After our rest day in Acqufredda we hated to leave this area. Fantastic doesn't even come close to describing it. But we continued our trip south to Tropea. I don't have many ride pictures from this day because my wife did not feel much like shooting from the back of the bike today. The road was, for me, the best of the entire trip. I would guess it started off with about 100km of 1'st and 2'nd gear turn after turn with dozens of switchbacks as we headed into the mountains again. It was a bit too much for the wife and despite the Dramamine we had to stop a couple of time for her to get rid of breakfast. To quote Lou Reed "valium would have helped that day". We did manage to find a wonderful little stop for lunch which "I" at least got to enjoy
...while keeping an eye on the bike, of course...
When we reached the hotel at Tropea everyone was a bit tired. Some of us had our boots on so long we couldn't get them off.
The hotel was again wonderful with a great view of the ocean.
But the best part was every hotel we stayed at in Italy had these great helmet washers in the bathrooms!
After an overnight rain we were greeted with blue skys and sun as we made the crossing to Sicily. The entire trip I was thinking Sicily would be the icing on the cake and couldn't wait. But, of course the crossing was into a large city and we first had to contend with the traffic which by this point was actually starting to be fun. On a motorcycle you can get away with murder and no one gets upset with you. I loved it.
Once into the mountains we encountered some extreamly dense fog. At time you could hardly see the car in front of you. But that didn't stop the scooter riders from drafting past and splitting lanes without a second thought. Crazy!
Our first stop of the day was in this beautiful village. Who's ready for Gelato! Good Stuff!
Riding through these small villages was like nothing I've ever imagined. What I thought were walk ways we ended up riding through. This is Sicily. Amazing the feeling when ridding down these streets.
When I was taking this picture these two boys walked up behind me. Without saying a word they were waiting for me to finish before stepping in front of me. I was amazed. In America most kids would have never given such consideration. As they walked on I realized the picture would have been nothing without them in it.
A bit further down the road we stopped in this village, which was along a fantastic stretch of road. While stopped here we could hear 600cc four cylinder bikes with open exhaust screaming through the mountains. A few minutes later some locals pulled a Repsol Honda 600 running full slicks out of a garage and went out to rip it up. It was Friday evening and these guys were practicing for Saturday morning. This stretch of road, heading up Mt. Etna, is used by the locals as a race track. They have an official start and finish line. Because of all the volcanic activity and weather the road is repaved every two years with perfectly smooth race track quality asphault! Really! But, not through the villages, of course. The next day a few of us went out to ride the "course" but the weather was not very nice for going fast.
Once again, we were blown away with the hotel. The views from the balcony were beyond words.
to be continued..........
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