15 days in May (with photos!): Naples, Cilento, Calabria & Basilicata
 

We traveled across the instep of southern Italy from May 5th – 20th, 2014 and were warmly welcomed everywhere. People were friendly and quick to say hello. We saw beautiful landscapes, the food was delicious everywhere, and we walked up and down wonderful hill towns.

Part of our trip was a return to places we really like and visited in September, 2012 – Naples and the Cilento Coast – and part of it was new – Calabria and Basilicata.

Here’s who we are:

Rosetravels and DH. We’re in our mid-50’s and live in the Pacific NW. DH LOVES road trips and looking at geology. We both love cities, museums, art, good food, wine, and beautiful landscapes. We like to travel and I’ve been to Italy many times.

Here’s where we stayed:

3 nights in Naples.
Hotel Meuble Santa Chiara
http://www.santachiarasuite.com/

2 nights in Pisciotta, on the Cilento Coast.
B&B Affitacamere Sul Blu
http://www.lacasasulblu.it/en

3 nights at our favorite place in Bosco on the Cilento Coast.
Tenuta Terre di Bosco.
http://www.terredibosco.it/index-eng.html

2 nights near Altomonte, Calabria.
Agriturismo Le Farnie
http://www.agriturismolefarnie.it/index.php?p=39

3 nights near Pisticci, Basilicata.
Hotel Terre Fiore
http://torrefiore.com/

2 nights in Matera, Basilicata.
Torretta ai Sassi.
http://www.torrettasassi.it/

1 night at a B&B near the airport in Milan

A few details:

Rental car from Europcar via Kemwel. Easy. We had very little traffic.
Map was Michelin’s Italie Sud (no GPS other than my phone)
Guidebook was the Blue Guide to Southern Italy
We switched to T-Mobile for their Simple Choice plan before we left. It worked great.
We traveled light and did not check luggage, even on EasyJet.

First up: Naples!

But before I get started I want to thank ekscrunchy who helped with places to stay and eat this year and in 2012 and who continues to encourage travelers to visit new and interesting places. Such a help and a kindness!

sandralist and kja - thanks also for your help with our plans in Basilicata. What a great area!

Rose that is very kind.

You cannot imagine how much I am looking forward to reading your report!

Looking forward to your report. See sawing between this region and SW Spain for a late autumn holiday on 2014....

PHOTOS & A LINK

Fingers crossed that these links work!

Naples: https://www.flickr.com/gp/rosetravels/0x95MM/
Cilento: https://www.flickr.com/gp/rosetravels/DFm6Ab/
Calabria: https://www.flickr.com/gp/rosetravels/044631/
Basilicata: https://www.flickr.com/gp/rosetravels/001QBA/

If you’re interested in geology, DH keeps a blog where he wrote about one of our day trips with probably more to come about the landslides we saw:
http://washingtonlandscape.blogspot....cellum-of.html

tedgale - you should go to this region. :)

Lovely, great food, friendly people and so few tourists. Truly delightful.

bookmarking to read later - can't wait!

Terrific photos! I see that the road to Pisciotta has not improved in the two years since my own visit! I am so glad that you tried Angiolina! And I had planned to stay at Le Farnie but was outvoted and so pressed on to Maratea that day, instead, after lunch in Castrovillari and visit to Morano Calabro, which was shut tight for afternoon break!

Eager for more!!

Wonderful photos. Now I really want to go to Calabria.

Leely2 - Calabria was shockingly beautiful. I had no idea, it was not what I expected.

ekscrunchy - I think you would have enjoyed Le Farnie - thank you for that recommendation. The road to Pisciotta...DH is a landslide geologist so he was thrilled with that road. Thrilled! But in all these years it's the only time he's had to turn back from a crazy, rough road.

NAPLES

We arrived in Naples at 11pm on a Monday, and checked in to the hotel we’d stayed at before. Vincent – the owner – had someone staying up late to wait for us and had given us the corner room with a balcony overlooking Santa Chiara. Nice! Unlike our hometown, where things close at 9 sharp, restaurants were still open and we made a beeline to the closest pizza place in Piazza del Gesu Nuovo. Pizza + wine.

Morning brought a new and favorite ritual: sitting in the sun drinking coffee in one of our favorite squares, Piazza San Domenico. Our hotel provides a voucher at a café and it’s splendid to sit and have coffee and a croissant outside on a sunny morning in Naples. An accordion player was playing his one song (ONE!) nearby and so my husband gave him a couple of coins. He played for us every morning.

We took the train to Pozzuoli to see the tectonic activity. The columns were of great interest to us (OK, mostly to DH) but the beautiful Coliseum was closed because it was Tuesday. After walking around the town and viewing the outside of the Coliseum we caught the train back to Naples.

From the train station at Montesanto we took the funicular up to Vomero and stumbled upon Hosteria Donna Teresa, mentioned in Fred Plotkin’s book ‘Italy for the Gourmet Traveler’. Serendipity. The father said a warm “Prego!” and in we went for a series of good and simple dishes. The grilled vegetables were my favorite. We also had fried alici (anchovies) – the first of many on this trip. That evening we wandered down to the Teatro San Carlo (gorgeous), the Piazza Plebescito and then got lost walking up and down Via Chaia. Eventually it was time for an aperitif, snacks, people watching and then back to our hotel.

As a total aside - from the Teatro San Carlo we spent quite awhile watching a man put a book or a package on car windows while drivers waited for the light on a busy street. Then he’d pick them back up as they were leaving and sometimes they gave him money. Nobody ever kept a package. We went closer for a better look at what he was putting on windshields but couldn’t really see. He’d set out 20 or so packages on cars, then run back to pick them up. His timing was impeccable and we were fascinated. We assumed he had left Africa under difficult circumstances and was working to make a living.

For dinner we went for pizza at La Locanda del Grifo, just off Tribunali. It was a big soccer night and they had 2 sections: the more elegant outside area and with a boxwood separation, the big screen for the soccer game. We sat near enough to hear and enjoy the excitement. Very fun. Pizza + wine.

On the way back to our hotel we walked past a church with many, many college students sitting on the steps and singing together. Delightful! And earlier that day, wandering by the Opera House, we heard a soprano practicing near an open window and saw the orchestra at practice through their skylights.

We love these moments.

I love Donna Teresa in Napoli. Glad you enjoyed your trip to Basilicata, and I hope to go Calabria next year.

from the Teatro San Carlo we spent quite awhile watching a man put a book or a package on car windows while drivers waited for the light on a busy street. Then he’d pick them back up as they were leaving and sometimes they gave him money. Nobody ever kept a package. We went closer for a better look at what he was putting on windshields but couldn’t really see. He’d set out 20 or so packages on cars, then run back to pick them up. >>

rose, on a train from Valencia we came across a man leaving packs of tissues on train seats [near other passengers] with a little note on them; after a few minutes he came back to collect them. Again, I saw no-one "buying" the tissues but presumably some people do.

enjoying your report very much; I spent half a day or so in Naples in February and can't wait to go back!

It's about time someone wrote about Naples, the most intriguing city on this planet!!
Complementi!

I'm so glad you enjoyed your time in Basilicata and am glad you found my input helpful. You are most welcome! Sounds like you started with some of Naples's enchanting moments. I'm looking forward to reading more about your journey.

Waldo - you were so helpful a couple of years ago with advice and in stoking my interest in the city. It's one of my absolute favorite places.

POMPEII & HERCULANEUM
The next day we planned to go to Herculaneum. We’d done some research and decided we probably could just visit one, and we thought we’d prefer that to Pompeii. We missed our stop on the train so….change of plans! Pompeii! We bought the 7 day Campania Arte Card (for us it was a good value) and went right in. Once we got past the crush of people in the first part of Pompeii (do they really pop in and see just that first piazza and road?!?) we really enjoyed it. Gorgeous colors!

After that we managed to exit the train at the right station and went to Herculaneum. It was interesting, in a ‘so that’s how they lived!’ way but we preferred Pompeii because of the large scale and the setting with the roads and vineyards. I thought the colors and forms were deeply beautiful.

Leaving Herculaneum we were hungry, thirsty and spotted a little deli with a sign for panini. We popped in and the butcher made us great sandwiches: bufala mozzarella, prosciutto, slices of a ripe green tomato, olive oil, salt, pepper. We took them and big bottles of water to a nearby wall and sat and ate lunch. Back in Napoli we wandered from the train station through the interesting/rough neighborhoods to the center.

We walked and walked, soaking in the city. I was eager to capture photos of laundry and of street scenes and of the young men who deliver espresso. If ONLY we had that in my hometown, rather than coffee shops sending us all out into the world with paper cups. I'd love a regular espresso delivery around 10 am!

We stopped for aperitifs on our way to our hotel, then had dinner at what was now our favorite pizza place on Piazza del Gesu. If DH finds a restaurant he likes, he likes to go for every meal! We have a running conversation when we travel with me wanting to try everything and him wanting to be a regular in one place. But our favorite place had great people watching and their bufala pizza was really delicious. Good dough, chewy and a little charred on the bottom, cheap and tasty house wine. Salami + pizza + wine = perfetto.

The next day was Thursday and friends were arriving to join us for a few days! In the morning we stopped in at Pio Monte della Misericordia to see the Caravaggio. Interesting. But what interested me most is that I tried to find it two years ago and couldn’t. Seriously, it couldn’t be easier to find! Final hours so we went for pizza and wine at our favorite pizza place. Then back to our hotel where Vincent called a cab and off we went to the train station to pick up our friends. It was FUN to see friends from home standing outside the Central Train Station! We continued on with our driver to the airport to get our car.

Within minutes we were careening out of town, past Mount Vesuvius, had one of those ‘OMG that’s REALLY Mt. Vesuvius’ moments. We resisted the exit for Pompeii, and headed towards Paestum and the Cilento Coast.

rosetravels: We had a great 5 day visit to the Salento peninsula in Puglia in -- hmm, 2012?? I have wanted to return to the region and expand my knowledge of it.

tedgale - yes, we felt a strong need to fill in some of the blank spots on the virtual maps in our heads. These were places we just didn't know at all. Now I'm thinking about Portugal and just read your TR and saw your photos.

To rosetravels (and everyone else)-You were wise going to Naples. No place on earth can one get the truly mind bending experiences that can be had in Naples. I go to Naples frequently, and I always get something new in the way of memories to bring home with me.
Incidentally, (I just remembered this last night), my wife was raised in Naples, her complete family is still there, but I digress, HOW MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE STILL ALIVE ON THIS LARGE EARTH CAN SAY THAT THEY WERE AS CLOSE AS TWO FEET FROM ADOLF HITLER? My wife was and she can still completely remember it clearly. She remembers that the fuehrer looked straight at her and she recalls his wierd blue eyes.

Waldo - you do indeed digress.

was your wife's experience in Naples?

CILENTO COAST

Part 1: PISCIOTTA
We stopped at Paestum and wandered the ruins taking photos. From Paestum we headed toward Pisciotta along the coast. I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but I don’t know a lot of Italian and we had a car full of people talking so if there were signs explaining that a road was missing, nobody in my car saw that. Nor did we notice that no cars were coming from the other direction.

So eventually, when we were almost to Pisciotta, perhaps 5 km from our destination, we came to a stop in front of big boulders and orange tape. The boulders had been moved aside, the orange tape driven over so DH (a geologist with expertise in landslides and slope stability who was delighted about this turn of events) said, “how bad can it be?” And continued on.

Bad. As it turns out, the road can be very bad.

We drove this road in 2012 and the hillside – and the road - was slumping then. Now it had slid and eventually we reached a 3-foot break where a section of road had dropped down. We had to turn back and so we made our way between boulders and headed over the mountain for Rodio. At that point I texted the B&B to tell them we’d be late (the sun was setting by then) and ask if the road from Rodio to Pisciotta was open. Yes, it did occur to me that they might have mentioned the missing road earlier! They said they thought the landslide at Rodio had been cleared. Well, OK.

The road clambered high over the Cilento but with incredible views. And eventually we arrived safely in Pisciotta, settled into our B&B and headed to Osteria del Borgo for a great dinner. The wine there was some of the best on our trip. For 4 of us with appetizers, primi, some dessert and 2 bottles of wine it was 80 eu.

The next morning we asked our B&B owner if she knew if it was possible to ride out on an anchovy fishing boat. She said she had friends and would make calls. We toured her garden and house (an old olive mill) then wandered to Marina di Pisciotta where we ran into the fishermen who’d heard by then about the Americans who wanted to fish for alici (anchovy). Yes, they were going out and DH and our friend could go along! 7 pm.

With them was a translator – a man who we decided worked in banking (we had no idea, really, and didn’t think to ask.) He lives in the Vomero neighborhood in Naples and also owns a place in Pisciotta. He has one car that he keeps in Pisciotta and he takes the train out for weekends and holidays. What a lifestyle!

Lunch was at Angiolina’s by the Marina. The chef/owner was there. We had the loveliest lunch. My dish was a stuffed artichoke and we had wine. It wasn’t a lot, but it was perfect. We sat outside. His patio was beautiful in every way.

We spent the afternoon (it was Friday) hanging out in the square watching the people. The men played cards with great enthusiasm. A beloved dog made the rounds looking for potato chips. A friendly blond who knew all the men (very well, we gathered) chatted them up. School kids came for gelato.

At 6:30 the men left to fish for alici and that left two of us to entertain ourselves. We went for aperitifs at I Tre Gufi. The terrace is next to the terrace of the Marulivo Hotel so if you’re not staying at the lovely hotel (although I DO highly recommend that hotel) then you can have the same sunset view next door. We watched the fishing boats head out and sipped our wine while the sun set over the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The next day we went to Rodio. We were curious about the town and wanted to see how people made a living there, so we walked around and chatted with folks. Stopped at the bar for espresso and the owner put a table and chairs out on the street for us. Then back down the mountain to Angiolina’s for lunch again. The chef brought us alici that had been marinated in lemon, then quickly fried. Those were good! Perhaps they were the alici that the men caught last night? I like to think so.

Afterwards we went to Palinuro thinking we’d go out on a boat to see the grottos but it was cloudy and I didn’t think the colors would be vivid, so I sat on the beach reading and DH and our friends went for a hike on the headlands. I was wearing a knee brace and avoiding stairs this trip. I know….but there are fewer stairs in these hill towns than I feared – mostly just steep roads and that was fine.

Rose, you were so helpful when I planned a visit to Pisciotta, and I am thrilled to hear of your return, as I hope I will some day, too. Pisciotta seemed to really be upgrading last May--new sidewalks, scaffolding on the outer walls of the city, etc. It is already gorgeous but somewhat faded--it will be a true showpiece when they finish.
Angiolina was my favorite meal on my trip, and that included some stellar meals in Cetara.

yorkshire - I'm so glad to hear that you went and loved it too! It's really one of my favorite places. We were torn this time and considered spending those 2 days in Castellabate instead but in the end we switched, in part because of the high quality of the restaurants in Pisciotta. I was glad to be back. There's just something about Pisciotta that delights me! I hope to return again.

Pisciotta, Cetara…….be still my heart! Not only gorgeous, but two of the best towns in Italy for seafood, especially those anchovies!

This report is just terrific!!

Annhig-My wife's experience was danged not in Frederick, Maryland. It was in Napoli.
I'm almost positive that the fuhrer was never in Maryland!

I'm glad our small band of southern Italy fans is still along. Thank you everyone for reading this far.

Waldo - your wife's experience is really something! Your favorite pizza place in Napoli is still on my map but I've not made it there. I know it's yours because the map says "Waldo's favorite pizza place. Owner recalls WWII". And since DH's father was in Naples in WWII I have hoped to go but when I'm hungry....well, it's not been nearby.

BOSCO
We drove to Bosco and received the warmest possible welcome from everyone at Tenuta Terre di Bosco! DH and I stayed there 2 years ago in late September and loved it. We love it even more now. It’s in a good location on a ridge with a beautiful view of the sea. The rooms are large, the terraces sunny and lovely and then there’s the food! This is the kind of home cooking (yes, by the mother of the house) that I dream about back home. Homemade pasta, fresh fish, local everything. Good wine list. Heaven.

Before we checked into our rooms, Giuseppe settled us on the patio and made us welcoming cocktails (I had white wine). So relaxing! Then we were showed to our rooms and relaxed until dinner.

There was a full house that night – Saturday – and it was lively! DH had his favorite meal of the trip that evening: ricotta ravioli with shaved black truffle.

The ravioli was homemade with a generous amount of truffle. It was preceded by really nice appetizers and followed by a secondi and then fruit and dessert (homemade panna cotta.) We had more great wine from Campania – a white and a really good red. We had that same red wine two more nights and when we left, our friends at Bosco gave us a bottle to take with us.

THE PESCE PAPARAZZI GO FISHING

Everyone – including the staff – woke up early the next morning to get us out the door to go fishing at 7. This was something we’d arranged with Giuseppe via email when we were planning our trip. One of our friends wanted to go out on a real fishing boat – not a tourist boat – and so Giuseppe asked around until he found a fisherman to take us.

Tomasso was the one and he and his crew – his long-time friend Nikolas, straight from central casting – took their boat along the coast of the Palinuro headland while they pulled in 2 long nets that they’d set the night before, pulling out fish, squid, eels, octopus and putting most in the bucket. Occasionally a fish wasn’t the right one or was too small, and we watched it swim away. The eels were always interesting as they were trying to bite something. They went back in the water. The squid would squirt and turn the bucket black with their ink. It was a sunny day and the coast was heartbreakingly beautiful. It was perfect. We just watched, taking hundreds of photos – the pesce paparazzi! 4 hours later we were back at Scario harbor, had a quick coffee with Tomasso and phoned Giuseppe to come pick us up. Wow!

In the afternoon DH and our friends went to nearby towns – Lentiscosa and San Giovanni a Piro to wander the streets. It sounds like Lentiscosa was especially pretty. They watched a soccer game at San Giovanni and enjoyed that very much. It wasn’t the Seahawks but still, fun.

Dinner was delicious (I had fish!), the wine good.

The next morning DH and I drove our friends to Sapri and wandered around, all of us gathering up picnic supplies. There’s a good bakery, a good salumeria and since it was morning, the fruit and vegetable market was open. Then they caught their train to Sicily and we hopped into our rental car and headed up the hill to Padula and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Certosa di San Lorenzo. We had a great picnic and toured the monastery. It was beautiful and the history was interesting. We had it to ourselves. DH really liked it. I enjoyed their courtyard gardens which had been replanted at some point. The rose they had - Mutabilis - had not been imported from China yet when that garden was planted :).

On the way home to Bosco we drove through gorgeous valleys, the park and then stopped at Roccagloriosa to wander this interesting hill town. We are always amazed at the towns built into rock.

It’s hard to say why some areas get on the tourist route and some don’t. I prefer the Cilento coast to the Amalfi but everyone goes to the latter, leaving areas like Scario and Pisciotta affordable and delightfully empty of American and British tourists.

Annhig-My wife's experience was danged not in Frederick, Maryland. It was in Napoli.
I'm almost positive that the fuhrer was never in Maryland!>>

not such a digression then, Waldo. but there were a few alternatives to Naples and Frederick, Maryland.

rose - it is strange how some places become popular with tourists, foreign or otherwise, and others don't. Bristol, in the UK is a case in point - a great city, loads of history, surrounded by beautiful countryside, very well placed for day trips, but barely a tourist in sight except those who want to use it as a base for going to Bath.

Annhig- You are right. That was my feeble attempt at humor. My wife was raised in Naples. She's a native born US citizen, but the rest of her family is Neopolitan, and they all live there. In any event, she was a baby when the family went back to Naples from the US, so she went to school there. Before WWII, Mussolini took Hitler on a tour of the Naples elementary schools. The children had to line up to be inspected by those two bums. My wife was in the front row of kids being inspected, and the fuehrer and il duce passed right by her. They were extremely close to the children's formation, and Adolf looked directly into my wife's eyes. She never forgot that.
Additionally, when the American Army occupied Naples, the city was in ruins and things were pretty bad for the native Neopolitans. My wife's father spoke English, so he communicated well with the Americans. When it was discovered that his little girl was an American citizen (he was wise enough to make sure that she never revoked her citizenship), my wife got favorable treatment in the way of food and other staples from the US Army.
That's only one isolated story about Naples. There are many, and I have a bunch of them, all true and indiginous only to Napoli.

thank you for sharing that fascinating story with us, Waldo.

Sounds if there might be a book there if she [or you] cared to write it.

Waldo - I love that story. Thank you for sharing that. You are welcome to digress further!

Rosetravels- your choice of Cilento was exquisite. On one of our yearly trips to Naples, my wife and I went on vacation to Pisciotta. I can't recall the name of the place, and it was relatively bare bones, however it was right on the beach. We had simply furnished individual little cottages, with all the necessities, and clean. The most amazing part of this little resort was the FOOD. The owner and his wife were the chefs, and every meal was like a banquet! Being on the beach, we had nothing to do but relax and enjoy the sea and quiet. The one thing that stands out in my mind, remember, this was some time ago, was that the owner had a bunch of tubes on the roof of each cabin, and sitting in the sun, they provided all the hot water you could wish for. The problem, though not the owner's fault, was that it was so danged hot, we didn't need all that hot water. We went to Palinuro several times and we liked it fine, but not as much as our little resort. As i said, I can't remember the name of the place, but I distinctly
remember the owner's name. It was Ettore, and he came from the same area of Calabria from which my father's family came. When he spoke, I could swear it was my father speaking, they had the exact same accent.

I forgot to mention-- we went on this vacation with my wife's older sister, Luisa and her huband Clemente, and she also presented me with a bunch of memorable stories pertinent to this vacation.

CALABRIA
The next day was sunny and clear. We sadly said goodbye to Bosco and headed down the coast to Scaleo before we turned towards the mountains and Calabria. The air was clear, the mountains in sharp relief and we felt as if we were driving on the California coast at Big Sur. But without the traffic. We generally had good roads and saw very little traffic.

It seems few non-Italians visit this area and with the reputation of the ‘Ndrangheta we felt like we were heading into the deep unknown of Italy. Turns out, the landscape was striking, lush and not what I expected. We found our Agriturismo, checked in, took walks on the farm roads. Carla, the owner, has a table in the dining room organized with big maps, small maps and colored markers and pens that she uses to mark various itineraries. It was really helpful and made the area easy to navigate. She marked the good hikes and the interesting drives to visit the hill towns. This is the area with hill towns settled by Albanians and she told us about those and which towns were the most interesting.

After we checked in I had a bit of work to do as it was a Monday morning back home. It was then I realized my computer cable was left behind in Bosco. Aaargh! I talked with Carla about my options and she thought it should be possible to ship it to our next place, or the one after that. I checked with our friends in Bosco and they planned to ship it out first thing in the morning.

Dinner was interesting – the appetizer was fried zucchini blossoms and pickled vegetables in olive oil from the farm. Simple table wine in a pitcher, good bread, spaghetti in a quick marinara and croquettes. There was nobody else staying there.

In the morning we decided since the weather wasn’t great we should drive back to Bosco and get my computer cable. If we took the A3 it would just be 2 hours. DH loves to drive so he was happy with the change of plans.

What luck: this ended up being our favorite day of all.

BACK TO BOSCO!
We were so glad to see our friends at Bosco again! Their new guests were out, so we spent the day visiting.

When we left, Antonietta (the mother, about my age) was out of town for a couple of days so we were unable to say goodbye. We were happy to see her there. We sat and had coffee and biscotti and chatted. Then, as we were leaving, Antonietta asked us if we’d like to stay for lunch with the family. DH (being polite) said ‘oh no, we should be going’ but I said ‘we’d LOVE to!’ and I followed Antonietta into the kitchen to ‘help’. Homemade pasta with fresh anchovies. Wow. Then fried alici. With our favorite wine. In the end we spent hours talking, eating, hanging out in the kitchen and enjoying each other’s company. We were very sad to leave as we’re not sure when we’ll be back. This is one of our very favorite places to visit. We are so fond of this family!

Back in Calabria, late afternoon, the weather had cleared and we went to Altomonte to walk around. When we pulled in a car with speakers was blasting music – a classic rock anthem. They had election posters and we took photos of the car and then I took photos of men around the car. We walked up to the top. This square was my husband’s favorite: newly restored, the convent just reopened as a public space, we caught the tail end of a children’s performance and then sat at a table in the square to watch the afternoon commotion. It was a wonderful mix of ages and so lively. At one point it seemed like most of the town was in the square visiting, the kids were in the bar singing in harmony while someone played the piano.

Heading down the hill we were ‘shot’ by boys playing with plastic guns and so DH pretended to be shot, slowly died, and fell down on the street. Happy boys.

Dinner that night was just us and it was again an interesting assortment of pickled vegetables, and a primi. The appetizers were very tasty; the prime & secondi were fine.

BASILICATA
This was our day to visit the hilltowns of Calabria and then head to Pisticci in Basilicata. We were intrigued by the Calabrian towns that had large groups of Albanian immigrants from the 1600’s so those are the ones we visited.

First we went to San Donato di Ninea and climbed up the steep streets to the church. DH played with a friendly dog in the church square until a stern and tiny lady in black summoned him over. She’d rounded up 2 able-bodied men to move a large statue of Jesus into a niche but it was heavy and she needed one more. He was it. We were initially confused because the Italian gesture for ‘hey you, come here right now’ is the same gesture we use when we tell our dog to sit. Now we know.

Onward. We visited Acquaformosa and the people struck us as very Albanian. Charming town. As usual, groups of men visiting amongst themselves. We stopped for coffee and the bathroom and then went on our way. We drove the back roads to Monto Calabrio and got there a little late – 12:30 – so we only had time to buy something at a bakery before the shutters started to close. It looked like a very nice town and was stunning as we approached.

We headed to Basilicata and soon were turning off the (ugly) coastal highway and heading to Pisticci. We turned off the highway at Marina di Pisticci and I pulled out my phone to find directions but luckily the route to the hotel was well signed and we drove right there.

Torre de Fiore - just south of Pisticci - is simply beautiful. It’s a recently restored fortified farmhouse, great simple aesthetic but luxurious. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite. The bathroom fittings, with the rain shower in the bathroom and the big tub in the bedroom are splendid. It wasn't hot yet but the infinity pool is certainly enticing. There are several lovely outdoor areas to sit and visit, including a nice fire pit with a view. I sat there one afternoon to sketch the canyon. The restaurant is really good and it was here that we were introduced to the great bread of the region.

The hotel is owned by siblings from Toronto. Marianna was onsite and we met her the first night. Her brother arrived with his wife and their friends the next day. Very friendly and fun to talk with – we were glad to meet them.

The restaurant at Torre di Fiore is worth eating at. The first night our appetizer of local cheeses was a treat – buratta, ricotta, pecorino. I had a pasta dish that was a specialty of the region – Orchiette w/ raab, toasted bread crumbs and peppers. The second night I had delicious lamb chops (we had seen a lot of sheep) for dinner. They track down and serve the best bread from Matera and we really enjoyed the breakfasts: an array of ricotta, buratta, tomatoes, great bread and no end of beautiful cakes and fresh fruits.

If you are looking for a great place to stay in Basilicata - I highly recommend this hotel.

MORE BASILICATA: PISTICCI, BERNALDA, PIETRAPERTOSA

During our stay (3 nights) we explored nearly everything. I’ll try to avoid too much detail.

We visited Pisticci, a hill town with an interesting history. We saw a fruit and vegetable truck selling produce in a neighborhood to the little old ladies. It struck me that this would be the last time we'd see a little truck selling produce in an Italian town - surely these are endangered as a business model? We regretted that we didn't flag him down. One of the more interesting neighborhoods in Pisticci was rebuilt after a large landslide in the 1600’s, right on top of the slide that buried 200 people. The town is white – whitewashed houses and limestone streets. Lovely and a little quiet. Marianna, at the hotel, gives out a remarkable hand drawn map that tells you where to go, what to see and we followed that. Best hotel map ever!

We drove to Craco, but didn’t wander through. At that point we’d had to think about a lot of landslides – at home and on the trip – and it was overcast, a little dark, it cost 20EU to visit the town....I was ready to move on. DH took photos of the slide, the cracks and of the road that slid and we left. We went to Metaposto, both the museum and the temple, and found them to be well worth visiting. The museum was one of the better archaeology museums I’ve seen and the one guard seemed glad to have guests. We had bought a lot of olives and snacks in Pisticci so we sat outside and had a light lunch.

The next day we went to Pietrapertosa, a crazy town backed by and built into limestone high in the hills of Basilicata. Apparently it was settled by Saracen who wanted to be out of the way. The town on the other side – Castelmezzano – was settled by the Normans who wanted to keep an eye on the Saracen. It was drizzly, we enjoyed the Saturday market, stopped in the bar for espresso and the bathroom, wandered a little, then headed back down to Bernalda. This town is famous for the zip line. It did look intense!

I’d read ekscrunchy’s report of La Locandiera in Bernalda and then it was featured in a Gambero Rosso brochure we’d picked up in Pisciotta so obviously, this place was a must for Saturday lunch.

I opted for a small assortment of appetizers and then the delicious pasta dish of chick peas, bread crumbs and peppers. Yum. I don’t remember what DH had but it was delicious too. We walked all around Bernalda. While Pisticci looks and is laid out like a classic Italian hill town, Bernalda is on a plateau so the main streets are wider and it's flat when you are in town. There are nice views from the edge and we walked all around. By then it was early afternoon and the town looked deserted. It's a really short drive with a nice shortcut across the river to our hotel so back we went and we loafed around, too full for dinner. We enjoyed the wine that our friends at Bosco had given us and went to bed early.

On Sunday I had a goal of eating lunch again in Bernalda at La Locandiera. We checked out of our hotel and went to the Ionian Coast to dip our toes in the water. It was a sunny day and DH went swimming but he was the only swimmer. Then off to Bernalda.

It was 12:30 on Sunday afternoon and this town was PACKED! There were various campaigns giving speeches on stages and half the world walking around looking handsome. Lots of young adults! After some serious people watching we went in to the restaurant and ordered 2 tasting menus that started with an astonishing parade of 5 appetizers. This was all delicious. The pasta (I did not order the chick peas) was tasty but the secondi – braciole of horsemeat – was a favorite. For dessert DH had the ricotta cake, which I would highly recommend.

After a couple of hours of eating we paid our bill (my credit card statement says it was $100 – that included 2 glasses of good wine) and headed through the rolling hills of wheat to Matera. The first gorge we saw we pulled over to view. The badlands in this region are really something.

Fabulous report...thanks for sharing! Not many people write about these areas so it is great to be able to get ideas for future trips! Lovely photos as well!

How I long to return to Basilicata! And it is YOUR fault, Rose!!

I stopped in just to take a peek at Torre Fiore; agree it looks lovely.

It was at this hotel that I learned a very valuable lesson: Admire, but do not touch, the Fichi d'India, the prickly pears!

These were growing outside the front gate and, foolishly, I stroked one of them with my hand. OUCH!!! Those quills become imbedded in your skin and it is so difficult to pull them out, as they are almost invisible. Next time I will keep my paws where they belong!!

http://www.tecnologiaericerca.com/wp...d-india-01.jpg