italy – Our Motorcycle Travel Blog 2022 & 2024

Wk 10 – Bolzano to Mandello

Monday 27th May to Sunday 2nd June

Mon 27th – Bolzano Nth Loop – 155k

3 Passes – Penser Joch 2211m, Sterzinger Jaufenjoch 1998m, Passo di Monte Giovo 2094m.

It’s a beautiful day as we brave our way through the morning school drop-off, except in Europe they don’t clutter the road with their badly driven SUVs, but they escort their kids to school on their ‘all over the road’ pushbikes.

We eventually got out of town and had a roadside peak at the mid 13th century Castel Roncolo and it’s smaller sibling Castello Reid.

Castello Reid

Castel Roncolo

We then followed the SS508 north. It gets really pretty along here as we climbed towards Penser Joch or Passo Pennes.

At the top of the Pass we ran into a bunch of guys on their tiny noisy 50cc two stroke motorbikes. They straggled in in 1 and 2s from the northern side of the pass and their reactions showed it had been quite a feat for their little smokers, which is understandable as the pass is 2211m
There were about 15 of them. Just a couple of pics.

We headed down.

This region is known as either Northern Italy or South Tyrol, but what ever you call it, it’s definitely Austrian in architecture. EVERY house looks like this or a slight variation on the same theme. It was originally Austrian but was annexed by Italy following WW1.

We drove around Vipiteno Sterzing looking for a car park. It must have been market day because there were more cars than parks. Plenty of motorbike parks mind you! We kept going and turned south west towards home.

First stop was Jaufen Pass, the lower part of Passo di Monte Giovo.

Where we stopped amidst a number of those smug motorbike riders. We had coffee and delicious apple strudel – as you do.

This picture is where we indulged in coffee and cake. But the significance of it is the big doll/manikin of a Marmot or large ground squirrel (left), which live up in these high passes – we did see a couple scampering around as we descended from Penser Joch.
This lone establishment not only sold scrumptious delights but also Marmot Ointment, a proclaimed miracle working Marmot extraction, better known as snake oil. We left it on the shelf and headed south and down, down down.

These two guys on their ancient tractors, holding up traffic and sponsored by a prominent finance company. I know this because the pic I took of the rear tractor’s trailer had a QR Code that triggered said sponsor’s web page on my phone. Technology hey!

A line of dawdling Harleys. They sound good though.

We stopped beside this thaw laden stream for a brew and lunch.

Before dropping into Merano where we found a place to park our limousine.

The heavens opened as we headed back to Balzano, but we’d had a good day, and we were dry.

Tues 28th May – Bolzano

These corner bay windows are a very common feature on city buildings in this area.

Mussolini’s Bolzano Victory Monument

13th century Maretsch Castle

Bolzano Cathedral

City Hall and Monument dedicated to King Laurin Denkmal

Wed 29th – Bolzano to Bormio – 205k

4 Passes – Passo della Mendola 1363m, Forcella di Brez 1398m, Passo del Tonale 1883m, Passo dell’Aprica 1176m

After buying a new pair of shoes, it was a bit of jungle escaping from Bolzano only to find the push bike riders had gotten out of bed way earlier than us as we climbed to Mendel Pass – there were dozens of them.

Ascending Mendel Pass

Going down the other side.
We’ve seen vast amounts of these crops in this greater region. I suspect they’re apples or stone fruit trees

Forcella di Brez was next on list of Passes for the day. It was a disappointment, so we joined the main road and headed west. We stopped for a brew and some lunch outside of Dimaro

Before climbing to Passo del Tonale which had some spectacular views.

Military Memorial Passo del Tonale where the remains of 847 Italian fallen soldiers are collected in the shrine, fifty of which are unknown.

Across the road from the Memorial

Going down

The intention had been to cross the Passo di Gavia which is one of the ‘must do’ passes in the region. It was closed. I’d tried to time our visit to this area so as to be able to cross these famous passes, but it seems my timing is out for this year, because they’re usually open by now.
Passo di Foppa was also closed so we had to take the long way around, adding 60k to the day, via Passo dell’Aprica which is nothing significant.

We found our pleasant apartment in Bormio.

Thur 30th – Bormio NE Loop – 85k

3 Passes – Passo Torri di Fraele 1930m, Foscagno Pass 2291m, Passo Eira 2208m.

We were to do Stelvio Pass, at 2757m, today. But it’s closed, and will be for quite a while by all accounts. Which is very disappointing for all the bikers and push bikers in town, and one Panda driver, who’d all hoped to enjoy the famous hairpins. The live cameras tell the story.

So we headed West for the day. First port of call was Torri di Fraele, or Fraele Towers which are 14th century signal towers.
And it’s an impressive climb, or would have been if we’d been able to see where we were going for the cloud cover. But this is what it should look like from the top looking down.

Torri di Fraele – from Wikipedia

Google Maps

16 hairpins

And believe me, they are sharp. My pics

And the sun came out, just for this at the top of Torri di Fraele

We descended as we’d ascended

and continued to Foscagno Pass and Passo Eira where we had some lunch.

Foscagno Pass

Passo Eira

It was very quiet in terms of traffic, which was odd because it was the only way into the region from the north. We retraced our steps to Bormio.

Fri 31st – Bormio to Mandello del Lario – 170k

1 Pass – Passo Agueglio 1167m

It was bucketing down as we exited Bormio heading for Lake Como. There were a number of bikers leaving town as well and I felt their pain because not only hadn’t they been able to enjoy the amazing passes in the area but they were getting seriously cold and wet for the pleasure.

It rained all the way to Lake Como, then stopped.

We dropped into the tiny village of Coreano Plinio

Arche degli Andriani

We took a slight detour by way of Passo Agueglio which is really just a (narrow) loop off the main road, but an enjoyable drive. With some nice views down to Lake Como.

It was 3pm when we pulled up at Mamma Ciccia’s apartments and rooms, and found that the Moto Guzzi Museum was open so we went and had a look – again. I’m a bit of a Moto Guzzi fan and have owned 4 of them over the years, having taken 2 of them to Europe, in 2016 and 2019. Maybe I should have brought one this time 😦

We’d visited the museum in 2016, when we were riding a Moto Guzzi Stelvio.

We were so much older then –

We’re younger than that now 😉

The original 1919 Moto Guzzi

Moto Guzzi factory circa 1958 – output 36,500 units a year.

The latest Moto Guzzi Stelvio.

And as I sit here typing this, this little beauty is right in front of me.

And any visit to Mandello wouldn’t be complete without saying “Gidday mate” to Carlo Guzzi, one of the three founders of the Moto Guzzi marque.

Sat 1st June – Lake Como

Today’s looking pretty good so we catch the ferry to Como via Bellagio.

Mandello del Lario

Looking north on Lake Como. We’ll be up in them thar hills next week.

Bellagio

Bellagio

Bellagio was wall to wall tourists, doing what tourists do best

And then it was the next ferry to Como, which was pretty much continuous views of the homes of the rich and famous, or even not so famous I guess. But we’d all like to own one of these.

Como was wall to ceiling with tourists. We wandered for an hour.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. 1369 to 1770. That’s a long time.

Torre di San Vitale

Porta Torre Como

Chiesa di Santa Cecilia

There’s a lot to see in Como, but we didn’t have the time. As it was we’d (I’d) misinterpreted the ferry time table so we missed our connecting ferry from Bellagio back to Mandello. So we continued onto Varenna and caught a train back to Mandello.

From Monday we’re in Switzerland. See you week.

Wk 9 – Lake Garda to the Dolomites

Monday 20th to Sunday 26th May

Mon 20th – Lake Garda

Today we did a ferry trip around the northern end of Lake Garda. It’s a popular thing to do. First stop; Malcesine to Limone Sul Garda where we spent an hour.

Before catching the next ferry to Riva del Garda.

We spent a leisurely couple of hours in Riva del Garda – it’s a pleasant place.

In the late afternoon we did it all in reverse back to Malcesine and took a long walk around the waterfront.

This is nice

Tues 21st – Malcesine & Castle

Today was miserable.
We took a look at Castello Scaligero di Malcesine, which, with its 13th-century fortifications and even older medieval tower, is Malcesine’s most prominent landmark.

Wed 22nd May – Cortina d’Ampezzo – 260k

1 Pass – Passo Tre Croci 1809m

Today we literally head for the hills.
But before we left Malcesine, and because the sun was shining, we caught the early Malcesine to Mont Baldo Cable Car, which took us 1760m above Lake Garda to some magnificent alpine views.

The traffic wasn’t too bad as we headed north, but the bikes were overtaking us in multiples – we ignored them.
Our first pic stop was Castel Toblino on Lago di Toblino.

We popped into Forte di Cadine. It was built in 1860 as part of the first group of permanent Austrian fortifications, with the purpose to block enemy access to Trento. There’s not much happening there nowadays.

We pushed on to Trento where Google Maps found us a convenient car park so we could wander around town. There was much activity happening in preparation for some economic festival.
We had Subway for lunch – the first one we’ve seen on this journey. Can’t beat a nice Subway.

We’d planned to stop for a look at Feltre, but it was bucketing down so we kept going and passed a few of those cheeky motorbike riders frantically pulling on wets. We laughed out loud as we sprayed on by in our Fiat 500 Panda Hybrid with heating and comfortable seats and window wipers slapping time.

By now we were climbing. I’ve no idea where this is but it’s just short of our only pass for the day, Passo De Troci at 1809mtrs.
We were now back on track to our original plan and it felt good, even if we weren’t enjoying the never ending bends and sweepers as we’d like to have been. Except when it’s raining; then we’re just total hypocrites.

You’d have to think this bridge is slowly being engulfed with limestone runoff with the snow thaw.

15 minutes after crossing Passo De Troci, we were in Cortina d’Ampezzo where we’ll prop for four nights.
Our ridiculously expensive budget priced accommodation did give us some pleasant views.

Now, before I continue, I must warn you that from now on there’s going to be lots of pics of lots of mountains, lots of snow, lots of rocks etc etc. I make no excuses for this tiresome practise because it’s why this trip is happening in the first place. And I do say that the actual experience far surpasses the amateur photography shown.
My high end photographic equipment consists of a 2018 Samsung Galaxy S9+, which primary function is to run TomTom Go Navigation. Why such an old phone? It’s complicated but there is a sound reason – PM me if you want to know any more.

Thurs 23rd May – Cortina SE Loop – 95klm

3 Passes – Passo Cibiana 1530m, Forcella Staulanza 1766m, Passo di Giau 2236m

Today was our first of 9 planned Loop days from various stays. From Cortina we did 2 of them. The intention had been to do as many of the alpine passes as we could, and experience them by motorbike. After this first loop we certainly know what we’ll be missing out on, but we’ll make the most of it in our dry, warm, comfortable, economical, gutless, safe automobile.

Todays pic fest.

Fri 24th May – Cortina SW Loop – 120klm

4 Passes – Passo di Giau 2236m, Passo di Fedaia 2057m, Passo Pordoi 2239m, Passo di Falzarego 2105m

We stopped here at the convergence of two valleys for a brew and late lunch on pilfered from breakfast hard boiled eggs, bread rolls and cake, just short of Passo di Falzarego. We watched a cold front come over as we retreated to our make-believe motorbike and drove the final 20klm home – in 2c and snow (ROFL)

And today is Friday, so snow or sunshine, it’s ice cream day – ask Norma.

Sun 26th May – Bolzano – 130k

7 passes – Passo Falzarego 2105m, Valparola Pass 2168m, Gardena Pass 2136m, Sela de Culac 2020m, Passo Sella 2218m, Karerpass 1745m, Nigerpass 1688m.

We woke to glorious sunshine today, and it was certainly an amazing day to be on the road for our final taste of the fabulous Dolomites. The views just kept on coming, the corners never ended, the push bike riders looked exhausted as usual, and the motorbikes were too numerous to count.

It really has been fabulous to experience the famous Dolomites over the last few days. The weather hasn’t always been kind, but the experience hasn’t disappointed.
So now we’re in Bolzano for 3 nights, then Bormio for 2 nights (alas, it appears the Gavia, Umbrail and Stelvio Passes are closed) then it’s Mandello Del Lario for 3 nights.
See you next week.

Week 8 – Croatia to Italy

Monday 13th to Sunday 19th May

Mon 13th – Split

Today we get ourselves back to Split – very slowly. We’ve arranged to have the bike transported to the UK where it’ll be shipped back to Australia in July. However, the carrier is in Italy, and seeing as he’s the only one to answer our ClickTrans query, he gets the job, so we have to catch the ferry back to Ancona where we’ll meet him on Wednesday morning.

In the meantime we’ll have a look around the old town of Split, and it’s well worth the time and effort. If you’ve been there, the following will be pleasant memories. If you haven’t been there, the following may just ignite some interest.

Tues 14th

Tonight we catch the ferry for Ancona. We’ve bought new luggage and decanted our gear into them and filled the panniers with our ride gear, helmets etc. The previously BMW F900XR thoroughbred is now nothing more than a pack mule – which many may consider it was all along.
I’ve tried calling BMW Melbourne; they’ll get back to me – they haven’t.

Norma assures me she’s not happy 🙂

It’s a short ride and we’re in line for the ferry early where we spend the afternoon chatting and commiserating with other riders, as you do.
Time to load – “one last effort little bike” but alas, all it did was rattle loudly and refuse to start. It’d turn over just fine but none of the required noises were emitted. How embarrassing. So we pushed it the last 100mtrs to the ship.

And it’s our 41st wedding anniversary which we should have been celebrating in Budapest. We celebrate with a lovely sunset as we leave Split.

Wed 15th – Ancona to Pesaro

We’re off the boat under shank’s pony and are met by a delightful Bulgarian who will transport the bike to the UK, except it’s at least a kilometre to where he’s parked – good thing it was flat.

But eventually the bike is loaded and we bid it farewell as we drag our bags to the railway station for the train to Pesaro. If you’ve been to Europe you’ll be accustomed to the billions of cobble stones that are the footpaths, you’ll also be aware of the dreadful sound of the clackety clackety clack that wheely bags and cases make as they’re dragged along.
I believe in some places, like Venice, they’re going to tax that cacophony of the tourist orchestra as they drag their bags in the early morning stillness. We too joined that dreaded brigade.

Thurs 16th – Pesaro

We’ve decided we need a couple of days to relax and recuperate from the previous days of stress and disappointment so we take a hotel room on the beach to enjoy the sun – which didn’t eventuate; the sun that is.

For those amongst you who don’t know about Pesaro, it’s the home of famous motorcycle brand Benelli. (I didn’t either until my ignorance was exposed) So we took a tour of the Benelli Museum guided by an old and dignified Italian who was a wealth of history, information and loyalty to the brand. If you wish to remain uniformed, look away now.

And these are old Guzzis which I’m sure our guide would have preferred didn’t exist.

Fri 17th – Pesaro – Bologna – Lazise

The sun had decided to shine today as we prepared to catch the train to Bologna.
I’d managed to get BMW Melbourne to pick up the phone and we had an amiable discussion – at least they know that I’ll be around to see them when I get back.

And the bike has arrived in the UK without any customs issues which is a real relief. Thank you MoveCars4U Ltd

It looks pretty good there, but it’s the noisy bit that’s letting it down.

The reason for Bologna was to collect our hire car for the next 6 weeks of our journey.
We spent 3 hours wandering around downtown Bologna, which, like Naples, I’m sure you could spend a week wandering around. My apologies, there are just way too many pictures following – but really, if you’ve seen the city you understand.
And no Mark, we didn’t visit the Ducati museum.

We picked up our AVIS Rental car – a Manual Fiat 500 Panda in white, sans sunroof. What a beast.

And headed for the hills.

Sat 18th May – Lazise on Lake Garda

It seems that whole of northern Italy is in the tiny walled town of Lazise this weekend. It is literally packed with people filling the never ending range of restaurants, street stalls, shoe shops and gelateria. And the tourist season hasn’t started yet.

Famous for its Scaliger Castle Lazise is considered as the first and oldest comune in Italy, and perhaps all of Europe, dating back to the 9th century.

Sun 19th May – Malcesine – 40klm

It’s only 40klms from Lazise to Malcesine but there are a few places to see so it took us 5 hours.

We stopped at Bardolino which is only a couple of Ks up the road, and immediately ran into the inevitable problem of driving a car around Europe, even a white Fiat 500 Panda without sunroof. Finding a car park! For sure, there are quite a few car parks and they’re well sign posted, but there are more cars wanting to park than there are spaces available to be parked in. Whereas all those cheeky motorcycle riders just parked wherever they liked – how rude is that 😦

Garda, where we had a brew and snapped this.
We’ve seen quite a few Moto Guzzis today, all of them either new V7 850s or these V85TTs.
Norma thinks it might be a sign 🙂

Dream On! Mmmm.

Torri del Benaco

And Castelletto, where we had some lunch and went for a long walk.

We think we walked further than we drove today, but eventually we got to Malcesine where we’re stopping for 3 nights before heading to Cortina where we’ll pick up our original journey.

See you next week.

Week 5 – The Heartland Of Italy

Monday 22nd to Sunday 28th April

Mon 22nd & Tues 23rd – Spoleto – 175k

There was still a lot of white stuff on the mountains to the north and east which meant that the SS17Bis up into the high plains of the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga was closed. Which was a pity because it is a lovely ride through there. We’d ridden it in 2016 and stayed at Santo Stefano di Sessanio and stopped at Campo Imperatore on the way. But it wasn’t to be this time.

So instead we headed north to Assergi and turned left along the southern edge of the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso and crossed the range on it’s western end at the Passo delle Capannelle. This is a great ride with a terrific surface and endless corners.

On to Montereale where we picked up the SP19 and eventually ended up in Cittareale where they have La Rocca, a medieval fortress from the 13th century of King Manfred of Swabia which incorporates some Roman ruins.

La Rocca

It’s all pretty isolated through here with the roads deteriorating so we turned left and picked up the SP11 that took us down and ever downwards with rain threatening.
We dropped into Labro and the 10th century Castello Nobili Vitelleschi.

Pinched from Google – Labro with its Castello Nobili Vitelleschi.

We only had 40ks to go to Spoleto but it looked wet so we togged up in our wets – which means we pulled on our Dianese pants because we already wear totally waterproof Oxford jackets. It’s a good thing we did because the usual afternoon spring downpour beat us by 10 minutes.

We negotiated the twisting and narrow and steep streets to find our comfortable apartment for 2 nights.

I’ve used various sources to collect information on the towns we visit and so have set up our own self-guided walking tours that take in most of a town’s sights.
A walking tour of Spoleto.

Wed 24th – Cortona – 180k

The weather was looking iffy from the outset so we donned our wets early, then headed north. Now we Melbourne-ites complain about our myriad of ‘safety’ cameras. Welcome to Spoleto’s flash for cash – we would have passed 20 of them on the 6klm stretch out of town. Good thing for TomTom.

North through beautiful Umbrian countryside to the historic small hill town of Montefalco.

There were a bunch of men pruning the olives trees in the foreground of this pic.

We turned south west and stopped in the hilltop town of Todi where we sat in the central Piazza del Popolo with its medieval buildings and had a coffee.

Todi from a distance.

This pic gives an idea of just how steep these streets are. I capture scenes like this off my GoPro

Piazza del Popolo

The 12th century Caetani Tower.

Church of Saint Mary of Consolation

We continued SW to the small hilltop village of Civitella del Lago where we stopped and made lunch of local bread with cheese, ham, tomatoes and the best of Italian olive oil. You can’t beat that.
The town overlooks Lake Corbara, an artificial lake on the course of the river Tiber.

Looking west where there’s threatening weather.

We’re now heading north and dodging thunderstorms but we’re going to get got sooner or later. Through Città della Pieve.

I’m not sure where this is, I just took a quick GoPro grab on our way past. I remember that just to the west of us, our left, the rain is belting down so I know it’s just south of Castiglione del Lago on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno, which is where the rain caught us.

But it was only 20klms to Tuscany’s beautiful 8th century BC Cortona which is one of our favourite places. We stayed here in 2019, and actually in the same place.

We took a stroll. Well, in these towns it’s more like a mountain climb. Steep street and a multitude of medieval stairs makes it more of an endurance exercise.

Today is Thursday 25th of April, a public holiday, and the day Italy celebrates their WW2 Victory/Liberation Day which is probably a bit of an oxymoron from some points of view. Anyway, they’ve still got lots of left over Yank Jeeps and there were dozens of them on display in Cortona. As you can see, these guys take this pretty seriously.

Thur 25th – Siena – 90k

This pic of the town cemetery as we left Cortona.

The sun is shining and after a very late start we head west. First stop is Monte San Savino where we stopped for coffee and a small danish while we sat in the sun and watched the world go by. There were lots of bikers around today, out enjoying there public holiday and fine weather.

Those roses smelt exquisite. Which is how all roses should smell. I’m not sure about you but I can’t walk past a rose without taking a sniff.

Now if you haven’t noticed I’ve got lots of pics of City Gates. Last trip I did Bridges. This time I’m doing Gates and believe me there’s lots of them. It gives you an idea of just how insecure life was back in dim dark ages.

And Siena has more than its fair share. We did a loop of the city on our way in and snapped these.

All these gates, and there’s a few more, are pretty impressive.

We found our way into the city central area where our brand new apartment awaited us a mere 30mtrs from the main Piazza del Campo.
As I said, today is a public holiday, and it seems that the whole of Tuscany is promenading around Piazza del Campo. I’m talking packed. And all stopping to chat, take pictures and then look at those pictures. Now this is a pet hate of mine – take the picture or 5 of them if you want, but don’t then just stand there and check them out – I want to take a picture as well, and I don’t want you in it!!! There, now I’ve got that off my chest.

Siena has other things to see as well.

Piazza del Campo

Fri 26th – Siena Loop Ride – 90k

Today isn’t a public holiday but I’m figuring that most of Italy have made it into a long weekend because everyone is out and about and visiting the 2 local tourist attractions of Monteriggioni and San Gimignano. We joined the throng.

Monteriggioni for an expensive coffee.

And famously popular San Gimignano.

We headed home via some remote roads that took us past La Rocca di Staggia.

A most enjoyable day. And today being Friday, we all know what that means, and in Siena there’s a Gelatoria on every corner.

Sat 27th – Arezzo – 100k

There was nothing special about todays ride. It’s only about an hour by freeway, but we’re not doing that are we. It’s obviously still a long weekend as the roads that we rode were mainly being travelled by bikers. And I can understand why – there were plenty of curves.

We dropped in to the 6th century fortress town of Civitella in Val di Chiana hoping to score a coffee. But there was nothing open – what is this? An Italian town without an open café is a bit like an Aussie town without a pub.

So we left and headed for Arezzo where we found parking right outside of our 3rd story apartment, which is actually 4 – more steps.
We checked in and did our mountain climbing exercises for the day as we checked out the sites.

Arezzo has a Porto or gate as well. This is inside the town

And from the outside.

The gate is at the bottom of town and the very impressive Fortezza Medicea is at the very top – my travel companion was not impressed with the climb. We should be pretty fit by the time we leave Italy.

Arezzo is known as the city of gold and of the high fashion, I have no idea why. But it does have some impressive things to see.

To The Grande Piazza – where we had our long awaited coffee. We’d passed through hear in 2019 and done the same thing.

Thank you Arezzo

Sun 28th – Urbino – 160k

It’s finally a beautiful day as we leave Arezzo. There are heaps of bikers out and about as we take to the remote back roads heading SE towards the 13th century Rocca di Umbertide where we had a brew.

We pushed on to Gubbio where we caught up with all the tourists who tend to take the low roads. I’m pretty sure we weren’t supposed to ride right through the centre of town but once you’re there what else can you do.

That was a pretty hectic experience for us and the tourists so we left town and moved up the road to the quiet little hamlet of Cantiano where we got 2 coffees and a cooky type thing for E3. There were 4 other people in town.

Cantiano

Then it was on to Urbino

where we parked the bike under the shadow of the Palazzo Ducale di Urbino and found our digs a mere 30mtrs from the main Piazza.

We took a walk around town – more steep streets.

And everywhere you look the skyline is dominated by the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

And that’s it for this week. Today we head for Ancona and tonight we catch the ferry to Croatia. See you next week.

Wks 3 – Still In Spain

Finally On Our Way

Monday 8th to Sunday 14th April

Monday 8th – we catch the train from Sitges to Barcelona and book in to our highly overrated and expensive Hotel Best Western Alka.
I’m tracking the ship and the container – they’re now in a holding pattern off Barcelona Port. We are anticipating our bike by Wednesday 10th – we have a ferry booking for Italy so we’re hoping it’s on time.

Tuesday 9th We do the tourist thing in Barcelona. A bit of ‘Hop On – Hop Off’ bus stuff.

If you look closely, that’s our boat with bike doing laps. It’s to the left of the left hand palm tree. I like to think it is anyway.

Team New Zealand’s Americas’ Cup headquarters Barcelona – no boats in sight.

Then wandered around Barcelona.

These guys belting out some sweet ragtime.

The Market.

This little coffee shop where we’ve had coffee on every trip – 2016, 2019, 2022 and now 2024.

We hear our bikes are delayed, again, to the 11th, so it’s a scramble to change the ferry booking to Thursday 11th. No problems. That’s a relief.

Wednesday 10th – we move hotels to a much more affordable place closer to the airport. We’re now assured the bikes have cleared customs so Friday the 12th is the day. Another catching of buses to the port to change our ferry booking once again to Friday the 12th (the last allowed change with no refund) which is our cut off day for a number bookings in Italy if we don’t want to lose a our bookings in Rome, Naples and Amalfi – all of which are not cheap.

Thursday 11th – we hang, waiting, waiting. To hear there’ll be no bikes until Monday. That is just so disappointing, and a A$1500 loss in ferry and hotel bookings, not to mention missed anticipated ‘things to do and see’.

Friday 12th to Sunday 14th – We take the train back to Sitges for the weekend. It’s a nice place to stop, especially over the weekend with the locals enjoying the early spring weather. Today is Friday, that means ice-cream, or more precisely Gelati.

Doing it tough.

There was a vintage car rally that came to town. There had to have been at least 40 of them. Quite impressive.

Monday 15th to Sunday 21st April

Mon 15th – At Last!

Only 3 weeks late.

Then to hear that Spanish Customs hadn’t cleared our bikes – there were 8 of us. We waited a couple of hours then just left. I haven’t heard anything so I guess they’ve sorted their paperwork.

We’d managed to book the last cabin on the ferry to Italy – the Owner’s Suite.
There were about 1000 schools kids on the boat so it was pandemonium and hence the lack of cheaper cabins.

Wed 17th – Naples to Amalfi

Last night we’d docked at 6.30pm, on time, and were the first off the boat and headed for Naples 300klms away and hoping to beat the forecast rain – missed it by 30klm. So arrived in the back streets of Naples in a torrential downpour – not the best thing to do.

Today we took a quick walking tour of Naples – you could spend a week wandering these streets and alleyways I’d think. But we only had a couple of hours because today we’re headed for Amalfi.

And then it was off to Amalfi for 2 of what should have been 4 nights. We’d been here in 2019 and it hadn’t lost any of its charm. We stayed in the place as well.
And got a parking ticket to boot – goodness knows how they’ll get their money.

Thank you Amalfi, we enjoyed your beauty. I don’t think we’ll be back though.

Fri 19th – Cetara

Cetara is a mere 15klms around a windy and picturesque coastline from Amalfi. With a host of perfect Mediterranean villages along the way, and traffic that is terrifying one minute and ridiculous the next, any wonder it takes just on an hour.
It’s a beautiful little fishing village with hardly a tourist in sight – and it’s Friday – again.

From our balcony – personal bike parking as well, bottom left.

I like these places.

Sat 20th – Isernia – 170k

Now the trip begins.
Today is overcast and threatening to rain – but doesn’t quite manage it.

We stopped in the tiny crossroads hamlet of Vado della Lota just north of Benevento, where we’d stayed in 2016 with some friends from Melbourne. The neighbours were curious of these folk on a motorcycle.

Then got totally lost in Morcone. Believe me, that street is steeper than it looks.

Before stopping in Isernia for the night. A fairly inconsequential town really.

Sun 21st – L’Aquila – 185klms

There was a lot of snow on the nearby mountains as we headed north.

Stopped in Barrea for morning tea with the sun shining. Clear roads ahead.

Mmm. Not quite – we had to go over the top of the mountain in the previous picture. About 15klms of this stuff. A few vehicles coming our way and no slide marks so I wasn’t too concerned about black ice. But it was 0 degrees so rather chilly. Pretty as a picture though.
Down the other side to Scanno where we found a little café with a sunny window and thawed out.

A squiz at this

On to Sulmona.

Then Succiano

So to L’Aquila where our delightful B&B awaited us. We took a stroll around town which has an enormous amount of reconstruction happening from the severe earthquake of 2009.