Amalfi Coast

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

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.

Christ the Redeemer Maratea

Basilicata

From there we headed up the coast to Diamante and then Maratea. Diamante had a reputation for having murals on its walls similar to Chemanius, but it doesn’t hold a candle to our bedroom community on the island. From there up to Maratea the drive is beautiful and has the 5^th largest in the world, Christ the Redeemer statue perched high atop a mountain just outside town.

Maratea - from the Statue

The drive up was an experience to remember and one we will with it captured all on video, and the views from up top spectacular.  Here is a youtube video to illustrate just how spectacular it is http://youtu.be/kCtroUN55X8. But the best thing about the place was our B&B, the Maratea Garden House located just outside Maratea in Acquafredda.  The kindest people we have ever met in the world. And our restaurant out there La Pepe, was great food and a superb waitress! Then to top it off  Maiteus , the owner of the garden house told us about another World Heritage Site, the monastery at Padula, and gave us great direction to it and improved ones to 

Castel Mezzano and Pietropetrosa, these are all in the region known as Basilicata.

Yesterday as we rode the drive was magnificent!

Castel Mezzano Yes this is real!

Videos to prove it and the scenery breathtaking, for the most part mountains and we ended our day in Matera a prehistoric city and you guessed it a World Heritage Site and to this point no Rick Steves!

Mezzano to Pietropetrosa - Check the road tunnel lower right corner -yeah kind of unbelievable

Matera

Known as "la Città Sotterranea" (the Subterranean City), Matera is well known for its historical center called "Sassi", considered World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1993. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matera

Matera by Night

It has much in common with areas we covered in 2011 in Turkey, see Nevsehri to Derinkuyu to Goreme, July 2011.While here we have stayed in the Sassi in a 17^th century Noble home at the top of the canyon. The city is the connection of two ravines that intersect with what they consider their grand canyon and it is very scenic. This dates from  Palaeolithic period times.

Caveosa - Matera -subterannean homes

Mans Best Friend

While known to Italians specifically, as it was referred to us by our friends Mauro, Betty, Massimo and Elisa it is not well known outside Europe. Matter of fact we did not see any other North American or Asian tourists here in our time. It’s part of why I call this “Hidden Italy”. I saw recently that Rick Steve’s may be coming here soon to cover this area but to date we struggled finding current relevant information in planning this part.  And like elsewhere, we spend time each day explaining our travels to others who question the presence of a Canadian couple/motorcycle here.

 

Matera Fountain

Castellana Grotto

Puglia (Pull –ee-a)

Puglia is the third region or province that we enter in the south of Italy.  Castellana de Grotte and Alberobello are our two destinations here plus another we didn’t realize. Natuzzi farms are present everywhere in this region, yes THAT Natuzzi that makes the leather as in our couch and loveseat in our living room. These people obviously are in the business from wellhead to pump ( if you were in the energy industry). Huge farms, plants etc. and it seems beef prices are depressed in this area. A restaurant we were at had fabulous looking steaks for very inexpensive prices.

Tour of Grotto

Castellano de Grotte is a world class grotto located only about 60 kms from Matera and 17 kms from Alberobello. The grotto was discovered in the 30’s and is the largest in Italy. Photos are permitted in the first chamber only, but the 3 kms of underground caverns are very beautiful. Since we visit caverns seldomly you tend to compare them, and yet they are all each unique. This one likely has the most impressive chambers of pure white calcium carbonate stalactites we’ve seen, while having a very large opening chamber and other unique features. The first of these kind that I went to was in Kentucky (Boones Caverns) and it was special, the Lewis and Clark caverns in Montana are neat and much more intimate but not as flashy, Sokjen caves in Slovenia were definitely the largest with an active river running through it, and the largest highest volume dome, but this first chamber must be pretty close. I’d rate these highest for color variations.

Trullis

Alberobello is unfortunately a place you have to see, but also a “Banff” from a tourism perspective, complete with all the trinket shops. Alberobello is home to the “Trulli” a hut that resembles the Neolithic era ‘beehive huts’ we found in France back in 2004. Same dry stack build of the roof, only these have rock block walls and are circular in nature, while the French versions were dry stack slate rock walls and roof, and could take more rectangular shapes as well.

Typical real ones

The Trulli is considered World Heritage worthy as well and is also known for its very hot peppers as can be judge by the picture.

Hot Peppers Anyone?

Taormina and the Ferry from Messina

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 spot to seek refuge in from the day’s heat.

While sitting there and viewing over Taormina we re-read our notes and marvel at the fact this Greek amphitheatre was built 23 centuries ago, and is quite intact today. Imagining society in what must have been a burgeoning community of the day to construct a theatre capable of holding 7000 people, there must have been a determined Will to provide entertainment for the community, perched like so many of these theatres we have seen, over an equally stunning vista,Bergama Turkey 2011 comes to mind. While the open theatre in our town of Ladysmith doesn’t have the World Heritage Site credentials of this place, we have enjoyed some great Sunday evenings there in summer being entertained by great local talent, while watching the early evening sun alter the lighting of the outer islands and sailboats anchored there.

As it was Sunday there is yet another old motorcycle collection on display. Most were old Moto Guzzi's like we saw last year but one that caught my eye that I hadn't seen before was a Rudge.

Rudge Twin

Our final act in Sicily is to head to Messina and catch a 30 min ferry over to the Italian mainland to continue our journey. The town of Messina is chaotic and poorly signed for people who aren’t familiar with where the terminal is. Once there we are quick to buy a ticket drive on and immediately the ramps are raised and we are off. We haven’t really looked around so we climb the steps on the ferry to an upper deck area and are met by two Ukrainian motorcyclists from Kiev who just watched us load on. They immediately come up to us, and begin asking if we really are from Canada. They then want to take pictures of us and them with our motorcycle licence plate, and then we did the same with them.

Ukraine Riders and Us, taken by the local Police

Like other European travellers we have talked to this trip, they share their thoughts on what is happening in the Ukraine. All we can say here without jeopardizing their positions in the Ukraine, is, this is a very sad state of affairs and the NA media we have been exposed to doesn’t have the full story.

While they are taken by our travels including actually having been in the Ukraine in 2011 we both re-calibrate our focus to note that a 70’s something Hungarian curmudgeon is returning from Sicily on a eastern European built 125 cc scooter. Our effort to snap a photo was interrupted by his need to get off the ferry quick.

From Hungary with Love

Mt. Etna

Mt. Etna June 2014

Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.^[4] In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.^{[5]  Source Wikipedia}

Mt Etna and Us

Today we headed for Mt Etna, helmet cam recording our drive up, which recorded more than one old Sicilian trying to run us off the road. You have to laugh really! Cars here are so damaged that no wonder they don’t care, who would notice the difference .

Our first stop was to fill with fuel, and we enjoyed talking with a very well educated gas attendant who was fluent in English as well as Italian, and knew of the various means we could have arrived in Acireale. He said he knew that Italy have everything going for it, except work. It was obvious from that, that such a well-educated person was pumping gas.

1986 Sylvestri Crater

Next, at the 2000 mtr. Crater centre we waved to, then returned to talk with a  married couple from the Tyrol area of Austria riding a  BMW GS1200 2012 edition. They had driven here from Austria but had had some damage done due to a drop in the rain and replaced a side case and had damage to the right cylinder head. He runs a rental shop for BMW’s in Austria and is associated with a bike hotel there and provided us with their details. Very nice people. It still amazes us that we get such get recognition and treatment from people when they see we are from Canada. We all better appreciate where we come from.

Etna at the moment isn’t very active, but we were able to walk to the Sylvestri crater which erupted in 1986, and the Cappernini crater that erupted in 2001,

2001 Cappernini Crater

neither of which is close to the mountain top. As we walked around you could feel extra heat being transferred to your feet and touching the rock it was warm to the touch. Erie! Higher up there was some small signs of venting going on away from the summit. The views from that elevation were excellent as you can see in any direction.  

Sandra descends from upper crater

Sicily

Old Town Palermo,
Click on any picture to zoom in

Our time here in Sicily has been ‘an experience’. When we left Geneva we needed to be in Genoa Italy for late Saturday so that we would be on the last ferry to Palermo. Well that was pretty easy to do, and we had both forgotten how beautiful and technical the autostrada is as you head south from Alessandria. It was pure enjoyment, until we reached the ferry port in Genoa, which we have had experience with as well, when we got off the Tangiers Morocco ferry and snaked out of the port and headed to Levanto. This time we descended into the chaos where we met a very friendly Dutch couple who were riding 2 Honda’s a VFR800 and a CB1000 in very close to matching paint jobs.

Dutch Couple and Sandra

They had taken refuge in a no man’s land under the huge mall area and he said matter of factly, “now I have something to do, I will show you where the ticket office is.” A few minutes later and we had our cabin booked for the 11pm ferry to Palermo on GNV. Yes folks the same people who brought us from Morocco and they haven’t improved much since 2011.

On arrival in Palermo we took the Ibis hotel there, on a reservation and they recommended the MUDU pizzeria, an upscale place which was extremely busy on a Sunday evening. We ate at about 9:30 pm. On what was extraordinary mushroom, prosciutto and smoked buffalo cheese pizza. The next day we rode up to a place called Monreale,

Amazing Mosaics,  Monreale

where there the Duomo has gold mosaics on every surface of the interior. While my pictures don’t do it justice, this is an amazing cathedral to see. We then returned to Palermo and wandered the streets but found that Palermo is a very old and dilapidated place and extremely poor.

The next day we headed to Cefalu, a mecca for sunseekers and for its historic centre. It is a beautiful old town situated on the Med coast about 80 kms east of Palermo, and a world away in tourist interest. Our B&B for this day was up in the mountains a few kms. East of Cefalu called Case Saporana and was an old farmhouse with 4 rooms in it and Nino who ran the place by himself. We seemed to be his first guests for this year, and he treated us very well with a splendid breakfast the next morning of locally produced eggs, lemonade (which he gave us more of to take to drink), croissants, cheeses, and cappuccino.

But our tour took us back into Cefalu where we saw the old town centre,

Hot and Sunny Cefalu

bought locally produced red wine for the evening, and had a late lunch/ early supper at Molo 19 a trendy café right on the beach. I had spotted someone eating mussels there and once my radar locked on we had an appetizer of them and Sandra had pesto and shrimp pasta while I had the pasta Aglio, just amazing food. As we walked the concourse past the beach we saw another local favorite, Gelatto briochette. While we didn't try them a French tourist posed for me so that I could get a good picture, and she said they tasted so good.

Gelatto in a Bun

That evening we watched the sunset from our balcony high above the village, a glass of wine in hand, the end to a perfect day.

Agrigento

From Cefalu we backtracked a bit to A19, an autostrada that heads off to Catania, the main airport city on Sicily and close to the base of Mt. Etna. We took this elevated highway for 150 kms. Yes it was elevated about 25-50’ above the ground the whole way, supported on piers, over some of the most beautiful  mountain vista terrain, eventually ending as we turned due south toward Agrigento, and the Valley of the Temples.One thing the Italians can do is engineer great roads.

Concordia Temple - Most intact Greek temple in the World

On arrival there we changed and headed out to the Valley of the Temples. You see, Sicily was first populated by the Greeks, and today, the best and most intact pagan temples to Zeuss and others are on display in Italy,

Central Walls still in place

and the archaeological museum is arguably the best outside the British Museum  in London and the Louvre in Paris, and bonus hardly any tourists. We found a great  hotel to stay in there for very cheap and if you stayed for supper they offered a free night bus tour of the Temples to see them lit up. This place, Hotel Costazzurra, was great value, with a very good supper, and the most friendly staff. We really enjoyed our time there.

Night Shot

Necropolis Tombs

Warrior insitu, note Agrigento in backgrd.

Warrior in Museum 7.6M tall

Scale model of temple that warriors were placed in It was Huge!

Ragusa and Modica

From Agrigento we headed east along the south coast of Sicily which looks out toward Tunisia, Africa. It was hot, and sunny and we took a winding set of roads from Gela to Caltagirone (known for their ceramics)  and then onto Ragusa and finally Modica where we found a great B&B that Sandra had selected. Modica is known for its 100 churches and we walked through several of them, some restored, some in disrepair but with a village/city that is attached to every one of them. Over the gorge associated to this town is the highest bridge in Europe reportedly at 300 mt.

Main Cathedral

Inside Restored

Ceiling Frescos

Bridge Span in Distance

Siracusa

As we headed out today to our base at the foot of Mt Etna, the only active volcano currently in Italy, actually mainstream Europe we headed to the old port town of Siracusa

Siracusa

and the old town centre which hosts a very large central market every day at this time of year. Vendors hawk their wares there and the local produce  and seafood is amazing. One of our purchases is antipasto and another local cherries, both excellent. Tomorrow we head up Mt Etna, unfortunately she is quiet at the moment.

Antipasto Stall

Anyone for Eel?