderful "Carpinetana" road through the Lipini mountains was waiting for us, what a great ride! As we approached Rome the traffic became more and more intense, but there was no risk of getting lost... all roads lead to Rome!

Thank you Oscar, Milo, John, Kathleen, Craig, Karen, Leonard, CJ and Lawrence, ride safe and see you hopefully soon!!!

the beach of Sperlonga
group picture on the beach
some traffic on the Lipini mountains!
modern horses have to give way to the original ones!
great ride!
Carpineto Romano
Last coffee break in Rocca Massima
And last picture stop by the Albano lake, summer residence of the Pope.
goodbye everybody!!!

Day 8, Amalfi Coast and Naples

Too many options for this rest day! We decided to ride the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast and then, for the evening, we chose a walk and a pizza in Naples... according to Domenico one of the most beautiful cities in the universe!

Sorrento
our bikes posing in front of Positano
the main square of Amalfi with its cathedral
Kathleen and Craig
group picture
Karen and Leonard
the amazing view from Villa Rufolo in Ravello
Napoli!
we had pizza in one of the oldest pizzerias, Brandi, founded back in 1780... famous for the "invention" of the pizza Margherita!

Day 7, Maratea - Pompei

Just leaving the parking of our beautiful hotel, we were on the spectacular coast road around the bay of Policastro. After a ride in the Cilento National Park, we reached Paestum where we also had a picnic with fresh buffalo mozzarella. After that, we took the shortest ride possible to Pompei where we enjoyed a guided tour through the ruins of the old roman town frozen in time by Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

buffalos!
Picnic
in the roman amphitheatre of Pompei
Plaster casts of the victims of the terrible eruption of 79AD
roman fast food
walking through the ruins
Pompei

Day 6, Tropea - Maratea

Long or short route today? What a question, of course the long one! We left Tropea and followed the coastline until we reached Amantea, a nice little town where we stopped for a coffee break... and then thousands of curves took us to Altomonte and then back to the coast, quite a challenging ride! Before finally reaching our beautiful hotel in Maratea, we could not miss a ride up the famous "Redentore" (Christ the Redeemer) statue, one of the biggest statues of Jesus in the world... and what a view from up there!

first picture stop just a few minutes from the hotel in Tropea
coffee break in Amantea
Kathleen and Craig in Amantea
Very good lunch in Altomonte!
The view from Altomonte, it looks like Tuscany... with palms!
back on the coast, we enjoyed a very good gelato!
no doubt that we are in Italy
Calabria is famous for its spicy food, here some very very hot peperoncini
Diamante is the town of the "murales", wall paintings all around its nice historical centre
The "Isola di Dino", last picture stop in Calabria
great view!
The symbol of Maratea is the hige statue of Christ, up high on a cliff overlooking the old town and the sea, spectacular view...
riding back down to the coast

Day 4, "Rest Day" on Mount Etna

The weather forecast for today was not very good (actually, it was very bad!), but everybody wanted to ride on mount Etna, the biggest volcano in Europe, currently 3,329 m - 10,922 ft high! Very beautiful roads took us up to the Rifugio Sapienza, from where most of our group decided to take the excursion to the crater. On the way back we stopped in Taormina for our last "granita break".

coffee break at "Rifugio Brunek"
group picture with the lava of the Etna
riding up
Oscar
Taormina

Day 3, Cefalù - Taormina

Today we have discovered that also in Sicily there is fog and the rain can last quite long! Anyway we had a very good day and the mood was really great when we reached Taormina!

What a forecast for beginning of October - definitively suitable for shorts and T-Shirt
perfect weather leaving Cefalù
picture stop
Castelbuono, location of our first coffee break
life in Sicilia
nice view of Gangi
Sperlinga
fog and more fog in Cesarò

Day 2, Agrigento - Cefalù


 

Today we crossed the island from south to north and, a few miles after leaving Agrigento, we were already riding in the middle of remote rural areas of Sicily, where time has stopped!

first picture stop in rural Sicily
Prizzi
Leonard Sclafani found his roots here in Sicily! A little detour, but it was worth it!
a picture stop here is a must!
in the "Bosco della Ficuzza" Andreas organized a great picnic for us
Picnic

Day 1, Catania - Agrigento

And here we are again, in beautiful Sicily, the biggest and most populated island in the Mediterranean sea, where another Edelweiss tour is about to begin, a group of New Yorkers exploring southern Italy!

 

On the first riding day we went from Catania to Agrigento, in the south of the island, a city famous for having some of the best preserved greek temples... built around 2400 years ago!

bikes ready!
Sun comes out - let´s get rid of the Raingear!!
no we did not get a ticket by the "Polizia Municipale" as we parked in the middle of the main square....... However our bikes were really attractive even for the Police to take selfies on them...
of course also an attraction for the kids (or their Moms?) in the village!
Mosaics almost 2000 years old!! Amazing to see that the "Bikini" is such a traditional "beachwear"....
in the Valley of the Temples
Lawrence
Sunset in Agrigento
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Add a comment Rate this post
Lawrence
Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 19:15

The tour exceeded my expectations. (Roads, culture, sightseeing, food)

Our guides Andreas and Dominico were outstanding.

And, the best part was sharing the experience with my fellow riders. Thanks all for making the trip spectacular!

Lawrence
LenS
Monday, October 5, 2015 at 07:29

At the end of was have day, we say:"today was the best day; this trip can't get any better." But it does- thanks to our great guides, Domenico and Andreas! The curviest of roads and more of them than you can count. The sights are nothing short of wondrous. Our guides have chosen great hotels and know the best places to stop for the best that Italy has to offer. Looking forward to riding the Amalgi Coast, Pompei and a tour of Domenico's home town, Naples! Could today be better than yesterday?
Kathleen A Kern
Monday, October 5, 2015 at 06:44

Fantastic roads with wonderful tour guides!
CJ
Sunday, October 4, 2015 at 19:41

Half way into our trip and enjoying it tremendously. I've never been on a tmotorcycle trip that has this many turns. Domenico and Andreas are doing excellent jobs guiding us eight New Yorkers and one Englander to twisty roads to our hotels, lunch, cafe stops and history spots.

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