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It’s Time to Visit Apulia
11th - 14th April | 2022
During the night the wind calmed down and in the morning we had that fantastic panoramic view of the gorge over to Etna. We must have had a little visitor (fox) as our rubbish was teared apart, so we had to collect it all to dump it directly at the restaurant.
After a cafe we got going towards Taormina to see some more ruins ;-) Even it was only 160km it took us, including some shopping and lunch picnic about 6 hours to get there. The traffic around the coast, especially Catania, was very busy. I am so glad we are connected via intercom to warn each other!
Unfortunately at the turn up to the old town of Taormina it was a bit uncertain for Steffi to see which turn she had to go. To cut the story short, the bike started rolling back the inclined road, no chance of pulling handbreak as the blimmy mittens were in the way! Luckily the bike got instable and fell. She just managed to tell James that she is down. Do not belive anyone out of the other cars around her would have helped her / them to lift up the bike to get the traffic going!
Bike and Steffi fine! So we made it up to the old town of Taormina where we found a little motorbike parking spot. As there was a hotel opposite we asked kindly if we could store our helmets and jackets - and yes, we could! How kind is that of NH Hotel in Taormina!
We went to the ancient amphitheatre, which was really impressive, especially as it got the view over the coast towards Etna.
After the little historic excursion it was time to look out for a wild camping spot, which we again, found in a riverbed. The old man that owned the farming land opposite was giggling when we asked him if it is ok to stay here for a night. Guess he had something to tell at home during dinner!
The next morning, whilst we were packing up, the old man came back, this time with his wife ;-)
Once in Messina we got our laundry sorted (remember, otherwise going commando!).
At lunch time we were already on the ferry to mainland Italy. At the beach of Scilla we had our lunch and then we drove still a bit along the coast (SS18) until we found a lovely wild camping spot just at the outskirts of Pizzo.
As all wet with morning dew we had to wait until the sun was strong enough to dry our tent. Once all packed up we carried on along the coastal SS18 North for a while. Late morning we tried to buy our ingredients for lunch at a Lidl, but Steffi couldn´t pay by card as there was a general internet problem, so no food ;-) In the meantime, James met Flavio (Italian/Canadian) that had his Ducati Multistrada parked next to our workhorses. We had a really nice conversation with him about travelling and Italy.
Later the morning we managed to get some food shopping done, just before we went inland on the SS283. Nearly on the other of side of Calabria, close to where we stayed at a B&B after the heavy rain. From there we went North on the road E90 towards Matera where we have booked a hotel for the night as we are at the point where we deserve a shower and a bit of luxury. We must admit, the Western coast of Calabria is very beautiful and well looked after, not like the eastside of the county.
It was also time to look into ferries for Bari-Durres (Albania). Thankfully "Far and Further" could guide us a bit as he just did the trip. So finally we got a cabin for 2 people for Steffi, but not her bike, as it was not given the option for it and James on a Pullman seat, but bike on the ferry! So lets see how we get Schimmelchen finally on the ferry - watch this space in the next blog!
After a good night sleep we headed off to the viewpoint Belvedere di Murgia Timone to have a nice view over Matera. Looking at it, it is difficult to remember where things happened during the latest "OO7 James Bond" movie.
Back to the bikes, we got talking to an Italian gentleman, that knew a lot about the area. After that we got talking briefly with an American couple, and at the same time approached us an English gentleman ;-)
Santuario della Madonna della Scala
On our way to the coast, we stopped in Massafra as we wanted to visit the Madonna della Scala, but the place was under refurbishment. So we continued our tour to the coast, passing Taranto, which has nice old buildings along the seafront.
Once we were on the coastal road of Apulia, the beaches were like on postcards: white sand or black rocks and turquoise water! We could have stopped every X km for pictures!
In the late afternoon we stopped on a deserted parking lot close by to the beach to pitch up our tent. For a change we had our beer whilst watching sunset sitting in front of our tent. Tomorrow we carry on around the "heel" of Italy, to visit the most eastern point of Italy.
Even though we haven´t taken many pictures, we hope you enjoyed that one. Let’s take you with the next blog further around Apulia to Bari, where we will catch the ferry on Easter Monday. Stay tuned! Happy Easter; delayed ;-)
Places | Cities:
Cavagrande, Catania, Taormina, Messina, Scilla, Pizzo, Paola, Sibari, Villapiania, Matera, Massafra, Taronto, Santa Caterina.
Driven km | Trip:
Total: 8035 km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
Schimmelchen having a faulty reading after the fall; resolved thankfully itself after messaging with Roberto from R&S in Lagos | Portugal
Health issues:
. / .
Special thanks to:
Sicily for being such an interesting island
Ms Sunshine for the good weather recently!