After a nice breakfast consisting of assorted bread items, fruit and tea, I got back on the bike looking forward to another good day of riding. I got about 5 miles before I found the road to be closed. It was a small coastal road cut into the hills so it must have been washed away or something, but never the less I had to turn around and take the road that went into the mountains and then get back to the coast farther down, no problem. While I was in the mountains the sky started to cloud up again, but no rain yet. My next stop was Cosenza, in Calabria where my great-grandfather, Joseph Coscarelli, was born. It is located a little ways into the mountains surrounded by hills covered with olive trees, but the city itself is a normal looking city and not a little hill town. I had planned to stay the night there, but since I got there early and there really wasn't much to see I just had a pizza and got back on the road. After leaving Cosenza I decided to take the smaller road that hugged the sea rather than the more direct road I was on. This brought me to a small town built into a cliff called Tropea. It was interesting, but I got a bad vibe from the locals as I rode around looking for a place to stay for the night. It was getting to be that time and the weather was getting ugly again so I thought it would be best to stop here for the night. However, I didn't see any open hotels in this place, so I decided to go back a mile or two to where I had passed some hotels on the road. I found the first place that looked open and went in, as it was now raining again. There were a couple women inside and I asked if they had a room available and they said the hotel was closed (most places don't open until summer), but that there was an apartment I could look at. The hotel looked modern and new, a rarity in these parts, and the apartment was spotless, with two rooms, a kitchen and a bath. So I asked how much, expecting to hear at least 100 euros, and she said it was 35. Deal. Good thing too, because it was now raining hard, very windy and getting dark outside. 
The next day it was a fairly short trip to the tip of Italy, or the toe if you prefer. I could now see Sicily which looks like no more than a few miles from the mainland. I found my way to the marina where they park the ferries and got a 9 euro ticket to take me and the bike across the Straits of Messina. I rode up onto the second deck of the boat and just hung out on the deck for the 20-25 minute ride.
Once across I neandered around Messina a bit and got a bite to eat. Then I got back on the road headed for Taormina and Mount Etna. Unfortunately, all I found was more rain. Taormina is located at the base of Etna and a few miles off the main road. I started that way, but the weather got so bad and the day was getting late I decided it was best to get on the autostrada and get to Catania before dark. So I rode right past a 10,000 foot high volcano and didn't even see it because of the clouds, not to mention missing Taormina which was one of the places I wanted to see. I put my head down and assumed the "get out of the rain fast" position, which was now all too familiar, and before long I was in Catania and doing the daily search for a hotel room routine. Catania is a bigger city located right on the sea, which was absolutely raging with waves crashing into the rocks and shooting into the sky. I found a hotel and paid more than I would have liked for a room, but I didn't feel like searching anymore and wanted to get dry, my feet once again soaked. The next day the weather was still lousy so I decided to stay another night and wait it out. I took a look around Catania and then decided to go to Taormina, rain be damned, but as I set out in that direction the weather had other plans. It started raining heavily and the wind picked up, and I could see that it would only get worse if I kept going, so I spent the rest of the day in the hotel thinking about what I'd rather be doing and hoping it would get better tomorrow.
The next day it was a fairly short trip to the tip of Italy, or the toe if you prefer. I could now see Sicily which looks like no more than a few miles from the mainland. I found my way to the marina where they park the ferries and got a 9 euro ticket to take me and the bike across the Straits of Messina. I rode up onto the second deck of the boat and just hung out on the deck for the 20-25 minute ride.
Once across I neandered around Messina a bit and got a bite to eat. Then I got back on the road headed for Taormina and Mount Etna. Unfortunately, all I found was more rain. Taormina is located at the base of Etna and a few miles off the main road. I started that way, but the weather got so bad and the day was getting late I decided it was best to get on the autostrada and get to Catania before dark. So I rode right past a 10,000 foot high volcano and didn't even see it because of the clouds, not to mention missing Taormina which was one of the places I wanted to see. I put my head down and assumed the "get out of the rain fast" position, which was now all too familiar, and before long I was in Catania and doing the daily search for a hotel room routine. Catania is a bigger city located right on the sea, which was absolutely raging with waves crashing into the rocks and shooting into the sky. I found a hotel and paid more than I would have liked for a room, but I didn't feel like searching anymore and wanted to get dry, my feet once again soaked. The next day the weather was still lousy so I decided to stay another night and wait it out. I took a look around Catania and then decided to go to Taormina, rain be damned, but as I set out in that direction the weather had other plans. It started raining heavily and the wind picked up, and I could see that it would only get worse if I kept going, so I spent the rest of the day in the hotel thinking about what I'd rather be doing and hoping it would get better tomorrow.
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