The Ride - Texas headed north and east, way east
 

The wife and I took a long awaited long distance ride that was planned but canceled because of the C word. So May 1 we depart from our home near Corpus Christi, Texas to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and ride with the Texas Trike Group that is really from all over. Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas were represented this year. The theme was TTR (Texas Trike Reunion) Lost in the Ozarks, a fun week with good friends. Pic was at Buffalo River Outfitters by Low Gap, Arkansas. For those that have never ridden Arkansas, it is a bikers paradise. Great roads, food and people and the state encourages bikers. After spending a few days with friends around the camp fire and ridding great roads, we were off to Toronto, Canada to put the Trike on Air Transat May 11 for a trip to Rome, Italy.
What comes next, who knows, we sure don't. We have the first night lodging nailed down but from there, it's a Wing (pun intended) and a prayer. More to come.

Heading to Italy - hope the Trike is on the plane
 

We departed Toronto on Thursday May 11th at 9:30PM, arriving Rome International Air Port on time May 12th at 12:40PM with Trike in tow (we hope, never saw it loaded and we were looking). As we departed the plane in Rome, we went to the airport tarmac to take a bus to the terminal, the Trike was sitting on it’s pallet just waiting. It would be four long hours before we saw it again. We were not allowed to store any gear on the bike to ship it so we had to hump our luggage and a big disposable box containing tools, helmets, wet gear, heat gear and miscellaneous stuff to customs to meet our arriving agent. Seems that rules have changed since the big C word, you now have to have an agent both out bound and inbound, the individual can no longer deal direct with the airline. Our agent in Rome was Mauricio, heck of a nice guy and kept in touch before we departed thru arrival. Getting the bike, though time consuming, was easy with Mauricio’s help. The total bill for his services, custom fees and freight fees (not the shipping) was a little over $450 US. When next I saw the bike,, it was in red velvet jail…..wow, can’t be too careful. People were taking pictures nonstop. Got the bike, loaded the stuff, disposed of the box and off we went, 6 miles to the B&B, we were both exhausted. Who says you can sleep on the plane. We had discovered by accident a gold mine for travel in Italy, though we did not know it at the time. The B&B was AgriSesto, an old converted multi story farm house with entry in the back and a restaurant in the front. The rooms are plain, utilitarian but clean and perfect for us. The restaurant is rustic with a wood burning fireplace, wood fired pizza oven and a wood fired grill. We had a large handmade pizza cooked in a wood fired pizza oven. We met a couple from Canada staying at the same B&B, it was their last night. Apparently there are lots and lots of this places spread out across Italy that vary from working farms to grape vineyards, olive plantations and hunting lodges. They can be found on https://www.agriturismo.it , our new found friends shared this information. Saturday the 13th we are off to Sicily with stops along the way. My quest for Italy is to visit where my father’s generation came ashore with the 7th Army and also visit where Monty made his landing while seeing sights along the way.

On to Sicily - stop in Naples
 

May 13th, heading to Sicily, first stop is Naples and Pompeii, tonight we sleep in the shadows of Mt. Vesuvius. What have we learned;
In Italy –
Cash is king
It cost $46 Euros to fill the trike, 6.2 Gal.
It is not uncommon for 3 vehicles to occupy a 2 lane road at the place at the same time, no worries, just scoot over.
The center line of the road is there to line up the center of the hood on a car, bike can use any part of the road no matter which direction you’re traveling
Stop lights, stop signs, speed limits are all suggestions, not really mandatory
In the city, you dive with your horn, in the country, not so much
Tunnels are everywhere, from one lane to four lanes with S turns in the tunnels.
Southern Italy, including Sicily is mountainous, the main highways are smooth and the village road can be rough. The top speed limit is 81 MPH on the major highways, some of the two lane roads have 62 mph speed limits on roads an Indy cart could not possibly handle the curve at 40 MPH, what are they thinking.
The photo is Breakfast overlooking Naples.

On to Sicily - stop in Scilla
 

May 14 Sunday, Left the Naples area still working our way to Sicily, stopping for the night in Scilla, a little beach resort town. We were one block from the beach in a rustic, clean and very nice hotel. Lots of sea side beach restaurants, we followed the crowd, they made a good decision, loved the dinner. Unfortunately the old castle on the point is closed. Tomorrow we are on Sicily, it just an hour away by ferry.

Finally made it to Sicily and Messina
 

5-15-23 Sicily – Took the ferry to Sicily, Hotel Europa just out of Messina, rained most of the day, Messina is overcrowded, imagine Houston with the same border but 3 times the people. Big 4 course dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was good but just to much. I did, however get my homemade real Italian cannoli and it was everything I had hoped it would be. Did a little shopping, now that is a bottle of white wine, check the price on Pinot Grigio, it is a bit more expensive at Specs or Wine and More.

To Gela and Syracuse
 

5-16-23 Gela, where Patton landed with the 7th Army. Overnight at Masseria Sul Mare, a real farmhouse close to Syracuse. This is the second Agri property we have stayed at, extremely cheap, clean, comfortable and just amazing. The hostess made reservations for us at a Pizzeria/restaurant which was wonderful. We did find out that you do not order coffee before the meal in Italy, the waiter was stunned or shocked or both, I do not know. We insisted and everyone stared. I think we committed a national sin.

5-17, 18 -23 Palermo
 

5-17, 18-23 Palermo Laundry In Avola – headed to Palermo along the same basic track that Patton’s troops would have taken. Over 5000 men died on that march, nearly double the number of people that lived in the town that I grown up in. The price of freedom is certainly not free. Lodging in the Al Poggetto, it appears it was a hunting lodge at one time. Spent two night regrouping, we are tired.

5-19-23 Cosenza
 

5-19-23 – Left Palermo heading for Rome to get a new bike tire. Spent the night at the BV President near Cosenza

5-20,21-23 Fiuggi
 

5-20/21-23 Hotel Abrego Nord Roma - Two nights waiting for the Honda shop in Rome to open for a new tire. On 5-18, we had dinner at the Grill House – incredible, better than Cattleman’s or Reatta of Fort Worth, a couple of the best steak houses in the USA. Found a coffee house that was wonderful as well. We really could get use to the town of Fluggi, it is quite, clean, friendly, easy to get around in.

5-22-23 New Tire and off to Pisa
 

May 22 Monday Honda Moto Rama of Rome installed new front tire. They work by appointment only but made room for us. Such nice people. There was definitely a language barrier to work through but we got there. They were apologetic for taking so long, dealers back in the states take longer and no apologies. We were in by 9 AM, and out by 11AM, incredible. Add to that, this full up motorcycle dealership has a full up, staffed coffee bar along with a wine bar complete with sandwiches and snacks. After the tire was mounted, pictures with the employees taken we were off to Pisa.

5-23-23 Verona and a Castle
 

May 23 Breakfast at Casale La Sterpaini – school kids everywhere, extremely noisy. They lost little Johnny too. (you remember little Johnny, the one all the jokes are a about, we they had there very own)
Did the obligatory stop in Pisa then;
On to Verona, Italy, beautiful, very walkable town.
We were planning on Venice but too many side adventures such as the castle at the Village of Lusuolo, Italy. All that was there was the Castle, which was locked up and the village houses, some occupied, some falling down. After some other stops we decide to RON at Verona, we stayed at Albergo Trento Hotel, very cool, balcony and a undercover locking garage with an electric gate. Bike was overly secure. The hotel was 3 blocks from the city center, the colosseum, an shops everywhere. The entire thing is walking only, no cars allowed. Take a look at the men’s suits, you’re talking 300+ in the states for the same suit which sells for less than $125. Dinner at a place recommended by the hotel owner. He did not tell us that reservations were required. The hostess took pity on us and found us a seat; I am not sure I understand but they turned away a lot of people after seating us. (there may have been a phone call, we will never know)

5-24-23 Venice
 

5-24-23 Verona for Venice
First project was to wash clothes, we will be doing this once a week. The reason this is worth mentioning is that we met the owner of the laundry mat. Turns out he is an avid bike fan. The next thing you know, we are all gathered around his Moto Map (published in Europe) of the US with some of the good rides that are recommended to Europeans coming to the states to ride. Next thing you know we have a crowd, kinda like being your own traveling circus. It was fun and made a friend. We bid farewell and stuck out for Venice. This is the part where preplanning can jump up and bite you. We rode on to the island and quickly discovered that there was no adequate parking. There was a parking garage but the line was crazy and our luggage is not very portable so back across the bridge to the mainland. We found a room at the Plaza Hotel right by the train tracks. We checked in the hotel, stored the trike and took the train to Venice. Cheep enough at !.48 Euro apiece each way. We could have done a better job of exploring but we did have a good time. We did have dinner in Venice at a nice outdoor café then walked down the street for a Gelato. Maybe next time. Oh and one more thing, since we have been in Italy, this is the first day IT DID NOT RAIN ON US.

5-25-23 Pula
 

5-25-23 Pula – Overnight at Oasi Hotel in Pula, Croatia; we had dinner at Boccaporta, Willie our waiter speaks 5 languages, knows US geography better that some US citizens. We have met some incredibly nice people along or way, this is so much fun.

5-26-23 Croatia Zadar
 

5-26-23 Zadar – Visited the Castle at Boljin, met some bikers that were peddling their way from New Zeeland. Amazing bikes, some costing upwards of $10K US and these guys and gals were in amazing shape. Restaurant in the castle opened at 3PM, we could not stick around until they opened, most unfortunate. Visited old town in Zadar for dinner at La Famiglia. Sheila had an amazing, huge hamburger that she said was delicious, I had the chicken wings and a Greek Salad while rocking out to Mick Jagger and the Stones blaring from the restaurant, way kewl. We took the coast road from Pula to Zadar. Part of the route at the north end was closed and it forced us off the coast through, what turned out to be one of the national parks, it was amazing in itself. Once back on the coast, we never lost sight of the Adriatic Sea and all the myriad of Islands that fill the waters. This road is a two wheel bikers paradise, 185 miles of never ending turns, climbs and decent with virtually no straight sections, on a Trike, it is a real workout. I am glad we did it but not sure I would do it again.

5-27-23 Slovenia and Dragatus
 

5-27-23 Tiny town of Dragatus, staying at a Farm Hotel Zupancicev hram –We left Zadar, Croatia this morning without completing the coast run. Our intention was to go all the way to Split but the road is just too much for a Trike. Got back on the big road which is full of twist and turns along with incredible scenery for our return North Within 30 minutes and about same number of miles, temperatures dropped from about 80 Deg. F to 68 and the wind was howling over the mountain passes. There are windsocks on a number of bridges and they were sticking straight out. We decided to venture into Slovenia and had to deal with a vignette. Did not have a clue as to a vignette, but sure messed up a service stations business when we tried to purchased one. I was struggling, the clerk spoke no English and I was about to give up when a nice Croatian lady offered to help in broken but fairly good English. Together we got the job done but there a least 7 people there that wished these crazy Americans would just move on. Now I found out I have to have one of these things for Switzerland as well. Turns out it is a sticker that amounts to a road tax that you must have or pay heavy fines if caught. We came across the WWII display in the middle of a hay field. Obviously there are those in Slovenia that are very proud of their countries participation on behalf of the Allies during WWII. Slovenia was a nation of turmoil, those that supported Germany and the Partisans that support the allies. Had dinner at the Hotel and it was incredibly good as well as incredibly cheap. Started off with soup, a chicken broth with noodles and herbs then a plate with potato, chicken, pork loin, fried zucchini and a wrap that was deep fried containing chicken and ham. Desert was an assortment of chocolate and chocolate cakes.