The morning light has woken and out of the cabin window a view of the west coast of Sicily appears as we head northwards towards Palermo. Towering cliffs, interspersed with towns and villages greet us as we wander up onto the deck. I am surprised at the density of human habitation along the coastline.

As usual Anne has done all the research and I have not even looked in detail at the maps! I should not be surprised. Only six motorbikes on this ship, two Tunisians heading for Salerno, the ship’s next stop after Palermo and Mauro and Stefania whom we spent a pleasant time with last night are also Salerno bound. They have invited us to stay, alas not this trip with its time constraints. As we prepare to disembark Mauro and Stefania appear on the car deck to say goodbye having got past security to do so. It was such a nice gesture, I am sure we will meet again.

Immigration is a stamp in the passport for me, Customs asks Anne if she has any cigarettes, twice, and we are off in 15 minutes. There is no signage in the dock area as to where the exit is but we are soon out and riding in Palermo’s morning rush hour. As I have waxed lyrical about understanding local driving conditions, after Algeria’s gentle traffic dance, this seems more like a much faster tempo, and yes it is. Within a couple of minutes I get my first, and only nudge from behind. We will have to up our game here and we do. Soon we are heading out of town westwards along the Autostrada.

Our first break is at Castellammare del Golfo, a small seaside town. We park and walk down which, in the heat with all our motorcycle gear, will not be something we will aim to emulate too often. At a local cafe we meet a Australian couple, he lives here now and get a few local tips.

Lunch is taken near Ribera, where the waitress has used Google translate on her phone to show us the gluten free options, clever use of technology. On to our first destination in Sicily outside Agrigento where we were plan to visit the “Valley of the Temples”. Surprisingly for me this is not Roman architecture but Greek. It is the largest archaeological park in Europe and of course a UNESCO World Heritage site. Since all the temples are in a line the round trip is some 5km. Not for us with all our gear but we do end up covering a fair portion. I am not sure why it is called a “Valley” since it is on a ridge, but gives spectacular views to the Mediterranean

At breakfast that morning we met an English couple who recommend that we visit Villa Romana del Casale, a partially restored Roman villa with many of the mosaics in their original position. Our journey takes us on the SS640 a nice dual lane highway inland when on a straight stretch of road, we arrive at the scene of an accident. One car in the central reservation and an SUV on its side leaking fluids over the autostrada. Debris is scattered for some distance before. We head to see if help is needed as we are third on scene. Luckily both drivers are out and ok. Airbags and seatbelts make all the difference. I am very glad our motorcycle first aid kit and the course we took many years ago were not tested.

Onward to Villa Romana del Casale after a quick lunch and a reminder that we are back in the land of the tourist from the prices charged. I have to say that even though after a while I found the scale of the place and the number of mosaics a little overwhelming it really is impressive to see them on the floors where they were laid down over 1600 years ago in the 4th Century AD. We are lucky that an 11th Century landslide buried the site and protected the mosaics for until the 20th century when archaeologists started to excavate the villa site. The largest mosaic is some 60m. / 200ft long. The time and effort, not to mention finding the artisans with the appropriate skills within a much smaller population than exists today. I have read that in Roman times Italy may have had a population of between 7 and 14 million. I am glad we came and saw the mosaics in-situ. A little off the main roads but worth the detour.

We continue to Catania where we get our first glimpse of Mt Etna from probably 50km. / 30 ml. away. It does look impressive and we will visit Mt Etna after a weeks break back in the UK. YES we are leaving Streak and Storm for eight days to return to the UK for a nephews wedding. Normal service will resume later this month.

– Anthony