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Showing posts from June, 2014

Civita Bagnoregio and Orvieto

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Civita Bagnoregio This a couple of those days where you believe you have died and gone to ‘your’ heaven, that heaven for me is motorcycle heaven where every road has sweeping turns, lots of scenery, warm first thing in the morning so you can ride in only a T shirt, little traffic, smooth handling, and along the way amazing historical sites such as old necropolis’ castles and forts that towns have grown up around them, outright World Heritage sites, and other motorcyclists that are in tune with you and there is karma. We live for these days! Well Sunday was one of those days. We headed back into the GRA  (Ring Road) in Rome to connect with Highway SS2bis direction Viterbo. The road to Viterbo was 4 lane divided, but with nice sweeping turns and with little traffic on it early for a Sunday. The weather, easily 24-25C first thing, breakfast out on the veranda of our B&B, a quick rinse of the bike to get rid of some sand that had blown in during a light sand storm the day of

Rome

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Hmmm, where are we now? We’ve been to Rome a few times now, but Sandra found some new things she wanted to see. One specifically is San Pietro in Chains, St Peters Chains a cathedral that has an altar created by Michaelangelo of Moses that is stunning, plus a cabinet under the main altar holds the chains that bound Saint Peter in Jerusalem and Rome after Christ’s death  Moses by Michaelangelo and while he was being persecuted by the Romans. I on the other hand wanted to see the Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon lit at sunset, but my hopes were dashed when we learned while travelling that it is under refurbishment.  Actually much of the ancient sites are going through refurb, right now, and some things just aren’t being maintained due to the austerity measures in Italy. The oculous in the Dome of the Pantheon -open air The Spanish steps are under refurb as well as the Coliseum. Spanish Steps Fabulous st

Ostia Antica

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Famous Embrace from Ostia Antica The drive off the Amalfi coast is difficult as you come down through Sorrento and it will take you about 1hr. 20 mins to travel 60 kms. Yeah, that’s brutal. Once on the outskirts of Pompeii and Naples you can take the Autostrada and in 172 kms and 1 ½ hrs you are in Rome. When we planned this trip we didn’t really consider going to Rome again, but it was a good half way stop on our way to Levanto. So what originally was an overnighter turned into 3 nights and a very full two days, because you can’t go by Rome without going in, now can you! We selected a good B&B in Ostia Antica so that we could access the old World Heritage Site A mudcaked pillar by walking, which we did. A word of warning if you go to this site, make sure you wear rugged hiking/walking shoes since the cobblestones are rough and far between. Ostia Antica (OA) is considered by many as a good alternative to Pompeii especially if you don’t want the day’s drive there

Amalfi Coast

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Stunning Outcroppings at Marina del Cantone, Amalfi Coast After leaving Alberobello we headed to the Amalfi coast to a small hotel we have stayed at in the past and have fond memories of. The drive was a long day from both a distance and traffic perspective since once you reach Salerno you begin driving the Amalfi coastline and it is bumper to bumper traffic and tourists. A couple of the key towns Amalfi Amalfi and Positano were over-run with tourism , to be expected, but the scenery was still beautiful and we captured much of the drive on helmet cam video. Our hotel is in the village of Nerano on Marina del Cantone and has a beautiful set of Gibraltor type rock outcroppings, the second has a 14 th century tower built on it. We spent a relaxing day right on the beach where our hotel was located. Positano

Hidden Italy

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Calabria Coastline Calabria- The Tyrrhenian Coast After leaving Sicily we travelled north through a region called Calabria to the town of Amantea. The German folks we met in Palermo were headed for 2 weeks to Tropea which is more south on this coast, but we had set our sights on getting some R&R in, if the place we had scoped out worked. And it did! Big time so we stayed here 4 nights, View from our room rested up since Sicily was riding every day, got likely too much sun, and had some fine meals at both the hotel restaurant and from local places in Amantea. Weather has been in the 30’s each day, and we even got the chance to snorkel. Bonus! The coastline from southern Calabria to Diamante is very sand beaches with a high forested mountain range behind them. It makes for very scenic views and daytime heating can generate late afternoon clouds which form thunderheads. Our Pool view We weren’t bothered by these except for one afternoon.

Taormina and the Ferry from Messina

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Teatro Greco 3rd century BC Taormina Prior to us planning this trip Sandra’s friend Deen had sent her a Calgary Herald Travel section article on Taormina and asked her if we had been there. So, when we found that Taormina was close to Mt. Etna, had a famous Greek Theatre (Teatro Greco) dating from the 3 rd   century BC it was pretty easy to see how the dots got connected. Mt Etna being a bucket list item for me and Taormina with it’s Castelmola overlooking the theatre. Taormina Panorama Click on any photo for an enlarged view Later, after finding a place to stay, wandering the core of Taormina and finding a recommended restaurant , the Belle Blu ( it’s the view that’s better than the food), Belle Blu View  we have the energy to do the climb above Toarmina to Castelmola for the great view over the teatro and the bay.  At the top next to the castle is a small church carved out of the rock and called the” Lady La Rocca”. It was a welcome shady spo