From Sicily to Rome / Part 2: Traveling not only in distance but also in time

Italy is an amazing motorcycle destination. The thing is, when we think of boot riding, we usually think of the Dolomites, Tuscany or Cinque Terre. North, or at least the middle. That overlooks one of the most spectacular motorcycling destinations not just in Italy, but around the Mediterranean.

Unlike its friends Corsica and Sardinia to the north, Sicily does not. they have Motorcycle Country; is it. is it. Motorcycle country. It has only a square kilometer without a pleasant corner or two, plus an amazing natural view or a charming village. And of course Sicily is bigger than Corsica and Sardinia combined.

The Edelweiss Bike Tours Sicily/Rome tour runs both ways, and when I decided to start in Catania, Sicily, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d chosen the right direction. Could another route be better, going back to a time more or less of modern medieval Italy? As it turns out, that wasn’t really the choice anyway: there’s a wonderful antique and modern experience at both ends. It doesn’t matter which way you go – but I recommend going. This journey is a journey as we used to say.

The hotel in Calabria was of the usual high standard as Edelweiss, and the welcome dinner was well prepared. You can usually tell how the dynamic is going after meeting the rest of the team first, and it looks good at dinner. We’ve flown from Kentucky to Qatar and Australia to Florida, most of us retired early.

The next morning we braved Italy’s usual major riding problem – city traffic – for a while and escaped onto the autostrada. By the time we got lost trying to tackle the back roads that would take us to Piazza Armerina and then Agrigento we were getting into chaos. The quality of Sicily’s – and Italy’s in general – back roads varies greatly, and we were very lucky for this stretch. It also helped that there were no live shows in Sicily. Driving through some small towns got us used to the cobblestones.

Villa Romana del Casale near Piazza Armerina turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. This Roman country house from 4^Th century AD 3,500 square meters of magnificent floor mosaics, including paintings of ten Roman girls – in bikinis. I wonder why that view is so popular… This is followed by the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento, which features Greek columns in the green countryside. Our hotel here was a last minute addition because the original was gone and it was the best of the whole tour. I spent half an hour soaking in the outdoor Jacuzzi.

Crossing from south to north we got a full load of the Sicilian mountain roads the next day. I think the regions north of Agrigento were probably the most spectacular and the best riding, but I wouldn’t take bets. To the north, from the small mafia-infested towns of Prizzi and Corleone to Cefalù, there were roads of varying quality, but no less than pleasant, on the northern coast. A trip to the town of Cefalu was imminent from our hotel but we were satisfied with dinner, a few quiet drinks and an early bedtime.

I’m in danger of going over the top here, but the next day’s ride from Cefalu to Taormina was even better, tackling range after range, including Madonie e Nebrodi, the longest in Sicily. We also saw two relatively “modern” castles – one from 1316 and the other, carved from solid rock, from the Norman period. As we approached Taormina, Mount Etna began to dominate the skyline. On the next theoretically “free” day we hiked up the flanks of Etna – but no one wanted to miss the giant volcano. The roads were great, but not much to see from the upper parking lot. Definitely no lava, which everyone found disappointing.

Another good morning’s drive back to the north coast saw us heading back south to the track ferry after lunch. Obviously the traffic in Messina is terrible so it is better to travel a little further and take the slow ferry. Anyway, it was a good crossing. We stopped at Scilla, but the six-headed sea monster must be on vacation because what we got was good coffee and ice cream. The hotel in Pargelia that night was the only disappointment of the trip; It seems like forty years ago. He still had a nice garden.

From here it was fairly straight forward but by no means a boring trip north along the coast. Some steep trails are very challenging. A closed road and a long detour before reaching Marathea was great. We visited a good dozen mountain villages, all with their own unique cobblestone and narrow lanes instead of roads. Marathe has a huge statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of a cliff and you have to see the road leading up to it to believe it. Next up is a concrete curve.

The next day we followed more mountain roads on our way to Pompeii via the Passeum road, another historical site with a fascinating combination of Greek and Roman architecture. These two places deserve a separate story, and I will write that soon.

After sunny and mainly warm weather for the entire trip, Jupiter came down and brought us rain. Our practical guides suggested we skip the last day of mountain riding and default to the Autostrada instead – and we enthusiastically agreed. It is worth mentioning that we have a very good team from Ralph who was 15 years old.^Th A visit to the Edelweiss led to a trip in the van to Lenny, who was on the first and pulled his Achilles tendon. Thanks and go to our guides Thomas and Julia.

The Bear visited Sicily on their 11-day tour of Sicily-Rome with the Edelweiss Bike Tour Invitational, and heartily recommends that you do the same. The tours are well organized, well priced and thoroughly enjoyable.