Barcelona

Not on a bike for this trip with Mary but we were looking for sun and found it again in Spain, this time Barcelona. It was the first time in the city of both of us.

Highlight of our visit was undoubtedly this iconic building, Gaudi's famous church, La Sagrada Familia.



































The exterior is dramatic but it was stepping inside the building that really took our breath away.

What makes it so special, apart from the novel construction, is the wonderful lighting that modern stained glass produces. It is virtually impossible to do it justice with a point and shoot handheld camera while avoiding being trampled by thousands of visitors.

 We found sun and more interesting architecture at Barceloneta, the very pleasant beach area of the city.

This fish out of water was sculpted by Frank Gehry and although it looks as if it were made fromm copper, it is apparently steel treated in some way.












Mary and I spent a week in Barcelona and in a couple of days I shall be back in Spain but this time on board my new motorcycle. I'm travelling with a couple of friends, ferrying to Bilbao and then going wherever our fancy takes us.

Alemania

No estoy esperando encontrar mucho del sol en mi próximo viaje. Con mi amigo Paul, voy a ir a Alemania durante la segunda semana de abril. Vamos a explorar la región de Eifel - una zona muy amada por moteros, debido a sus caminos fantásticos, paisaje y el Nürburgring - quizá el circuito más famoso en el mundo.

Hicimos los planes hace unas semanas cuando el tiempo hacía bastante caluroso. Hoy, la temperatura ha bajado a seis grados, está nublado y sopla un viento directo desde el Ártico. Sin embargo, los hoteles y billetes del tren ya son pagados, ¡así que vamos!

Un video olvidado

Ahora estamos en pleno invierno y yo me recuerda el sol español cuando me topé con este montaje de (principalmente) fotos de mi viaje que me olvide de subirlas.

Taormina to Cefalù

Our ride skirted the north of Etna and took us through some lava fields then into wonderful open country, characterised by huge broad valleys. The road was in fair condition and had dozens of stupendous sweepers that made for  tremendously enjoyable riding.

Two sights along the way held our attention. The first was a stop at a castle carved into a rock formation in the small town of Sperlinga and the second the town of Gangi which we viewed from a little distance. It presents the most extraordinary sight, being built on a steep sided hill and completely covering the hill, leaving the surrounding countryside and hills more or less bare of habitation. It resembled some fanciful paintings I have seen, a kind of cross between sci-fi and childish whimsy.

We had a great view of Gangi from our lunch stop where we were treated to a fabulous meal. At quite short notice, the restaurant produced a magnificent set of anti pasti dishes that pretty well filled everybody's belly to bursting point although somehow, we also found room for barbecued sausages and the best ice cream of the trip.

Arriving at the coast after dropping down from the inland hills, we were greeted by the spectacle of a a sea of white horses driven by a strong wind that carried salt spray and the scent of seaweed ashore. We followed the coast a few miles before arriving at our very pleasant hotel which fortunately was sheltered from the wind by a small headland, allowing us to enjoy the tranquil setting of a garden right by the sea.

Mount Etna

We spent two nights in Taormina which allowed for a rest day for those who wanted to explore the town or simply to have time off the bikes. On this occasion however, most people opted to ride to Mount Etna and then to take the cable car and buses to the top where special guides take parties to nearby fumaroles designated as safe to approach.

Mary and I had done this trip the year before but I did elect to ride up the mountain and enjoy the picnic lunch the guides prepared for us in the car park where one catches the cable cars up the mountain. The roads were enjoyable with nice views, dominated by glimpses of the higher slopes of Etna as we got climbed higher. Our route took us first to the northern slopes of Etna for the ride and views, then round to the south to reach the cable car station.

As we climbed the slopes of the mountain, the temperature dropped quite considerably and as usual, atop the mountain, it was darned cold with a strong wind, according to the folk who went up - just like last year!

Messina to Taormina

After disembarking from the ferry in Messina, we fought the traffic for a while (it could have been and was usually a lot thicker than we encountered on this occasion, according to Domenico, our guide) before heading out along a section of autostrada along the north coast. We then cut inland over the mountains and enjoyed a marvellous stretch of road with both tight twisties and some nice sweepers, accompanied all the time by splendid views over the countryside.

We stopped to have a look at a part of the gorge of Alcantara where a river has cut its way through beds of lava flows. Domenico said this was just a 100 steps down from the road  - it was 250. Going down was not too bad, coming back up was a different story as the temperature had risen to around 30 deg. and there was plenty of sun.

Our hotel was not in Taormina itself, but a few kilometres north and we spent a couple of nights there. My shots of Taormina at the end of the video include a couple I took last year when my wife Mary and I stayed in the town for a short holiday.

I am happy to say that the video below does reasonable justice to the route.

Maratea to Sicily

Our route from Maratea to Sicily involved a stopover at Tropea before catching a ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina in Sicily. Tropea is a nice old town built on steep cliffs of what appears to be some of the softest sandstone I have seen. There is a church apparently built out of the same stuff atop a squat sea stack - Isola Bella that, judging by its clean lines must have been built fairly recently.

Calabria is a very poor part of Italy and not much frequented by tourists but Tropea must be the most touristy one in the region I think.

The coastal roads from Maratea to Tropea and then on to the ferry port were not very interesting for a biker and generally, the views didn't equal those to be found further north or in the hills. However, just above the town of Maratea is an enormous statue of Christ the Redeemer, similar to the Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro.

The video below covers the journey from Maratea to Sicily and the start of the more interesting roads we found there.