Sicily- Ortigia and Etna

Having managed some sleep on the chaotic overnight ferry trip from Cagliari (Sardinia) to Palermo (Sicily), arriving at 5am, there was plenty of time to cross the Island to Syracuse.

While the heat wave conditions in Europe had eased, it was still summer, and at Syracuse, the Mediterranean called.

Ortigia is an ancient walled city on a little Islet in Syracuse. Its history dates back to 700bc. Its been Phonecean, Greek ,Roman,,, and now Italian.

Mount Etna looms over the east coast of Sicily, huffing and puffing steam and smoke.

The European and African push together in Sicily, and it’s at Etna that the steam of that collision is let off.

The road around Mount Etna is a fantastic ride up the mountain to the high village where there is a gondola and unimog bus to the volcano craters.

The steam coming from the Etna was impressive. Especially given that there had only recently had an eruption.

Sicily is close to northern Africa and is a frontline destination for people escaping was and issues of changing climate in Africa.

In Syracuse, a humanitarian rescue ship is replenishing.

At the harbour at Messina, there is a memorial to those who have died fleeing war and hunger.

Then, it was another ferry to Calabria on the Italian mainland.

Where have I been???

Dear friends and followers,

It’s been a long time since I have written and many thousands of kilometres have been covered in that time.

Back home now in Australia, spring has sprung and its time catch up on tales my latest European Adventure before I commence this summers adventures.

But before I go into reflection a little local update.

Since arriving home I’ve bought a new motorbike, a beautiful Moto Guźzi v85tt.

Taking it to do a bit of show and tell at the Spaghetti Rally, a fantastic rally run by the Moto Guzzi Club of Victoia.

I’ll give a give a bit of a snapshot of where I went in Europe this year. Before doing more detailed posts on the destinations.

First, there was Sicily,

Then …

Puglia,

Rome

San Marino

Croatia

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Montenegro

Albania

Greece

Turkey

North Macedonia

Kosovo

France

England

I spent longer in some countries than others and especially in Greece and Turkey, only touched these large and diverse countries. But all this will be explained in future blogs.

For now, it is good to be home with family and friends. Its spring time and in my favourite places the wading birds are arriving nesting mating and having babies.

Lifes wonderful circle.

Dorgali to Santa Maria Navarrese on the west of Sardinia.

Dorgali is a sprawling city in mountains on the west coast of Sardinia.

It has some beautiful street art and if you are prepared to walk up some steep steps wonderful views to be had.

But it’s the road south through the mountains on the western side of Sardinia that is the real reason for going to Dorgali.

This road is in perfect condition and the views sublime!

Santa Maria Navesse is a beautiful coastal village. There are a number of good quality camping grounds right on the clean beach.

Just a beautiful place to end an amazing ride.

For those considering the ferry from Cagliari to Palermo then it’s a nice ride to catch the evening overnight ferry.

The quiet of Santa Maria Navesse was in total contrast to the absolute chaos of the Grimaldi Lines ferry to Sicily. But that’s a story for another blog!

Alghero and the beautiful road south in Sardinia.

It’s funny how one chooses a place for one reason and find something wonderfully unexpected. Such is Alghero. The road south from Alghero is a classic ride well renowned across Europe. It’s also a beautiful seaside town with a Spanish old town.

This part of Sardinia saw themselves very much as Catalan, and the yellow and red striped colours of Catalonia were often seen. Even the beach umbrellas are in Catalan colours.

The old city is now has a seaside marina but is a beautiful example of a Spanish walled town.

A trattoria is a family run restaurant where the food is largely made by the family. At Trattoria da Mirko the family are also fisherman and make their of pasta. How could I resist the special of the day. Lobster on home made pasta!

The road south Alghero is just beautiful running over headlands and along the coast. The destination Dorgali in the mountains on the eastern side of the island for the next classic ride.

Enjoy some of the scenes of the road from Alghero to Dorgali and I’ll come back to Dorgali at the next blog.

Sardinia

It’s only an hours ferry ride from Bonifacio in Corsica to Santa Teresa Gallura in Sardinia. The islands are visible to each other.

The skipper does a mighty job of backing th ferry into the narrow port at Santa Teresa Gallura.

As it was late afternoon it was off the ferry and on the road to the little mountain village of Telti.

That night the harvest festival was being celebrated and the town plaza was full of people music and dancing. Amazing given it was quite hot.

A pretty little village near the wine and cheese making centre of Monti.

I love the murals that adorn these little villages.

But the next heat wave was about to hit Sardinia so it was time to seek the cooler coastal climates. On the road to The coastal city of Alghero it hit 43c before miid day. Telti was hit with a reported 47c.

We were lucky there were air conditioned rooms at the local rugby club in Alghero. Just across the road from the beach.