Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Toscana, Umbria, Marche,
Abbruzzo, Molise, Puglia,
Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia, Campagna
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
We have just made it to a ski area we did not know existed: the Gran Sasso in the
Abbruzzo : I saw one chap getting his skis out of his car.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
We started off last week passing
through Valle d‘Aosta, Piemonte and
Lombardia where we stayed overnight
at a friend's on Lago Maggiore, and
zipped through emilia-romagna with a
must stop in Bologna (with a real
spagbol=tagliatelle al ragù) and a night
on a peach farm near Ravenna.
Then we started getting into the hills of
Eastern Toscana. And visited Poppi's
old castle
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
and Arrezo, with its Etruscan museum.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Next Region was Umbria:
Gubbio known for its 300BC tablets in old Umbrian script.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Perugia with its palazzo, churches and tiny viales.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Assisi's squeaky clean streets and churches.with gobs of
tourists (at least 20 -- but that is 20 more than any of the other
places)
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
And finally Toyota for a part change that had to come from
Rome overnight.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Then visits in March: Urbino with an impressive palazzo and
home of Raphael.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Ascoli Piceno home of the famous Maijolica porcelain and the
vegetable frito misto.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
The Sibillini mountains home of mysterious oracles.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
The food is so wonderful that the problem is trying to not eat every dish on the menu (or every wine). And
every region has its specialties. So how do we taste as many dishes as possible (2 a day) and not get
bloated! First rule has been to choose only one of Anti, Primi, Secundo and Dulce Plati - preferably the
Primi. We fail often. Once the Padrone kept bringing us extras: We ordered Artichoke pizza, and got as
well a side dish of deep fried artichokes and at the end a homemade desert. Fortunately, the pigeons
help finish the Parmigiano.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
In the heart of the Abruzzo, along a lovely deep valley, is the
old village of Scanno .
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
This one still has traditional women in their head costume.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
And as we found more and more in the South, it is very
difficult to find bar/cafes with tables outside. The men sit in
rows of chairs.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Not much in Molise (it is mostly for nature hiking). A nice sea
side port (Tremoli) with boat trips to the islands of Trimite.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Which we did (but further along the coast from Vieste). We did the 2 hour boat to get there and
then to get back. Not much to see and do (possibly diving). Those islands are to be avoided.
See the special fishing technology in the region.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Then there is a very special area called Itria with its distinct
conical roof tops scattered all over the country side, and very
concentrated in Alborobello. Even our B&B was a restored one.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Gargano promontory and its ancient Foresta Umbra and olive
groves from which we are bringing back 3 litres. The bottom of
the trunk/boot is already full of wine bottles from each region.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Coming in to Lecce (the hyper baroque town) was
a nightmare. The B&B we had identified from our
reliable guide book was smack in the middle of
the old town. Tina (our GPS) marked an
impossible tortuous path to get there and in order
to get herself off the hook she added "Beware of
traffic restrictions, follow the law!" At one point a
small car in front seemed at ease in the twists
and turns so we just followed it. It stopped to
unload, we stopped. A pedestrian zone was
ahead. Linda went scouting for the B&B while I
waited unparked, hoping no one would wish to
pass by in the narrow street. Then a few long
minutes latter Linda waved and pointed to a car
porch directly ahead across the Ped street. That
was it!! Private parking in a court yard of the
Palazzo Rollo where our room was in an
apartment on the second floor, complete with all
its antique furniture. Unfortunately my LAN cable
was a little short, so we had to work from the top
of the wardrobe.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Tarento is just an industrial town. It does have a little old town, but everything is
extremely run down. Just the right setting for a tiny down to earth restaurant. It was
called Ugo and took asking 3 times to find it. But the dishes were delicious. Main
courses at 3 Euros and side dishes at 1 Euro.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Then we are near the end of Puglia. For the night getting near the
border with Basilicata, perched high in the steep hills, we looked for
an Albergo in an ancient arab village quarter know as a Rabatana in
Tursi.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Coming We had an address and asked
Tina for directions. A short 2 km very
steep winding lane brought us to a bridge
(rather a passerelle) with sheer 200m drop
on either side, at the beginning of an old
village in the pouring rain and lightening. I
volunteered to go on foot to see if i) the
car could pass and if there was any sign of
this Albergo. Not a sign. We back tracked
all the way down and on the off chance
that a second approach to the village
existed from behind, we continued on.
Fantastic, a real 2 lane road led directly to
the top of the village and its lovely hotel. It
looked closed. But it wasn't.
Finally, a lovely gelati from time to time...
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Last week, after leaving Puglia we enter a small bit of Basilicata.
Greece -not the hot current subject- but the one 2500 years old. Heracleum, Sibaris and
Crotone. Crotone was the one Pythagores, administered and presumably where he
discovered that Numbers are behind physical things (string vibrations, as music in his
case).
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
The other piece we all know him for (the right angle triangle formula),
he actually stole from the Babylonians. Nowadays there is nothing for
tourists in Crotone. But the fish restaurant was great.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
To the west is the Silla mountains National Park (=little Swiss). Quite lovely,
especially for country skiing. This season everything is closed. In fact most of
Calabria appeared Chioso. Nothing to eat until a motorway service area.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Even in Reggio it was hard to find the B&B as everyone was preparing the 1 May
fiesta. It was such bad timing that the next morning took us 5 hours of traffic jams to get
to the ferry across to Sicily…
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
and on to Taormina.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
After that life went back to normal. Small
road across to Milazzo for the ferries to the
Eolian Islands. On the way, the majestic
Etna covered in snow. For the Eolie
we took regular public boat transport
which gave us limited time on each of
Vulcano, Lipari and Salina (overnight), the
Stromboli (p28). Unfortunately, not enough
time to climb the volcanoes. Did that on
Etna 20 years ago when Linda held me by
my ankles while I peered over the crater
edge to take a picture.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Then Back to Calabria and along the coast to Pizzo and then in the hinterland
mountains to San Marco di Argentea (The Normands were here [p29]) where there was
a fabulous Agrotourism (doubling up as truck stop because the food is great and
inexpensive). [Thanks Rosa for the tip].
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Up the coast
to Greek/Roman site
Paestum and its museum.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Then along the Amalfi coast where we we spent
the night in the cliff. A 300m sheer drop to the
sea…
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
… with very narrow breakfast room
.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
Morning in Ravello with its historic villas
.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
and in Positano since it is lemon season they are rugby size!!
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
The next day boat to Capri where we found
the lovely quiet areas.
Circuit à travers l'Italie du sud
The last 3 days have been in Naples. But still not enough
time to see it all. So we are thinking of coming back for the
week around New Year.