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**saralou** · #**1756** 28 May 2016

From Salerno we headed inland and on the main road to make up some time and to get to Paestum for a brief visit to see the Greek ruins here.

Amalfi-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Amalfi-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

“Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, which are in a very good state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. “

Amalfi-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Amalfi-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Amalfi-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Amalfi-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1757** 28 May 2016

We then went back to the small roads thru the park where there is almost no traffic on the small curvy roads. Finally we hit the sea side road again just before Sapri.

Amalfi-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Amalfi-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The hotel we had booked was down the cliff from the main road and there were about 6 tight hairpins to get done there.

Amalfi-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1758** 28 May 2016

Today we are headed to or at least towards Sicily depending on how the day goes. We stuck to the coast road, on which we made very quick time and we were at Cabo Vaticano by about 230. So we decided to make a run for the ferry at Villa San Giovanni.

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 21.10.21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Getting in and out of the cape was a bit hairy as following the GPS some times can be. We were on some very steep ups and downs with tight hairpins. At times on a very steep hill that you had to yield to traffic crossing! Also we were off road a bit on a track grown in with bamboo, which we had to pull bits out of the crash bars after some bush whacking. Getting out was a bit easier once we found the right tiny steep narrow path and back to the main road.

To Sicily CC-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1759** 28 May 2016

It is a bit windy today!

To Sicily CC-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1760** 28 May 2016

We arrived to the ferry dock at about 4 and they ferry was just unloading. They are so busy here they are unloading one boat at the same time as loading another so the traffic is crossing. It is a 35 min ride to Messina Sicily. We rolled up and there is a massive sign over the road in English that says BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 21.18.31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1761** 28 May 2016

Here in Messina we stopped for groceries as we planned to camp tonight. We had first though to just go the 28 Km to the first camp place, but decided to press on. It actually took over 2 hours in traffic to get the 62 km to the campground on the cape and we were an exhausted mess by then.

To Sicily CC-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

To Sicily CC-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 21.23.54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The traffic is heavy and people are parked all over both sides of the road. The buses are stopping every 2 minutes! I will say the Sicilian drivers are better than the Italians in general and we actually saw driver courtesy a few times today. They do not drive right on your back tire and pass with more care.

**saralou** · #**1762** 28 May 2016

Setting up camp we were both tired and crabby, but luckily we had a great Malaysian coconut chicken curry (Thanks Faizal) for dinner and a comfy nights rest! They also had extremely hot showers which did help a lot. The camp spot has a nice beach and restaurant.

Sicily-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1763** 2 Jun 2016

Today we are headed to Palermo, which on the toll road is 209 km and takes 2 hr 28 min. If you avoid the toll road it is 222 km and 4 hr and 40 min.

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 22.57.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Polermo by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Polermo-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1764** 2 Jun 2016

We planned to take the coast road, but after 3 hours to get 116 km we had had enough and headed for the toll highway. It was not too bad except for the traffic in the towns where you were going 15 km /hr.

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 21.28.55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

This is almost a continuous set of tunnels of 300-3000 metes with small breaks between. We were a bit worried how much it was going to cost for the 100 km since there was so little traffic, but it was only 4 Euros per bike! At the price of gas here were are even on time saved.

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 21.29.32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The price of gas here varies widely even if 2 stations are in the same block. Today we say from 1.39 E to 1.72 (7.27 USD/ gallon). Arriving To Palermo the traffic was actually following the rules of the road (I know novel concept here in Italy).

**saralou** · #**1765** 2 Jun 2016

So getting into Palermo was a cake walk compared to Naples. The hotel we booked as about a 40 min walk from the historic centre and so we headed out to explore. Here we really appreciated the gothic and baroque buildings.

Sicily-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Sicily-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1766** 2 Jun 2016

Getting out was even less of an issue and we were quickly on the main road west to Trapani. This is a quick 107 km and there was very little traffic. It was non existent getting into Trapani.

Screen Shot 2016-05-26 at 22.26.58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We are headed to the Suzuki dealer here to arrange oil changes and new brake pads for both bikes. In addition the water pump on the 650 has a small leak, which we noted about 10 days ago. Daniel had brought a new one with him since he was worried it would fail on the 800, but its’ poor Lulu with the runny nose. We were told of the shop by our Swedish friend Orvar who had service done on his 1200 2 months ago. The owner created us and was happy to do the work. the only issue is it is some sort of holiday here today on a Thursday and the device shop is closed. He set us up for 830 the next morning. Now it is 1030 am and we have to change plans.

Trapani Bike Service-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Bulk wine!! You bring your own container.

Trapani Bike Service-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1767** 2 Jun 2016

So its tomorrows route today.

Screen Shot 2016-05-26 at 22.37.12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We back tracked on the highway over the farm land to get to the foothills.

Sicily-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We want to visit Corleone!

Sicily-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Many of the roads we took are “unmaintained” according to the signs, but its hard to tell the difference since the road surface is pretty bad in parts on the regular roads. We went 20-30 min at a time and never saw another vehicle.

Sicily-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Then we made a track out to the beach at San Vito lo Cabo. This 253 km loop took 6 hours with stops.

Sicily-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1768** 2 Jun 2016

We were up early to head to Suzuki super bike and they had dropped everything to get our bikes done for us.

Trapani Bike Service by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Trapani Bike Service-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Trapani Bike Service-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Trapani Bike Service-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1769** 2 Jun 2016

Leaving the shop at 230 pm it was 37 degrees. We had planned only a short day since we did not know exactly when they would be done. This worked for us as we had a few hours poolside this afternoon. We met a great couple here from Bonn Ulla and Martin also on an 800 GS.

Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 20.47.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There was a bit of cloud cover today and we had hoped for cooler weather, but no it was 35-36 most of the 188 km to Catania. It did cool to 28 about 20 km from the coast.

Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 20.46.18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr