Desmocentric: Jbone's Moto Misadventures: 2012

Ok, I think I have procrastinated on this long enough… so I’m finally getting around to putting up a blurb or two on a couple bike trips my wife and I did with a stock 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 about 7 months ago, that we rented from a tour company called C.I.M.T. in Rome (cimt.it). They rent out an assortment of touring motorcycles, from the Multistrada, to full on BMW cruisers. There are a number of companies like this to choose from in Italy, but I highly recommend this one. Both Francesco and Gianluca speak perfect English and were very accommodating; they are the best in town in my humble opinion. Not to mention Gianluca was the original owner of my 748, but that’s another story!

Our first outing on this exquisite beast was a bit of a last minute shake down ride to see if my better half could handle being on the back of a bike for extended periods of time. Up until this point she’d only ever been on the back of either my Honda Hornet or my Ducati 748 for quick boots around Rome…. And if any of you have been to Rome, you know that there are A LOT of cobble stones! Something for which Italian super bikes are not really built for…never mind with a 5ft 11 bird on the back!

Anyway, once I convinced Sandra (my wife…not the bike) that renting a Multi 1200 was a good idea, out came the maps. Over a few pots of coffee and much deliberating it was decided that a quick jaunt into the southern heart land of Italy was the best idea: Rome-Sorrento-Matera-Sulmona-Rome. Not too far, yet not so close……Or so it seemed on the map (Famous last words??)!

The planned route was as follows: Make a quick dash to Sorrento taking the Autostrada (A1) south from Rome and stay the night catching the famous Easter procession that was to take place later that evening. The next day we’d head to Matera which is where they filmed “The Passion of Christ”. Up until the mid-1950’s Matera was still predominantly a troglodyte city, and now some of those cave-dwellings have been turned into chic hotels. I had found an interesting place called Albergo Sextantio and was keen to check it out! We’d head south east from Sorrento using the Autostrada to get us within striking distance and then hit the back roads the rest of the way (which is more or less your only option anyway). After a night in Matera the plan was to head back north, but this time take a meandering, non-autostrada route, straight up the middle to a town in Abruzzo called Sulmona. We knew the town well and had friends there. To add a little incentive to meet timings, we were expected for Easter Sunday dinner! Easy, right?

Rome-Sorrento:

What’s the saying? “Best laid plans….blah, blah, blah,”…. Yeah, so about half way to Sorrento, the winds were kicking up and Sandra’s poor head was bobbing around like a balloon on the back, so we hit a rest stop and pulled out our massive inch thick, full color road map of Italy (a wonderful piece of kit! I highly recommend it to anyone travelling around Italy with OR without a gps as you will read in the next chapter! Also works great as a wind block inside one’s jacket too!). After a quick map check we plotted an alternate route. We’d turn off the A1 at a place called Ceprano and quickly hop over the hills to join up with SS213 and then the SS7, which ran along the coast, then along the bay of Naples and link up with the SS143 into Sorrento. Unless you’re used to riding in such places as Dakar or New Delhi… DO NOT DO THIS EVER!!!

Truth be told, it was quite beautiful and nice going up and over the hills; Green and lush with lazy twisting roads going up and down and through all manner of small, southern Italian towns. But once on the coast, it was gangbusters all the way to Sorrento! Actually it was on the SS7 north of Naples where, I am convinced; being on the Multi instead of another bike (Like the Bonneville 800 we were going to rent) saved our lives!!

As one does when on two wheels in Italy, lane splitting is just what you do. You get used to it and eventually it becomes second nature…. But that’s not to say that you don’t take precautions. In Italy at least…. There is a method to the madness…but I digress. For what seemed a millennium we had been riding along the SS7 in what could only be described as very heavy and somewhat dodgy, southern Italian traffic. Lots crazy S.O.B.’s in fiats trying to overtake 10 cars and/or trucks at one go at any given moment (reminded me of India in a way… more on that later!). Anyway, at one point our side of the road got a bit wider, to the point where we were fitting two or three cars across, even though it was still only one lane each way. At this point, I was getting quite used to the Multi and was feeling confident. We were two up with full panniers (yeah we could have done with far less but I figured we should test this part of the trip as well) and I had the bike in “Urban” mode which was giving us 100 HP, as softer suspension set-up and full TC (Traction Control). At one point there was a bigger gap in the oncoming traffic and a couple of cars a little bit ahead of our position were starting to overtake, so I decided this was a good time to gain some ground and try to get ahead of some the slower traffic. I dropped down a gear to get the revs up, checked that no one behind us had the same idea I had, and pulled out, giving the throttle a good twist at the same time. Even with the two of us and a full triple pannier load, we were flyin’ in a heartbeat!

However that heartbeat soon turned into about a 160 bpm when about two thirds the way to the point where we were going to pull back in, a car in the slow lane pulled a sudden left about 25 meters in front of us. I don’t recall our exact speed, but I think it was well over 100kmh. By this time there were about four or five cars right on our ass following us like it was the last lap of Le Mans, so our options we really quite simple: Hit the car turning left and basically die, or chance a hard break and maneuver to the right and hope to high heaven that the car immediately behind us was paying attention! Needless to say I chose the latter. I immediately dumped the throttle and jammed on the binders for all I was worth. The front end dived all the way forward and I slid forward against the tank as my poor wife slammed hard up against me. My arms strained to keep the both of us on the bike, then at the last moment I let go of the breaks, swerved to the right, at the same time praying to every deity I could think of that there was no car there, and jumped back onto the throttle to straighten us out……..Geezus, Marry and the holy Buddha!! We made it!! I turned to my wife who was at this point going apoplectic in her helmet and apologized (not sure why), and then let out a massive “WoooooooOOOOOYeaaahhh….!!!!” To help purge the remaining adrenalin that was now coursing through my body!.... I think it took a good 30 minutes for my arms to stop shaking !

In short, I was absolutely amazed at the handling of this motorcycle. I mean, I am by no means a “seasoned” rider. Sure, I’ve ridden and driven in many crazy places, all over the world, but in terms of miles under the wheels, I’m a green novice at best when it comes to touring. But on the Ducati, I truly felt I could take on the world….as long as it didn’t have any bumps or pot holes that were greater than five inches!

About an hour after that, we arrived in Naples proper. Now, I will admit a bit of naiveté on my part as I had envisioned a sweeping coastal road with high end restaurants and hotels lining the bay from one end to the other, not unlike the Riviera, only with the monster that is Naples lumbering down upon on it from behind. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Actually, to my credit, the far northern tip of the bay, just past Pozzuoli (I think), isn’t too far from this vision. But once you’re in the center, you’re truly in the mouth of the beast! (To this day it still baffles me how we ended up where we did…. I’ve looked at maps and it makes absolutely no sense at all the way we went. All I can say is that on the ground, it seemed to really be the only option…).

Guys on Gixxers in full Rizzla Camo pulling wheelies in rush hour traffic….with NO helmets! (Apparently Naples police prefer no helmet to full face helmets so that they can identify anyone pulling a heist on a bike!), roads that made India tarmac look good and sheer vehicular chaos in general! At one point, about three quarters the way across the bay, we came to a section of road, fairly typical in Italian cities, where one lane splits to the right for normal traffic and another one splits to the left for trams, emergency vehicles and taxi’s and the two are divided by a concrete curb or median. For reasons that escape me now, I had decided that sticking in the right lane with everyone else was the better option. I guess I figured I could lane split our way through like anywhere else in Italy. And again, I was proven very wrong! As it happened, we got pretty jammed up, mainly due to the panniers, while every scooter and motorcycle and car zipped (illegally) along the tramway. Oh …did I mention the condition of the right lane? No? Well let me tell you it was perhaps the most frightening piece of road I’ve been on in the world! I think we bottomed out the Multi about 3-4 times, most likely due to the softer suspension setting on the Urban mode, but with a full load and no room to maneuver, it was a very challenging section for me.

Eventually we came to a ramp that lead onto the Autostrada E45/A3 that would take us to the SS143 and then onto Sorrento, which we were relieved to find and gladly took. But not before taking the wrong ramp direction and ending up doing a loop through a very rough industrial area where the road was in a state of disrepair that made even the dodgiest Indian roadway or Thai back woods jungle track look like the Autobahn …we were both having serious flashbacks from northern India, it was uncanny the resemblance!! Mercifully the Italian road gods had seen fit to design a loop around back to the ramp leading to the main highway, and after about 20-30 minutes more of riding we arrived in Sorrento, both of us exhausted and well-cooked from the heat. What had taken us two and half hours by car via the Autostrada last year had taken us a whopping 8hrs!! Suffice it to say, we were proving our worth in the saddle even though our choice of roadway left a lot to be desired!

A Night in Sorrento:

Last year we had spent a lovely weekend in Positano, which is just down the coast from Sorrento, and had a great time. I’m glad to report that although not quite as dramatic as Positano, Sorrento was also quite a nice place.

We stayed at a rather odd, modern, kitschy hotel called “Palazzo Abagnale Sorrento” located in the center of town. It seemed to get its inspiration from 1960’s comic books, Barebarella and perhaps a light sprinkling of The Avengers for good measure. It was definitely not the usual fare in a place like Sorrento, but it had its own charm, that’s for sure. The only real negative for us, was that it did not have onsite parking (or a pool…..what we would have given for a cool dip!), but they did give me a ticket for a garage about a block or two up the street. I was a tad concerned, but once I found the place I was pretty sure nothing would happen to the bike as there were about 50 other Ducati’s of every kind parked in there, not to mention a few high end sports cars including a brand, spanking new, red 458 Italia and a flaming orange Lambo Gallardo! The Multi would be in good company for the night!

After a well-deserved shower and post-ride beer, we had a quick word with the front desk about local restaurants, made a reservation for later that evening and headed out to have a leisurely stroll through Sorrento’s picturesque streets. Where Positano is much more dramatic, being situated on a very steep hillside emptying out into the sea and flanked on both sides by the imposing walls of the coastal hills of southern Italy, Sorrento is less so as it sits atop the winding seaside cliffs between Naples and Positano to the south and is flat in comparison, gently sloping up from the edge of the cliffs to the foot of the hillside behind the town.

We strolled through Sorrento’s streets, gazing through shop windows as we made our way to the seaside cliffs for a last glimpse of the sun as it set over the sea. After enjoying another beer at one of the cliff-side café’s we snapped a few pictures and made our way to the restaurant that our guest house had booked for us.

Restaurants are a funny business in Italy. One would think that, being Italy, all restaurants would be good to great considering that they only do Italian cuisine…AND you’re in Italy. But you’d be wrong. As with anywhere else in the world, Italy has more than its fair share of duds in this department. That said, even the most mediocre joint is usually better than what you would get back home, but once you’ve experienced Italian restaurants at their finest…. There is just no going back!

And so, it was in this mindset that we arrived at our restaurant that evening, expecting good things. Overall the meal was average at best, however, the wine that was recommended by the owner was…to put it mildly…. Simply amazing! Which kind of made up for the not-so-amazing food.

After dinner we made our way into the older part of town to watch the Easter procession. It was quite a spectacle, as thousands of locals and tourists alike lined every street to watch the procession pass by. It was a pretty long one too, at a guestimated kilometer in length and filled with all manner of odd looking soul; some dressed head to toe in black, with others in white. Some carrying religious effigies or torches, and some wearing pointy hoods with the eyes cut out…..! A lot more over the top-scary than the god-father-esque procession in Algero, Sardinia.

Sorrento-Matera:

The next morning we got right down to business and packed up after a quick continental breakfast and a latte or two. As I headed out to get the bike I noticed that there were cars parked up and down along the street leaving me nowhere to park and load up. No worries…. In Italy, that’s what sidewalks are for! It is at times like these that I truly love Italy. In a lot of other places (Canada comes to mind), you would most likely be scorned and/or heckled for jumping the curb and parking your motorcycle on the sidewalk (never mind getting a ticket!). Not here. In Italy a bike on the sidewalk is common…. A Ducati on the sidewalk is art! So there I was, loading up the Multi to a constant stream of “Che bello!”, “Bellissima questa Ducati!” and even a few “Complimenti!”…. no need for anyone to know it’s a rental; )

In no time we were on the road again riding out along the main road out of Sorrento towards Naples in order to link up with the highway to Matera. It was a busy ride out, with tour bus after tour bus snaking their way towards Sorrento from Naples and vice versa. I had resigned myself to a rather uneventful 45 minutes or so of riding until I heard a very loud and deep rumble building up from behind us. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed my suspicions: closing fast was the Ferrari 458 from the garage! The sound this car makes is pure music and quite unmistakable and I was happy to have it close behind us as we wound our way along the coast to the Naples-Salerno turn off. We made quite the pair rumbling and twisting through all the little hamlets along the way. These two machines tend to turn heads enough on their own (admittedly the Ferrari more so than the Ducati) but together….well…let’s just say I think I have an idea what it must be like to be Brad and Angelina strolling around in places like Venice or Rome! Mamma mia!!

After our brief delusion of fame, we nodded our farewells to the Ferrari as we split to the east on the next leg of the journey.

Now, I know what you Adventure purists are saying out there….”Autostradas and Highways!! Blah!!!”, and I agree. The first bit was like any other super highway…. B.O.R.I.N.G! And the mass traffic jam about 20 minutes out of Naples didn’t help matters either. However, a valley or two later and it got spectacularly beautiful! The one thing that Italian Autostrada designers do very well is capture all the best views possible! And this part of the country was no exception! We had a good hour or so of “oooing” and “aaaahing” in our helmets at glorious mountain ranges and deep green valleys as we approached the border of Campania and Basilicata.

Although it was a beautiful ride, we were both glad to get off the Autostrada and onto the back roads where we’d be able to cruise along at a nice easy pace. A few valleys and map checks later we came to a winding road covered over by great big oak trees that let in just enough sunlight to give everything a golden glow! Switchback after switchback was like this and it reminded me of some medieval fairytale….beautiful! I remember thinking to myself that we should stop and get a picture of this spectacular road, but I was having way too much fun riding!

Eventually the oak tree-lined twisties gave way to gently rolling hillside…. Kind of like Tuscany, only green instead of gold and a bit flatter. We stopped to fill up at a small gas station and a quick map check told us Matera was at the top of the next hill. I did a double take as the area we were in wasn’t all that spectacular and Matera was supposed to be quite an amazing place….

We carried on in spite of this, hoping that the landscape would change in the next 10 km. As we started to climb up the gentle slope of the hill, we confirmed our location when we passed a sign that said “Matera”. Sandra was “what-the-f-ing” on the back and quite frankly so was I…. all this way for this?! We got into what looked like the center of town, which to be honest, looked like any other modern-day Italian town. At times like these it’s best to put the man-pride aside and ask for directions…or rather, get your wife to ask for directions! We saw a tourist info booth up the road, so I sent Sandra on a path finding mission. A pleasant, English speaking attendant gave us a local tourist map with new directions and we were back on the road. Apparently this place we were booked at was a bit notorious for being hard to find! That usually means that it’s worth it though, so my hopes were high.

We tried our best, but the directions and the tourist map we were given weren’t making much sense so we stopped to ask directions again, only this time we dismounted to give our poor bums a break. That and the fact that the stone cobbles where worn so smooth that they were quite slippy even in the hot dry sun, and I wasn’t in the mood to drop the bike.

We approached a restaurant terrace where some locals were having some lunch and we asked if they knew where the hotel we were looking for was. Had they heard of this place?

Guy eating pasta: “Of Course! Hmmm, now, how do you get to it?…. You know, it is quite complicated to get to. Giova! What is the best way to get to Sextantio?”

Giova: “Aoh (Big hand gesture!)! You need to go down there (another big hand gesture)…. All the way and then turn right…it is on the other side of the village.”

Me: “We can ride the bike there yeah?”

Pasta guy:” Hmmm, no I think not my friend.”

Giova: “Aoh! (Multiple hand gestures this time!!) Waddya talking about! How can he not ride the bike there?! Of course he can! Mannaggia Miseria!”

It was at this point that the whole table of 5 or 6 people started to argue whether it was this way or that… or whether or not one could ride a bike there…. To be honest we lost track of the conversation. Although our Italian ain’t half bad… this was serious, Paisano-free-for-all Italian which was way out of our league. We thanked them very much and made a break for the bike and tried to decipher their directions.

A short ride later, exasperated and exhausted, we ended up at the top of the town parked in front of a church. According to the directions the hotel was close, but we could go no further with the bike. From the parking area, you were treated to quite a nice view of old Matera, and it was here that we started to get a sense of the place. The sun was shining and dozens of falcon’s circled high above us on thermals…. Another thing Matera is known for. The town spread out below us, hugging the gentle slope of the valley and continued along the valley contour disappearing around a bend to our right.

It was a good place to have a rest, so I left Sandra with the Multi and had a bit of recce around the church to see if there was a road or something on the other side that we could take. I followed an alley way on the side of the church. It was wide enough to ride down for sure, as some of locals had their cars and motorino’s (Small scooters) parked up on the sides. I was seriously considering riding down here to get to the other side, that was, until I came to a set of stairs that lead out the back.

My riding boots weren’t giving me much love at this point so I decided I would go only a little bit further before turning around. At the bottom of the stairs, the alley opened up to the other side of the winding valley, revealing Matera’s true nature. Before me was a panorama of the opposite side of the valley with cave after cave, that had been painstakingly carved out by hand centuries ago. It was just past midday and the sun was starting to dip slightly, putting my side of the valley in some welcome shade but blanketing the other side in a golden glow which brought out a beautiful contrast between the green of the grass and the tan, ochre and sulphur-ish yellows of the rock. I had a brief stop to take in my new surroundings and noticed that the stairs continued on down and around the backside of the hill and down to what looked like a nice open roadway. I figured that I would at least get to a point where I could see more of that road way and see if I could figure out how to get down there with the bike.

On this side of the valley the buildings of the town stopped at edge of the hilltop, but as I made my way along the stairs, I realized that the entire side of the hill was covered in little doors…caves! Some were right on the stairway, and others had little pathways that lead off of the stairs, some even had their own little court yards. Looking down at the road again, I could tell that it followed the contour of the town as it wound its way along the edge of the valley, and figured that we could probably find a road to get down to it as the hotel had to be along this road somewhere. As I turned to go back up the stairs, I glanced at a small metal sign on a knee high gate to a pathway that lead to one of the bigger courtyards: “Sextantio” !! Finally!

I immediately hoofed it back up the stairs and along the alleyway back to the parking area where I left Sandra and the bike to let her know I had found it. Once I got back we decided it would be easier, in the short term anyway, to lug the panniers along the alley and down the stairs to the hotel and then worry about the bike after we had checked in. It was a bit of a slog, but well worth it as the place was amazing! Basically, there was no “hotel” in the traditional sense. That is, one building with multiple rooms. Instead the hillside was essentially the “building” and all the different caves that, up until the mid-1950’s were still being lived in, were the rooms! Of course they had all been restored and given such modern amenities as running water and electricity.

We arrived at the hotel lobby (which itself was a converted cave), hot, sweaty and quite exhausted. The owner, a tall slim guy with chiseled features, was there to greet us as we arrive. He was very pleasant and complimented us on our Italian before mercifully switching into perfect English. We made small talk as the receptionist processed our reservation and got to talking about where we could park. He was very interested in the fact that we had ridden there on a Ducati and was keen to see it. I explained that it was back up top, parked in front of the church and that we had no clue how to get it down to the road in front of the hotel. The owner then asked if I had a map, to which I said yes and pulled out the tourist map the info booth attendant had given us.

He had a bit of a chuckle at this and in that way Italians have of looking at you when they know something you don’t and are about to let you in on the secret, he pulled out a stack of maps the hotel had made up that was actually, quite accurate. On this map, he pointed out, you could see that essentially there was a ring road around the part of town we were in and that if I took the bike down past the restaurant where we had asked for directions earlier and took my first option left, I would come to a T-junction. From there if I turned left again and headed down, I would find myself on the road that was just out front and below where there was a parking spot for the bike.

After he showed us to our room/private cave (more on this later), I shed my riding jacket, glad to be free of its sweltering heat, grabbed my helmet and riding gloves and set off up the stairs and back to the bike. Once I got there I hopped on and started it up, happy to be free of the weight of both an extra person and the panniers. In fact it felt a lot like being on a motocross, albeit a big one and I was stoked to have quick boot around town.

I turned the bike around and slipped down the narrow street to the main drag where the restaurant was. I was taking it easy as there were people about. I hit the left hand turn and after a series of narrow curves, I came to the T-junction. I went to go left, but was stopped by a police woman who was blocking the way, shaking her head and wagging her finger at me and another guy in a fiat. From what I overheard, vehicles weren’t allowed down there. Strange I thought, but “no bother.” I figured that there was another way down via some back road or alley way and with the panniers off, was sure I could get the bike anywhere I needed it to go. So I sped off, going straight through looking for another way down. After about 4-5 minutes of riding I soon realized that the only place this road was leading was out of town. Frustrated, I turned around, determined to talk my way past the copper. Surely she would let me pass to get to my hotel.

Once I arrived back at the intersection, I pulled up beside the police woman. I motioned for her to come near so I could talk to her. As she came near I explained in my best and most polite Italian that I had to get down to my hotel which is just a short distance down the road. “No!”

“Er…. Ok…. Um, what am I supposed to do then?” I asked her?

“Vehicles are not permitted down this road!” She said.

Looking passed her; I could plainly see dozens of vehicles parked all over the place. “I’m sorry, but how did those cars get over there then?” I said

With a roll of her eyes and a look on her face that said “how stupid are you?” She then explained that the road was closed to traffic from 3pm until 8pm every day. I looked at my watch….it was 10 after 3!

I said as much and explained that I wasn’t going to be riding far, that our hotel was just about 100 meters down the road and that we had been on the road all day and were tired and hungry and just wanted to relax. “NO!”

Fed up with this obtuse ridiculousness, I said “Fine! Fucking have it your way!” in English and perhaps made some derogatory comment on Italy’s bureaucratic BS (also in English), gunned the Multi and took off, pulling a small but nice wheelie as I sped off to return to the church parking lot! I had forgotten that I had put the bike in touring mode, which gave an additional 50hp and less TC and with far less weight on the bike, she (the bike not the cop) veered up like the Ferrari stallion and took off like a stabbed rat!!

As I mentioned before, I’m not terribly experienced on big bikes, so the fact that I was able and even felt comfortable controlling the bike in this situation is a testament to the bike’s engineering and rideability!

I returned to the church after a short but spirited ride, and walked back down to the hotel. The owner saw me coming back and asked if I got lost. I said no and explained about the police woman blocking the road.

Shaking his head, he said “ok… this is what you do. Both of you suit up and get back on the bike. Go the in the opposite direction and you will come to another police officer blocking the other side. When you get to him, do not speak Italian…in English, explain to him where you are going and show him the map I gave you. Take my card too and call me if you any problems.”

So off we went, and sure enough we came to the other police officer, this one was an older, rough looking dude. He immediately put his hand up when he saw us coming. Shaking his head he gave us a rapid fire dose of authoritative Italian as we pulled up beside him. In my best stupid Anglo-tourist-all-non-English-speakers-are-deft-voice, I said “WE….NEED…TO…GET… (Hand gesture)….TO…OUR…HOTEL…. (More hand gestures). On cue, Sandra explained that it was just a short way down the hill and showed the officer the map.

All of sudden, the copper’s attitude changed completely. We were no longer disobedient Italians challenging his arbitrary enforcement of the law, but stupid, if not somewhat simple tourists… which are not worth the trouble apparently as he let us pass and even gave us further directions. We gave him our best dumb-gringo “Gratseee!” and headed on down to our parking spot.

The owner was waiting for us and asked how it went. “Perfectly”, I said. “We did exactly what you said and the police man let us pass with no problem”.

The owner beamed and said “I know my chickens”.

Livin’ in the Grotto: Our Room at Albergo Sextantio:

After the Owner had a quick ogle over the Multi, we finally had chance to relax and decompress a little in our room….and what a room it was! As mentioned before, the rooms are former cave dwellings from when the town was troglodyte heaven. This one was about 15-20 ft. wide, with a big vaulted ceiling which was maybe 20-ish ft. high. In the room was nothing more than a king size bed, and a few rustic yet simple furniture pieces. A short, shallow stairwell led down and back to the bathroom which was a 10 ft square, open concept design. The counter top was carved right into the wall of the chamber directly across from the waterfall shower head discreetly hanging from the ceiling.

The owner went to a lot of trouble to keep the rooms sparse and as original as possible, but at the same time modern and I have to say, he accomplished this nicely. Any and all modern looking amenities were hidden by rustic wood panels to maintain the ancient feel of the place, and anything that was not tucked away looked like in belonged there.

Once we had freshened up we sauntered down to the reception area to ask about breakfast the next day and if they had any recommendations for restaurants. The reception area was in what used to be the towns original church, cut into the side of the hill like all of the other rooms…only a lot bigger! The reception office looked to be in what could have been the priest’s chambers, which was adjacent the church itself. Converted into the dining area for breakfast, the main Church cathedral was huge. Where our room shared a stonewall built by hand hundreds of years ago with the one next door, this cathedral was carved entirely out of the hillside by hand…. Including the pillars that supported the ceiling! Looking at this place, it is no wonder that they choose this spot to film “Passion of the Christ”…. Sitting in here you truly felt like you had gone back in time and that JC himself was about to walk through the door any minute!

Our grumbling tummies brought us back to earth and the task at hand and we asked about getting a table at a local restaurant for that night. We asked if he might be able to get us a table at the restaurant that we had stopped at to ask directions to the hotel earlier, as it looked like it might be good. He kind of gave us this look and said “If you wish I can get you a table there…. But I would not recommend it.”

I had a good feeling about the owner of this place and besides, one thing we had learned while being in Italy, is that Italians take their food seriously. So we decided to trust his recommendation for another restaurant close by. He called ahead and booked a table for later that night and told us that they would treat us well.

So with Nikon in hand, we set off to explore Matera for the rest of the afternoon until dinner. Matera is a bit of an odd place. One minute you feel like you’re in Italy, but turn a corner or look up at the buildings ahead and you could easily be anywhere in the Middle East! Actually, we had just come back from a trip to Jordan not long before going on this trip and I definitely felt like we were back there at times. We have this great picture of Matera hanging in our kitchen that we took just down the way from the Church with the parking area in front of it. It was well into dusk when we took it and the shot came out really well. Everyone who’s seen that shot always asks us if it was taken in Israel!

The architecture in this place was something else as well. Aside from the amazing cave dwellings, there were some really unique buildings. The two that come to mind right away are both churches, yet both vastly different from each other.

In the center of what is the older part of Matera is this huge rock mound on top of one of the hills. So big in fact, that the subterranean loving Materans of old decided that they’d hollow out that giant rock out crop and make it their new “above ground” church. It’s pretty wild when you stop to think about it really…. I mean, digging into a hillside with pick axes or whatever they used back in the day sounds hard enough, but into solid stone?!?! Amazing!

The other church was equally cool, but in a more creepy WTF, kind of way. It was located close to the restaurant where we had asked for directions earlier, and has this very macabre façade covered in skulls and skeletons holding scythes’, but otherwise it could have been any church in Italy! Very “Skull and Bones”!!

We wandered around a bit more snapping pictures here and there until it was diner time, when we headed over to the restaurant which was called “Baccus”. Inside, it was quite a lot more open and airy than it looked to be on the outside, with high vaulted brick ceilings held up by clean whitewashed walls. Typical Trattoria style tables and chairs filled the space along with the full house of local patrons…it was Easter in southern Italy after all and the place was rammed. We were seated at our table and given menus and a wine list right away while the owner/manager chatted us up briefly before having to attend to other customers.

We thought we’d keep it simple that night and ordered the house wine which was on tap and served by the liter. It arrived in no time, and it turned out to be pretty damn good for house wine…even by Italian standards! Needless to say…more than one liter was consumed over the course of the meal!

As for the food…. Well, let’s just say it more than made up for the previous night’s meal in Sorrento! It was not only amazingly good but the portion size was bang on. In fact we both had a hard time finishing up everything! Basically it was what every meal in Italy can and should be! By the time we finished the last of our wine and paid our bill there was quite a line up to get into the place, so we decided to make tracks and have a little after dinner stroll before turning in for the night.

Sulmona or Bust! – Matera to Sulmona:

The next morning we got an early start as we had a long way to go. Our average distance per day so far on this trip was around 250-280 kilometers, but today we were going to be pushing 500. Not so bad if you’re on a highway and able to cruise at speed, but this was mostly twisting back roads. Let me take a moment to talk about “Back Roads” in Italy, as I’ve mentioned them a lot. I used the term loosely to mean any non autostrada route. For the most part, the roads in Italy are pretty good, but what was going to make this leg a bit of challenge was that there were hundreds of junctions and turn offs we had to navigate through, some more obvious than others. GPS you say? Well yeah…we had one, but I did not bring it on the trip as I didn’t want to use it for two reasons: 1- I like using a map and think that it is a skill that is vital to anyone road tripping 2- Our GPS was about as reliable as a drunk hobo and in fact had tried to kill us on a number of occasions while in Italy.

Anyway, we said our fond farewells to our amazing host and hit the road. The day started out alright, but somewhere between Potenza and Benevento, we ran into some difficulty figuring out which road we were actually on, which cost us some time, but all in all we made it to Benevento more less unscathed. The only drama we encountered was a bit of a panic as the Multi was getting very low on fuel and gas station after gas station was closed! We eventually found an automated, pre-pay pump with less than 40 clicks left in the tank!

The next bit of interesting riding took place a bit north of Benevento. We found ourselves on a lovely two lane highway with next to no traffic and were making good time, which was nice as we had lost a good hour previously on the way to Benevento. However, right before heading into a tunnel to get to the next valley, there was a detour that took traffic up and over the mountain! As traffic was light, it was just us and this nutter in a BMW 3 series giving it the clappers on every turn. And we’re talking some seriously tight switchbacks here! For what seemed like the better part of an hour, we were taking hair pin turns where I had to get the bike just about horizontal to make the turns. This was a bit nerve racking for me at first as there was a lot of weight to contend with, but after a while I got in the groove and I was able to get us round no problem and started to enjoy myself.

Mr. Clappers had long since outpaced us by the time we reached the top and as we crested the last bit of road on that side of the mountain…. Mr. Clappers blew by us going in the opposite direction! Guess he thought he was on Pikes Peak or something….

Now, if you’ve ever ridden or for that matter driven through Italy, or any other mountainous place, you know that just because it’s nice and sunny when you go into the tunnel that it isn’t necessarily going to be sunny when you exit the tunnel on the other side. As we rode through the small town at the top we could see that it was cloudy and quite miserable looking down below on the other side, which was a shame really, because we had had great weather up until this point.

As we descended, the temperature also dropped significantly as the wind started to get stronger. We were getting close to our final destination, maybe only another 60-70 km, and we were both feeling tired from being in the saddle all day. With the weather closing in, the urge to push harder in order to get there quicker was overwhelming at times! But I knew that this is when bad things can happen, so we took it easy. It got a little sketchy going down, mainly because I was getting a bit of vertigo from the extreme height of the highway from the valley floor, but also because the grade was pretty unforgiving and the roadway was wet and slippery as all hell from the sleet.

By the time we made it to the bottom, we were pretty frozen. My leather gloves were soaked through and this being the bone standard Multistrada, there were no heated grips….. Heated grips, heated grips….My kingdom for a pair of heated grips!!

The last 10 km or so felt an eternity, but we pushed on and made our Easter Sunday dinner RV… a little late, but we made it none the less. Cold, road-beaten and tired, we rolled into Pacentro, home to Madonna’s family and a stone’s throw from Sulmona, with a roar as the multi’s engine beat a tattoo against the walls of the buildings in the narrow streets. We pulled up outside the restaurant where our friends were waiting and caused quite a scene as we dismounted. As I’ve said before, Ducati’s turn heads… and Pacentro is no exception. Question upon question was asked by our friend’s family members until we were pulled into the Trattoria to eat a well-deserved meal.

After dinner, we mounted up to head into Sulmona where we were staying at our friends place. As the Multi had been the topic of conversation most of the meal, one of our friends, Vanessa, was keen to have a go. Sandra’s bum had had enough for one day so she was glad to relinquish her seat in place of a comfy car ride down the hill to Sulmona. Now, there are a couple ways one can get to Pacentro from Sulmona and vice versa, however, the main road up the hill is a wicked series hairpins that I was keen have a go at on the multi. As Vanessa was a lot smaller than Sandra, I had less weight on the back too! So I put the Multi in Sport mode and woke the beast for one last run that day.

I took the lead in our little motorcade and quickly left the cagers in the dust as we approached the first in the series of switchbacks. I was a little apprehensive as I had heard stories of how the engine in its original incarnation in the 1198 was a complete animal and since I was in Sport mode it was givin’ the full 150HP and next to no TC.

As we came to the corner I geared down hard and applied enough break to make the apex…. I was a little off the mark, but made it no problem…. I gunned it coming out and was reminded that the TC was in minimal control as the rear got a bit lively coming out of the corner. Second corner now… brake hard, gear down…smack!, poor Vanessa’s helmet cracked the back of mine…. The sure sign of an amateur pillion…either that or overly aggressive braking!! No matter, this time I made the apex beautifully, getting the bike real low. Perhaps a little too low as I was suddenly aware that I was no longer wearing my riding boots, but instead my runners, as I clipped the toe of my inside foot! Nothing too bad, just got a good scrape on the edge, but my foot did get knocked clean off the peg…no question, I was lucky! WEAR YER BOOTS KIDS!!

I started to get my groove, the multi tracking nicely through each hairpin. When we came round the final turn, the road flattened out into a nice long, lazy left hand bend, emptying out onto about a kilometer and a half of straight before we had to hang right. I gave the throttle a good twist as we came round and out of the final turn, the multi straightened right up and I accelerated hard! I leaned the bike ever so slightly round the left hand bend and gave it a touch more juice as we hit the straight. We made the click and a half in no time at all!

As we approached our destination, I calmed the beast down to an easy cruise,lifted my visor and turned to Vanessa; “How was that?” I asked.

“That was Crazy! When we came out onto the straight I almost got whiplash we took off so fast!!” She replied.

‘nough said!

The next morning we slept in a little as Rome was only an hour and a half away by Autostrada. A route we had done dozens of times before. However, as we set off, I could see a massive, dark cloud formation hugging the top of the mountains to the west…. Exactly where we were headed. By the looks of them it was going to be absolutely pissing down in the next valley! Weather systems in these parts can throw you for a loop some times, so we opted to wait and see if mother nature changed her mind as we made our way over to the tunnel. Sure enough about a few kilometers from the tunnel entrance, the cars coming from the other side were slick with rain, so I pulled us over under an overpass and we suited up into out raingear.

Long story short, it was a wet and cold ride all the way to Rome.

At the end of the day:

This was my first serious outing on a (Adventure) touring type bike, so my overall impressions might not count for much, seeing as I have nothing to compare it to. However, as a motorcycle, pure and simple, I feel I can safely say that the 2010 Multistrada 1200 is a fantastic machine! It was relatively comfortable in its stock format, was blisteringly fast when you need it to be, yet perfectly willing to cruise at civilized speeds and was very easy to ride. We were so impressed with it in fact, that we are going to use it for a much bigger trip, this time covering the northern mountain ranges of Italy and Switzerland: Milan-St. Moritz-Bormio/Stelvio- Campo Tures-Venice-Milan. More on that later!

Overall we covered over 1100 kilometers in 4 days, no mean feat for a first time tour, but the Multistrada made it feel like a dream….. I think I’m in Love!