Friday October 11th - we ride from Catania to Messina where we'll catch the ferry tomorrow morning to return to the mainland.
Having been up at Etna yesterday, it was interesting to watch the different appearance of the clouds that formed and disappeared and changed from moment to moment. Not sure that the photos do it justice, but here are half-a-dozen of them that were taken during the first hour or so of the ride out of Catania as we left Etna behind.
The land around Catania was looking pretty parched as the area is suffering a lack of moisture. Interesting that the dust that gathers at the side of the road is dark grey - lava dust, not sandy at all. One area not far from Catania, suddenly row upon row of well-irrigated trees all growing out of big pots - biggest tree nursery that we've seen
The rest of the ride was along the coast as we went from one beach resort town to another, some sandy beaches, most with a good amount of pebbles. A nice ride until the last few kilometers into Massina which took us back into town traffic.
A night in Massina and then a convoy to the ferry in the morning for the half-hour crossing to Villa San Giovanni...
...then along the coast and the numerous villages built high on every rock that juts into the sea.
The road climbs up amongst the houses in the middle of the photo above giving a view back to the beach...
...then it makes a tight loop back, through a small tunnel that's behind the white building to the right of the following photo. What the photo shows is a 180-degree panorama - we came from the right and continued straight along the road that goes out to the left - real easy except that it is a series of hairpin climbs.
On we went in the climb until the next spectacular view...
...then turning inland for a bit through orchards and vineyards...
...until we started a steep descent around several hairpins into Tropea.
This was the view from the hotel - a few steps down the stairs and across the road to the beach for a swim, always a nicer way to cool off from a day of riding as compared to just getting in and out of a shower.
Sunday October 13th and we continue through the village of Tropea...
...up the coast until we can enjoy another morning coffee along with Maurice and Fiona Efron, Aussies whom we met last year on the Korean-Japan trip. We also enjoyed some tartufo which is a regional specialty - not your usual morning coffee snack, but it seemed appropriate since there's no guarantee you'll find another in the afternoon.
More hilltop and hillside villages as we proceed up the coast...
Tonight's stop is Longobardi - across the road was a long empty beach. In season it's probably jam-packed, but the majority of resorts are closed for the season.
One more riding day to Maratea and rest day. We continued up the coast and the now-familiar routine of climbs out of one resort/beach area to go over some hills and descend to the next. The railways have tunnels but we often ride up to those hilltop villages only to descend on the other side.
Here we are descending to ride the road that follows to the left of the railway tracks. The open areas between the road and the beach would be full of cars in July and August and the beach would be just as crowded.
Off in the background and closer-up below you can see a slide that took out much of the highway a couple of years ago and is still under repair. The road was open for a while during the summer with contraflows (and long traffic delays) through the damaged area. Off-season it is closed to vehicular traffic as they continue repairs. They let us through on the bikes thereby avoiding an extra 20 km of riding and a few hundred meters extra climbing.
A few kilometers to the left beyond the slide we approach Maratea with 21-meter statue 'Christ the Redeemer of Maratea' perched on Mount San Biagio 2000 feet above the town.
Rest day and a hike up to the monument tomorrow... coming in the next blog!
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