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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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