Taking the train from Rome to Cosenza on
Sept. 11.
Searching for relatives in Spezzano Piccolo
and the neighboring town of Macchia.
Planning to rent a car.
Would appreciate any help re: hotels,
driving in this area, and things to be
aware of.

I stayed two nights in Pizzo which is in that area at the Hotel Marinella. It is not much to look at and has no views but it is clean and serves the some of best meals I have had in all of Italy. It is more of an overnight hotel than a destination, but if you are in the neighborhood, have dinner there.

Natalia,
Thanks for the info. I've heard that
many of these small towns are
deserted, which is discouraging to hear.
tv

The towns I visted in the area were not deserted, Sambiase, Tropea and some others. Cosenza is a fairly large city and has a number of hotels. We did visit some smaller towns in the hills which were not booming that is for sure, but people lived there. One thing is you wont meet many tourists, esp. Americans. In the hotel in Pizzo, we were the only non-Italians in sight, but the manager went out of his way to interpret the menu and tell us about local history in English. He came and sat at our dinner table, after asking permission. It was a memorable part of the trip.

Good morning, tv
Had a similar experience many years ago
went to Sicily to look up relatives in
Termini Imerese. Did not speak a word
of italian, and they only italian. We
hired a driver and car who drove there
and with the help of the local traffic
policeman after a while found the individual to whom we wanted to see.
The guide interpeted for this inital
visit of many to follow over the years,,
Have had some limited sucess in finding
address in the Italian Phone white pages. thru Italian search machines...
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Dear Natalia and Dicky,
Thank you so much for your replies.
Spezzano Piccolo and Macchia are about
10 miles west of Cosenza. We'll probably
check the telephone book in the hotel, rent a car and ride up the mountains.
Thanks again.
tv