Live! Very brief report on a few southern italian destinations
 

I wrote up the general plan on another thread, but now that we've arrived, I will do my best to write a few notes on our trip; food will play a big part.

To recap, the general plan is to take us to a few well known destinations and a few that are not so well known to English-speaking tourists.
This is the plan, for early September 2023. I have been to a few of these places before, including Vietri, Matera and Maratea, but not at these hotels.

VIETRI SUL MARE. I night Hotel Raito (where we have just arrived). I had mentioned that we wanted to stay in Salerno but I could not find a hotel that either had vacancy, or that would answer my e-mails......since I like to dine in Cetera and Vietri is very close to both Cetara, and the. highway south, we chose this hotel.

https://www.ragostahotels.com/en/hot...41837365227935



MARATEA 5 nights VILLA CHETA. https://www.villacheta.it/

TURSI 1 night (chosen partly for location near Senise, home to my favorite peppers). ORANGERIE RETREAT B&B in the Rabatana section..the ancient section
with the name deriving from Rabat. (cannot find anything in English now.....)

https://www.theorangeryretreat.com/




MATERA. 2 nights at SEXTANTIO DELLA CIVITA in a cave room


https://www.sextantio.it/en/legrotte...RoCutUQAvD_BwE



Close to: CANOSA DI PUGLIA 3 nights at CEFALICCHIO COUNTRY HOUSE, chosen for proximity to restaurants we have either dined at before or wanted to try. This area is one of the best kept secrets for great eating in southern Italy, in my opinion.


https://www.cefalicchio.it/eng/index.asp



TERMOLI. 5 nights RESIDENZA SVEVA, a "diffuse hotel" in the old town near the Adriatic; day trips to inland Molise. Hoping that I have not planned too many nights here....


https://www.residenzasveva.com/




LARINO 2 NIGHTS (MOLISE) AGRITURISMO ESSENTIA DIMORA RURALE. 2 nights in Molise countryside..maybe visit Agnone, famous for its bells, and an olive oil azienda


https://agriturismoessentia.com/



CASTROCIELO (LAZIO) 2 nights VILLA EUCHELIA in Giardino al Secret room

https://www.villaeuchelia.it/



FIUMICINO 1 night HOTEL SECCY with dinner planned at PASCIUCCI AL PORTO which we loved before. Drop off car before heading to Fiumicino town; take taxi to airport next morning. Highly recommend for a night before taking off in a rental car from the airport, or for a stay before a departure......nothing fancy but nice place, kind staff, and location near the mouth of the Tiber and lovely place to walk around, especially when Romans are out for a weekend........cvery good places to eat!


https://www.guestreservations.com/ho...hoCcuQQAvD_BwE


So right now I am attempting to relax after the long flight from JFK-FCO with a connection in ITA to Napoli. Flights were fine. I slept most of the way and therefore missed the last season of YELLOWSTONE on the plane tv. Food on Delta business class was very good, and even better was lunch before the flight at the JFK Centurion Lounge.

If you travel a lot I think the Amex Platinum card is worth it for perks like this. Travel partners are let in with no charge and the pasta I had, "developed" by Ignacio Mattos of Estela in NYC, was as good as any vegetarian pasta you might find in any restaurant in the US. I could not get enough of it before the flight was called!!!! The food on Delta might not have been as good as that but I certainly finished every bite of my chicken with caramelized onions and mashed potatoes! (Mind you, this was on Delta One; the older I get, the more willing I am to splurge for business class flights, especially now that partner has difficulty walking even after a recent hip replacement.....seems as if the other hip might be breaking down now!)

We rented a car from SIXT through AutoEurope and picked it up after arrival. We have an Audi Q model..looks like a wagon. They attempted to give us a Skoda but we held our ground and got the Audi, although we had to wait a half an hour for it to be washed after the last client's ride. Sixt very busy but personnel very kind and helpful! Desk is inside terminal after baggage claim and pickup in down a ramp into the below ground-level garage. No one, as usual, mentioned the IDP. Car has built in GPS and is automatic.

Drive from airport to hotel in Vietri was pretty easy although I was filled with nerves, as usual. Little traffic. One toll of about 4 euro, an be paid in cash or by credit card; they even take Amex on the A3 now!

Got teary as we bagged passing signs for Ercolano Scavi, Nocera, and various towns along the Amalfi Coast. View of Vesuvius loomed most of the way.


Entry into Vietri was confusing as all heck! GPS sent us round and round..finally called hotel and they guided us to them..Hotel is outside main town, and we have a room with very plain furniture but fantastic view down to the beach and southeast to Salerno (where we originally had planned to stay but were thwarted by the rental car dearth in that city). Hotel is above main town of Vietri Sul Mare and while I would have liked to stroll around, it is heavily dominated by ceramic shops, but the facades are embellished by wonderful mosaic murals that would be lovely to have a look at up close. (I've been once before but never stayed long here.....). Also worth note is the celebrated SOLIMENE ceramic, whose facade MUSt be seen!!!! I remember buying a set from here in the early 70s, when I was on my (first) honeymoon!!!!! Hotel has a shuttle which has to be booked in advance. I think we are just too tired at this point although maybe if we get up early we can take a stroll for an hour or so before departing for Maratea.

But it's about 4pm here now and we have a dinner booked in the next town along the AC, Cetera, my favorite eating town on this coast. Taxis from Vietri, to Cetera, 5 miles distant, cost 30 euro EACH WAY!!!! Snackered to hear that......at this rate, partner is fast asleep so who knows if we will make dinner but, incredibly, before the hotel would book me a taxi, I had to sign two copes of a form stating that if I canceled within 2 hours of pickup I would be charged 40% of the fee!!! Never heard that one before!! I guess this is the Amalfi Coast, for all that that means!!!!! Prices are out of this world....Cetara is 5 km from here..30 euro for a taxi but parking is awful and cannot bear to ask partner to drive there. Yes, the hotel has shuttle to town and from there a bus is possible but frankly I am just too knocked out.......

Too tired to write more right now.....will try to keep up with this, but without too much detail..just ask me questions and I am more than happy to give my 2 cents!

BTW..weather is HOT (high 80sF) and sunny, as compared with the constant drizzle we had in Sicily last spring.....

Looking forward to more!

on for the ride

Always love your TRs. Have a great time

Once again, your reporter had tears in her eyes, this time last night, when we arrived in what is one of my favorite villages in Italy: Cetera. Despite the reports of tourists clogging the streets in nearby Positano. our evening in Cetera was akin to entering a film of the 1960s Amalfi Coast, in a great way. WE took a taxi there at the very high price of 30 euro each way, but this was worth the price.

Cetara is the last town before Vietri, at the southern end of the AC. I felt as if I was in a film set from the minute we arrived until our departure a few hours later.
The set was minimally occupied when we arrived at about 7pm. There is one Main Street that leads down the beach, and it is lined with "normal" shops catering to locals. I saw one shop selling tourist items like dresses and ceramics,, but otherwise there are small food shops and a number of shops selling the anchovies and their liquid, famous from Roman times, colatura, that has put Cetara on the map. Delfino is the most well known and they have anchovies and tuna in every iteration you might imagine from pestos to gigantic jars of ventresca (tuna belly) to the liquid colatura. I did some financial damage there!

One interesting fact is that apart from a few staff at our Vietri hotel, NO ONE we encountered yesterday appeared to speak English. We heard not one word of English in Cetara and I can only compare this to the more famous towns of this coast. Just locals, and residents of towns in nearby parts of Campania. So after a stroll along the main drag, and the beachfront, which became more and more packed as the evening wore on, it felt like the filming was about to take place.

So we took our designated places on the terrace of one of my favorite restaurants in Italy, ACQUAPAZZA, and sure enough, the owner remembered me from 11 years ago! And it was fun to show him the photos I had taken back then and not so fun to see how we both had changed since then!! He is one of the 2 "Genneros" that own the restaurant. From the table on the street, we had a view of what, again, looked like a film set with laughing and smiling parties coming together, hugs and kisses alll around--fisherfolk (Cetara remains a fishing town), locals, old folks and little kids.....glirious weather and a night I will never forget.

Before dinner we once again visited the blue and white ceramic plaque memorializing the residents of Cetara..anziani, bambini and all else, who were persecuted by the Nazi laws of 1938 and later deported to the Nazi death camps and assassinated in '43-'45...a sobering note in an otherwise truly happy, happy evening. (The plaque is located in the piazza near the Al Convento restaurant, near the statue commemorating the Cetarese who sacrificed their lives in the Second World War)

Then it was dinner time so we made our way to ACQUAPAZZZA. Unfortunately, the travel had somehow mitigated my appetite so I could not indulge as much as I would have preferred. My partner had what he proclaimed one of the best pastas he had ever eaten: Trofie with basil, olives, almonds, pine nuts, colatura, and other delicacies (my photos seem to be missing so cannot find the menu details). I had a half order of their famous Spaghetti al Acquapazza, with colatura.....divine. Remember that most restaurants in Italy are happy to serve a "mezzo porzione," or half order.

Following the pastas, we shared the most divine spigola cooked in a salt crust, along with an order of fantastic roasted potatoes with rosemary. Again, I was. unable to finish my plate but did take a good part back to the hotel mini bar and I will finish it for breakfast this morning.

I also brought back a lovely ceramic plate given to me by one of the Gennaros which ice now very dear to me. I hope I can return in not too long!


https://www.acquapazza.it/menu/


After dinner, we phoned the taxi who collected us and drove us (fast and furious!!) along the Amalfi Coast drive back to our hotel in Vietri. That drive was like a ride as Disneyland!!! Really fun, with a breathtaking view off the sea on the right, with the hills of the client in the distance, and the city of Salerno closer to us.
I wish we could stay longer in this area. I think one of the things that saves Cetara from becoming a day trip destination is that there are no hotels in town and just one on the road east of town which is too far to walk along the Drive to get to Cetara itself.

I do wish I could add some photos here; I will try when I have more time.

Now it's almost 9am so time to get ready for our last meal in Campania before we head south to Basilicata.

Meant to include price of dinner at ACQUAPAZZA:

One glass of white wine (house white) from Alto Adige (?why from there?)
1/2 order house pasta
Full order of trofie
One spigola baked in salt and filleted at table..large amounts of fish
One order potatoes roasted with rosemary (my guess is par boiled, quartered and then roasted to turn golden one exterior....sublime)

Total: 110 euro, tip included
Service: Impeccable

Partner says just the 2 pastas would have been enough for a dinner.

Mind you, while this is pricey, the total was so far below what one would pay for a mediocre meal of the same dishes in one of the towns further west, such as Amalfi, Positano, etc. Of course, we do need to take into account taxi fare. We did have a car (free parking at hotel, another reason to stay in this area if you plan to visit the AC) but the thought of making the drive to Cetara at night was just too daunting, and we are so happy partner can now walk, albeit with some difficulty, after surgery in June, that we threw financial caution to the winds.......

Now 11am. Breakfast was superb...lemon and chocolate Caprese cakes, incredible yogurts, eggs and pancakes for the few who chose to order these, anything you might imagine and all wonderful and served in a vast, sparkling white dining room, indoor and out......colorful tiles, view over the sea......miraculous!
Lovely pool reachable by elevator, but we do not have time to swim....

Wedding last night....not at al intrusive and gave us a chance to see the fashions, bride and groom, staying right next to us, music (the Plattters in Italian!!!). Still waiting for Domenico Mondugno to make his entrance!!!!

Isn't travel among the greatest things in lifer those of us who can indulge? And yet so many people we know have no interest at all.......

I wish I could post photos here but I can do this on hungryonion.org so might write a food report there if I can find the time between swooping, and eating!!!

italian whites... tricky but... I'd have stuck with the local cheap as chips stuff, maybe they felt they had to have a DOCG and good ones are hard to find especially in Puglia

Bilbo: The wines on the list were all full bottles so I asked them only for a glass..they have a different name for this here, not calico but something close. So I was surprised when they poured me a glass of a blend from Alto Adige instead of something local. Honestly I was so tired and not feeling up to par, gastro wise, so I just accepted it..it was ok..nothing special. Why would they have that as their house wine? Will try to find price on bill.....

So glad you are reading..your posts are always so helpful and insightful!

Ok, so we checked out of the hotel in Vietri after a lovely breakfast. Got on the road south about noon. May verdict is that Hotel Raito is a lovely place to stay..near the highway and near my love of a town, Cetara..gorgeous old-fashioned Amalfi Coast hotel....wonderful staff with some speaking English. Patrons mostly Italian but there was one group from Colette Tours which I think might be from USA, and also a Smithsonian tour, posted on their bulletin board. But overall, this was an Italian hotel and no one was fancy..just "normal" people on vacation, mostly in shorts and flip flops......very comfy place to stay!

The drive to Maratea was slated as just under 2 hours on my Google map, but thank goodness I had a paper map as well. Of course we made some wrong turns; the installed GPS made some errors that took us, for example, on the highway north to Naples. The woman at the hotel front desk wrote out directions for us that took us via Bari; turned out she had not heard of Maratea and thought we were headed for Matera; in any case--through Bari??

BUT....even thought the drive took about 3 hours, much of it, after getting off the highway at Lagonegro Nord, was spectacular! The winding-ist roads you've ever driven on! Flanked by high peaks and dramatic rock canyons, skirting there Cilento peninsula (no time, unfortunately to pay another visit......curves and curves and then more curves!!!

GPS sent us down dirt roads that sometimes were the right way and sometimes leads to someone's farm. It was fun! It's the drive down from the uplands to the shore and is just a wonderful experience although I wonder how to navigate this at night to the various agriturismi we (I) picked out for future night, not from the highway south to Sapri as this one was, but north from Maratea town to the uplands closer to the famous Christ who watches over the area.

Know that Maratea is not ONE town; it is a collection of various fracciones spilling along the coast from near the border of Campania near Sapri, south almost to Calabria.

We checked into our hotel, VILLA CHETA, about 3pm, and by that time driver was knackered and I was close to that. Hotel is a former private home in Liberty style; I had visited before but not stayed here. And it looks and if left in amber...all the original furniture and collectibles..many rooms, up and down stairs, terrazzo floors, lovely outdoor spaces, and now a lovely pool which I hope to visit in a few minutes.

BUT the hotel beach is across the road and down many steps and I already plan to visit one of the lidi that I fell in love with 11 years ago on the advice of the much lamented Fodor-ite, Franco. I do hope the swimming there lives up to my memories from long ago. But you need a car to get anywhere around here, unless you stay in the upper town and even then, you need a car to get to the beach unless you are ok with spending time at the hotel pool which was polar bear temperature last time I was there. (we stayed at the Donna Monachie ex-convent last time; I was with friends, not my usual partner)

So...views from here and all along this coast are the stuff that dreams are made of. So far I've heard a bit of English and staff speaks some but in general this ice not a resort suited for the average (whatever that is) foreign tourist. I aim over the moon to be here thus far. Will go soon to the beautiful pool and then go for dinner at a place I loved last time, in the nearby fraccione.

Maratea, at least from what I can see thus far, is just out of the usual tourist track, and so gorgeous with such scenery..rustic, more like the western US than what we think of as Italy (granted I do not know the Dolomites).....very little English which is great, and everyone so welcoming!!!

So I will stop this chatter here to get to the pool while partner watches the US Open in Italian on tv......tonight, dinner 20:00 at Da Cesare, on the railroad tracks just south of here.......

Thrilled to be here.......partner seems to feel the same......

Best regards to all from Basilicata!

We actually stayed twice at Villa Cheta -- its such a beautiful area and it was empty both times. Enjoying following along.

Ekscrunchy, excited to join along on another of your wonderful trips!
You MUST visit the Dolomites and visit Ortisei, staying in the family owned and run Hotel Grones.

Thank you Ekscrunchy for reporting live! Cetara sounds lovely!

Loving the report—many thanks!

Yestravel: You stayed here twice? So lovely! Where else didi you venture on that trip?

Today was a great day apart from the fact that my back is giving a lot of problems! Oh well.....must push on!!

After a lavish breakfast at Villa Cheta on this Sunday, the lovely hotel front desk person phoned La Secca, which I think is the best beach in the area, (it is far to the south, almost at the Calabria border and adjacent to Il Mirto beach; I was proud of myself for driving there and back along the VERY curvy cliffside road, SS18! It was easy and I went slowly; speed limits is 40 km). I need tp practice driving in unfamiliar places!

Good thing we booked in advance because we snagged the last two available lounges (20 euro each with one umbrella); parking is 5 euro in September, more in August; the blue lounges have little roofs attached.

As soon as we entered and parked, we were met by a kind worker who immediately welcomed us by calling out my name and led us to our lounges. He apologized that they were a bit in the sun but promised tomorrow that he would reserve for us two "front line" beach lounges, closer to the entrance to the sea.

There are two ways to enter the sea here: You need water shoes for both. You can make your way across the rocks to the open water, or descend a ladder. The water here is edged by giant towering rocks and there are rocks atop the sea floor. Forested mountains in the distance and all along their roads.

The water is a dark aqua and the stuff that dreams are made of. There were no other foreigners that I noticed. Most bathers just bobbed or floated off rafts; a few swam halfhearted laps. The female all wore bikinis (except yours truly who stood out in a rash guard and swim shorts!!)

The water was colder than I had remembered but I did swim and hope to swim much longer tomorrow. There are high peaks all around, grey rocks in all formations, and offshore many visitors arrived in private boats and came to swim. There is an alfresco restaurant but I did not check it out due to difficulty walking. I yelped in pain a few times and it was so cute when a girl of about 14 asked me, in English, if I needed any help. I complimented her language skills and asked her if she learned English in school. She said no..."I learned it on the internet!' The internet? "Yes, I play video games!!"

It really was amusing to see all the various female bodies in their sequined and tiny bathing bikinis, women of alll ages in thong suits and pretty tiny tops.....really great..no shame about having some extra avoirdupois or not looking like Gisele Bundchen. Just watching the fellow beachgoers was worth the trip, and everyone was so kind, including the male beach workers. Surprisingly, the males were not in the skimpy Speedos that I recall from earlier trips--they wore bathing shorts just like in the US, mostly, although there were a few exceptions. The older the man, the smaller the bathing suit!!

It was very hot but there was a breeze. Unfortunately, we had booked Sunday lunch at DA CESARE, where we had a great dinner last night. This is on S18, near Villa Cheta and I had been on my last trip. So we left the beach early, about 1:20 in order to arrive for lunch at the last seating: 2:15. I drove again!! And LOVED it!!

Things got dicey once we reached the restaurant, since the parking lots were jam packed and I could not manage to find anywhere to park. Partner got into driver's seat and became quite testy, saying that was it..he could not do it, and we would have to return for dinner, instead. Just then, our server from last night, Teresa, spotted us and exclaimed, "Erica!!!!" So great you are back. So I explained the parking issue and she told us we could drive down and park in her nearby driveway, OR just park behind her sister's car since her sister would be working until after we left......I am too tired to go into all of this but it was quite the scene....neither of us could manage to get the car into the indicated spot.....cars were parked willy nilly and the lot is up against the highway.....no one minds the lines for designated parking..they park wherever they find 3 inches of space! After about 15 minutes, one of the diners left his table and came across the street and took the keys and parked our car for us! Only in Italy!!! So fabulous!!!!!

By this time we were known to the restaurant staff and felt like old friends. Too tired to go into detail, but this was the meal:

Me: Full order of tiny clams with spaghetti. Fantastic, but I did have to add salt.
Order of roasted peppers, yellow and gold. Served cold.

Partner: Spaghetti with tomato sauce which was proclaimed "the best tomato sauce ever!!" (Not a fish lover)
Order of fried calamari.....so delicious I stole quite a few of the tentacles...no grease...just superb!

This was pretty much a repeat of last night's dinner, although last night I had only a half order of the spaghetti with clams (7 euro for what looked to me like a full order!)

Dessert was new to us: Tartufo di Pizzo Calabro. Dense gelato surrounding candied orange. Apparently the town of Pizzo, just south of here in Calabria, is famous for this dessert which comes in many flavors. If we can manage, we may have to drive south to Pizzo to sample more....

Lunch with water and one fresh lemonade: 63 euro. We follow lead of locals here and do not leave tip.

Maratea is so interesting, as the coastal stretch on the Tyrrhenian Sea is only 30 km long, between the Cilento in Campania and the Riviera del Cedro in Calabria. This is the only stretch off Basilicata on this coast. So we can be in Sapri, Campania, in about 12 minutes (supermarket, which I love to explore), and in Praia del Mare, Calabria, in about 35 minutes, driving south I hope we have enough time to explore. (The annual pepper fair is this week, in Diamante!!!)

We've still not been up to the actual town of Maratea but will try to make it tomorrow. You do need to drive A LOT in the Maratea area , and the roads and VERY narrow and curvy. Not for the faint hearted!!

Bravo Ekscrunchy for your driving skills on difficult roads!

Thanks so much for describing the food! Seems like a very sweet dream. I am especially excited to here about dishes that are unique to a region... or particular village

What a fabulous trip you're having! I'm loving your wonderfully descriptive observations and reporting and can't get over you checking in with us WHILE there. I never have enough time to report to the degree that you are - Thank you! Looking forward to your next installment.

Shelemm: That is just what I like to seek out! This stretch of coastline, in Basilicata (also known by its ancient name, Lucania) is only about 20 miles long, as I think I mentioned, above, sandwiched between Calabria and Campania so there are SO many foods particular to these regions that can be found here. So I try to sample as many as I can.

This morning we drove, again, to our "favorite" beach club, La Secca, and spent about 2 hours there. It is stunningly beautiful but the water seemed much colder than I had remembered from the last time; I guess it's just me, getting older and less tolerant!! Then we took a look at the little hamlet of Fiumicello, which has a less unusual beach with two private lidi and a public area. Very pretty, beautiful water.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool at Villa Cheta (fantastic!) and then took a drive into the town of Maratea, located high on the hillside......did some food shopping, of course. Dinner here at the Villa; details later on....

Dinner last night at Villa Cheta, out hotel. a former private palazzo still owned by a Bolognese family who still summers here and now operated as a hotel run by a core group of most hospitable ladies who deserve much credit for their caring attitude toward guests.

Speaking of interesting foods in this region, the Riviera del Cedro, just south of Maratea along the coast, in Calabria, is the home of the Cedro, known in Hebrew as the strong and important in the Jewish autumn festival of Sukkot. The Cedro is a citrus fruit used also to make spirits of which I have sampled and found delicious! I wish we had the time to travel further south along this coast, into Calabria, although I do remember that much of the stretch is marred by fairly ugly development. Getting back to the
Cedro/etrog, I have read that at certain times of the year,, Orthodox rabbis descend on this coast to select the prime examples of the etrog to cart back to their home places for Sukkot. Will try to find more information on that but meanwhile:


https://www.joimag.it/sukkot-in-cala...aditions-tome/




https://moked.it/international/2023/...uropean-union/




Another semi-interesting event for me, personally:

When we arrived in Italy I found that I had neglected to bring along a medication that I take daily. It is not a controlled substance, as in opioid or sedative, but nevertheless, a prescription is required in the US. I was a little put out by my omission and a bit anxious about how I would fare after a few days going without (you might get the idea from this last sentence!)

What to do? We are on the coast with the nearest pharmacy up ion the hill town of Maratea, a fairly harrowing drive, and then the parking problem (!!). But we did drive up yesterday and found a pharmacy in town. I had no prescription bottle and nothing to show that I had a doctor's consent for this medication. Nor did I know the name in Italian.

No worries!!!! Walked into the pharmacy, gave the actual name and dosage of the drug; the lovely young female looked it up online (!!), found it, and related that she would have it in the store today after 10am!! Si!!!!! Must again face that drive, but will give me yet another excuse to explore an excellent shop specializing in regional foods, which here means not only the foods of Lucania, but also of the nearby coastal regions of the Cilento and Calabria!!!! The name is FARMACIA DEI SANI and I highly recommend if you find yourself in Maratea town. Yesterday I bought strascinati imbued with pepperoni di Senise, local sausage and, in nearby caseificio (cheese maker) a local cheese that has been submerged in wine during manufacture.....will try to find the name later. The main cheeses here are made from sheep; more info on those to follow.

if you like sheep cheese then goat will amaze and the buffalo cheese from Puglia will blow your socks off

Strascinati, pepperoni di Senise, cedro,,,, there is a pride of place that is so crucial to fully appreciating the local way of life.

Thanks eks, for your interesting and detailed report. Continue to enjoy your trip!

And do not forget N’duja!!!! I bought some at a supermarket today on way back from picking up the medicine!!!!! (Thirty day supply=12 euro; in the US the same amount costs me $96 a month with insurance!!). This one is made in Malta. The US generic is probably from India.

Bilbo I did know they had bufala cheese in Puglia!! Once went to the Vannulo buffalo farm near Paestum and that was a treat. The story of how those animals got to Italy in a good one!!!

I booked a dinner at STANO in Matera for one of our two nights in that city. Ideas for the second night are welcome, especially if they have the peperoni cruschi on the menu. I was thinking about SOUL KITCHEN. But this time will not drag home a gigantic bread from Matera. Or Altamura!!!!

I'd love to have dinner at ekscrunchy's house.

In Matera I loved my dinner at La Lopa -- highlights: cicerchie soup (with cubes of fried Matera bread and of course cruscho); bacalao; dessert of bitter almond gelato with almond biscuit and olive oil. If I'd had an additional night in Matera I would have eaten there again. I enjoyed Soul Kitchen overall, but the only fabulous thing I ate was the dessert (panna cotta w/cruscho and olive oil).

studenttobe, agree with you on Soul Kitchen. It was good but not as good as I had anticipated. By the way, I did dine at La Lopa in May--great food, thank you for the recommendation. The soup they served when I was there was zucchine and it was marvelous. Also had an excellent meal at Stano and hope eks and her partner have a similar experience.

eks, loving your report and hope you post to Hungry Onion when you return. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

So glad you enjoyed your meal at La Lopa, Leely2. Looking forward to another trip to Matera some time (TBD--always the dilemma between places you've loved and new places that you've longed to visit).

studenttobe, I get it re: new vs. old favorites. I tend to return to large cities, but not small towns. La Lopa had moved from cicerchie to zucchine when I dined there. (Hope I'm remembering that right, but it was delicious in any case.) https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...365761491.jpeg
La Lopa crema di zucchine

I think ekscrunchy is still living la dolce vita in Maratea, so hoping we read mroe soon.

Leely, I booked La Lopa for this weekend! (Will cancel SoulKitchen, where I had phoned yesterday to book)

I made a typo above, the Cedro is their ETROG in Hebrew. Some of them can cost hundreds of euro! They have to be assessed by the rabbis who flock a few miles south of there to Sta Maria del Cedro every year to choose their fruit.

I contented myself with a bottle of Cedro liqueur from FARMACIA DEI SANI, the small food shop I recommended, above, in the town of Maratea. Bergamot, the prime ingredient in Earl Grey teas, also comes from this coast, further south, closer to Reggio.

And at breakfast here they serve fichi di India, which in Mexico they known as "tuna," hailed in song by Jorge Negrete and other ranchera singers!! It's the pretty fruit of the flat paddled cactus that I think is the nopal in Mexico. The fruit is.......well, ok. On another trip to this area I ignored all the "non toccare" signs and put my hand on the cactus paddle. OUCH!!!
A thousand almost invisible little needles stuck in your hand!

Anyway, unusual for ekscruchy but last night I just could not go to dinnner. We had snacked on caciocavallo and Lucanian prosciutto (excellent, so its not only the Parma and San Daniele we should sample) and some kind of salami piccante (I always ask for products from the "zona"). (Also bought N'Duja to bring home) Well, I actually ask for "locali" and they corrected me and said "de la zona."

And we had some more of those fantastic cherry-filled pastries from Panza in Maratea. This type is specific to Maratea, and is called "BOCCONOTTi." Apparently there are versions all along this coast the vary but this is reputedly among the best...Pastry shell around rich dark cherry filling, but there are also other fillings including Fiji and cream or combo of both. They also sell a version of sfogliatella but not as good as the ones we had in Naples.

So after that lunch (we did not have any good bread, though, in fact we have not had any good bread since we arrived in Italy but surely this will change in Matera; I should not be eating much bread in any case so if I eat it, it should at least be great!!)

And then, a glorious, long swim in the beautiful pool at the hotel (took them 25 years (!!) to get a permit to build the pool, I was told, so how come that awful development along the Calabrian coast seems to sprout up overnight???

After the swim, I was just flat on my face tired and could not think about leaving the room, even to go downstairs to dine at the hotel. So: Partner had to content himself with a replay of lunch but he was fine and I think I was asleep by 8pm! I hate to miss a meal in Italy, not due to hunger but due to curiosity about trying new dishes.

But if you do not eat at the hotel, you do have to brave these roads in the dark and let me tell you, not for the faint hearted although I am more relaxed about driving every day and now have no fear of daylight driving and have already planted my flag in the ground about taking the wheel for tomorrow's drive to Senise and on to Tursi, where we have an overnight. This driving is great for me cause I think th future will mean more solo trips so I need to get comfortable b behind the wheel.

Today will be a day at the glorious hotel pool, hopefully some serious laps, and then dinner at one of two restaurants within 15 minutes of the hotel. Which one to try?? We all should have such easy dilemmas to face!

Finally my photos made it to their laptop from the iPhone....I would love to post some here...but how....will give it a try to just drag them....

That soup looks gorgeous Leely2--and there are those cubes of fried Matera bread that featured in the cooler weather cicerchie soup that I so enjoyed. (Indeed, thinking about that soup prodded me to order this morning 4 bags of cicerchie from an heirloom bean shop that I love. Fun to start thinking of cool weather cooking where I live.) And I like your rule of thumb on the ever present dilemma-revisiting favorite places versus new explorations. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, Fra_Diavolo, dinner at ekscrunchy’s would really be a treat!

I am afraid you both would be very disappointed with dinner at the ekscrunchy abode!!!!

So..I can see I am falling behind here, so will try to catch up.

We spent the last day in Maratea relaxing at their GORGEOUS pool and I was able to get in quite a few laps which always makes me so happy. Villa Cheta is gorgeous and the staff are so lovely. Food at the one dinner we ate there had one standout dish--stuffed eggplant--but the rest was not so great (my spigola in salt was overcooked). But the setting is glorious and there were so many other interesting and friendly guests.

On the last night, we returned for the third time to Da Cesare, in Cersuta, about a 10 minute drive along the curvy (!!) SS16 south of the hotel. I was sad that the lobster pasta I was dreaming of was available only with pre-order. So Ii had pasta with what they called scampi but what we in the US might call langoustine. Very tasty but a lot of work for a little meat! It's a really nice restaurant and by there we were like old friends with the staff. Did I mention before the ice cream from Pizzo Calabro? OMG...the thickest gelato I've ever had.....must get there someday to do some serious sampling.


Yesterday we packed up what has now become a caravan of suitcases and bags stuffed with FAR too many clothes and all kinds of assorted foods. It was an easy drive along mostly SS roads to the Azienda Giuseppe Pennella outside Senise, ground zero for my beloved Senise peppers. We had visited him 11 years ago (I shudder when I look at photos of us then, and now, although Giuseppe looks the same!).

We had an appointment at 2pm. It was sunny. It was HOT. We waited. And waited. About 45 minutes after arriving, an older man driving a bettered tractor pulled up and I asked him where I could find Signor Pennella, obviously his boss. Mind you, lots of people here speak in dialect that is not easy to understand!!! Well this fellow did not have his boss' phone number but after some fumbling around, he found it someplace. Called someone, told me their man in question was at home and would arrive soon. Waited some more. Very hot. Very sunny. Finally, a man pulls up in a battered car. But no, this man is not Sr. Pennella, he is coming to MEET with Sr, Pennella!!! I implore him to phone Sr, Pennella. By this time it is way past 3pm.

More waiting and by about 3:45 Sr. Pennella pulls up. But wait..he cannot attend to us now, he has to leave and meet someone else. Takes off in his car after speaking a few minutes with the battered car man (not the tractor man). Promises to return "pronto." More waiting and by now Mr. Ekscrunchy is getting very cranky.

Finally, St. Pennella returns and we begin the pepper discussion. He shows me the hangars piled with peppers in various stages of drying. In between I learn about his son in school in Tirana and his mother in Tarranova di Pollino, and many, many other things, of which I understand maybe 30% if that.
And then, I kid you not, he has to take off again cause he has an appointment but willl be back again, pronto!!!

He did come back in about 10 minutes and from then on, there was MUCh more discussion of Senise peppers of which partner understood nothing and could care even less. VERY cranky. And HOT.
I asked him if he gets any visitors from America and he tells me he is a wholesaler and does not sell to visitors who pop in.

This is going on as long as the pepper afternoon so I will just conclude with saying that I bought 4 "serte" (long strands attached with string) and a few jars of already fried and salted peppers for snacking. My friend who owns a small farm wanted me to bring back seeds but for some reason that could not happen (long explanation of which I understood only "impossible.")

The selections made, it was time for the packing up of the purchases. But first they all have to be cleaned with some kind of apparatus like a dentist would use when they shoot air into your mouth. Then he examines every single pepper and pulls out the ones that are not good.....he shows me the good and the bad and I cannot tell the difference. Apparently it is int he smell and the feel of the pepper. And the color..some have a slightly yellow tinge. Those get yanked off the string.



He then encases the serte of perfect peppers in plastic and seals the top with heat and the bottom with staples. Then threads them through a long cardboard tunnel. I try and mess it all up. Failed the interview for the position!

Now the discussion begins on how best to pack them for the plane: Long discussion. We decide upon a cardboard box, the same one he had used just that morning to send peppers to a wholesaler in California. He also tells me he sells to Buon Italia in New York now!!!!!!! And the he can mail peppers to me anytime!!!!! Thanks goodness partner did not understand all this....

SO; He selects a box that looks very very small to hold all these peppers, plus the gifts of oregano branches (two types) and pulverized pepper that I should use in soup or atop a pasta dish. The mound of peppers is sky high, but slowly, slowly, he manages to press them down and yes, they fit into the box, which he tapes up and makes a handle.

Now it's time for the discussion of when we willl return and go with him and his family to his house near Terranova di Pollino where his parents stay.
Apparently it is "serene" and peaceful there (as opposed to bustling Senise !?!?!). And the mountain air is so fresh and healthy. We must return for a minimum of three nights. Then more talk of family, and the festivals held in the fall in Terranova. Shows me a book with photos of Terrnova, signed by a famous French photographer named "Guy something."

By now it is almost 6pm. Partner is now audibly sighing and making faces at me!!

Giuseppe gets a phone call and tells the caller that he cannot talk because he is hanging out with his "old friends from America." (I hope he means "old" in the sense I prefer!)

Many hugs and promises to return and we are off on the half hour drive to Tursi, to our b&B in the Ratana, the quarter first settled in the 5th century! Many abandoned stone houses, steep streets, a few pretty cats lounging around--all whit by the way.

As arranged,, we meet our host, Martine, originally from London, at the Moda Car Wash, and she leads us deep into the Rabatana and helps us with our bags (left the big one in the trunk with her approval).

Martine bought this place about 20 years ago, along with three others I Tursi. Had a devilish time having them renovated and she has wrought a lost charming and unusual lodging space oozing with character.

We quickly wash up and head up and up and up and up, to their restaurant we had booked, where we had a dinner that tied with Acquapazza in Cetara as the best meal of the trip. Fascinating local produce, gorgeous setting on outdoor terrace with views across the valley.....certainly my BEST pasta dish so far.

I have to get ready to leave for Matera so will return with details of the dinner. The restaurant is PALAZZO DEI POETI, and Martine's B&B is THE ORANGERY RETREAT (also a hotel which looks lovely). Both in Tursi, Basilicata.


https://www.theorangeryretreat.com/


https://www.palazzodeipoeti.it/

https://www.indiansavage.com/tursi-r...zzo-dei-poeti/. for some photos of Tursi and the restaurant

The south

Si, si.......the south!

Simple drive a bit over one hour to Matera. More on dinner in Tursi later.

Right now ensconced in what must be the most visually spectacular hotel in Italy: SEXTANTIO GROTTA DELLE CIVITA, in Matera. In an "Executive Cave," no less! (Last room standing--I booked late)

Have I left this planet????

Matera now appears to be crawling with foreign tourists (head much American English) so once we tear ourselves out of our cave, will report further. Dinner tonight, La Lopa.




A

Ok..take it back...a few Asian tourists including a great group of ladies from Kl and HK who we invited into our cave room with their adorable grandchild. Quite a few Italian tourists and some Germans.
The only Americans we met were from California, on a tour. One of the woman asked me, "Do you know the name of this town we are in now??"


Sorry, the name of the quarter in Tursi is RABATANA.....

Hope you are having fun! Try to stop by La Latteria for a coffee and to chat with the friendly owners.

Most of the non-Italian tourists when I was there in early May seemed to be French. Also, probably because I stayed at a sort of business hotel not in the Sassi, I only heard Italian in the breakfast room. There was a group at my hotel somehow involved with the nearby music conservatory.

OMG..I am in love with this hotel and with Matera, all over again. Yes, there are more tourists but they intrude in no way.

Just to catch up, we spent the night in Tursi, at THE ORANGERY RETREAT, which was a wonderful apartment in an ancient part of Tursi called La Rabatana.

Dinner at PALAZZO DEI POETI is now tied with ACQUAPAZZA in Cetara for the best dinner of the trip so far.
it's in a gorgeous hotel/restaurant, also in the ancient quarter of Tursi and is well worth the trip to that small town to dine there. We were seated outside on the terrace and waited on by the extremely charming and erudite owner, Paolo, who hails from here but spent time studying architecture in Florence before returning home to open the hotel/restaurant. His wife is the cook and quite the cook she is!!

I always try to order dishes specific to the region and this was no exception. Unfortunately, my photo of the menu is unreadable and they have no menu online. So briefly::

After an amuse (what is this called in Italian..must ask!)? of a small shrimp in a light sauce flavored with orange and a green vegetable (sorry to be so vague), we opted to begin with two pastas:

Partner ordered "mischiglio," which is a pasta made with durum flour but also with ceci and fava bean flour traditionally added, to stretch the more costly grano duro in this once (and still) very poor region of Italy. (It's now sold in shops and made at home and is welcomed by people who prefer not to eat much gluten) It
is a tan-colored pasta; this was in a strascinati form and was cooked with cardoncelli mushrooms, sausage and bits of pepperoni cruschi. "Fantastic!" was the verdict.

My primi was frizzele with smoked caciocavallo cheese, tiny sautéed tomatoes, pepperoni cruschi, and the Stacia oranges for which Tursi is noted in the SlowFood Ark of Taste. This was one of the best pastas, and one of the most unusual, I've ever tasted. Just marvelous.

For the second, we shared Podolico veal (very thin slices of meat from cattle native to the south and also in the Ark of Taste) perfumed with Tursi oranges and seasoned with black salt.


https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/e...-podolica-cow/

I can't find the bill now but if I do find it I will post the price, which was very reasonable.

I highly recommend this restaurant, even if you do not stay in Tursi. And Tursi itself seems to me to have the potential to become a much smaller version (without the caves) of Matera..an ancient town with many abandoned buildings and a striking view over the valley and the calanches typical of this landscape. It's just about 90 minutes over excellent roads from Matera, and quite close to the abandoned town of Craco, which we had visited last time and which I would also highly recommend. (Now one must enter Craco with a guided tour, rather than sneak through the wires as we did 11 years ago!)


From Tursi, as I wrote, we drove to Matera and for our first dinner we chose LA LOPA. Another standout dinner which I will try to describe later. Tonight is TRATTORIA STANO. And tomorrow we, very sadly, have to leave this exquisite cave (!!) and head across the border to Puglia, where we will spend three nights, largely for food reasons!!

I think I've gained 10 lbs just reading this thread!

As an Italy novice, I'm completely unfamiliar with the areas you're visiting, but during the past few years our annual trips to Switzerland have crept into northern Italy. We've recently discovered the fabulous food there and have nine nights booked in Chiavenna and Domodosolla on our upcoming trip, which we've earmarked for eating (we leave in two days!). We'll also spend 10 nights in the Dolomites in December with the attitude of 'if we can't hike, at least we can eat'.

Carry on.

Loving this wonderfully detailed report, ekscrunchy!

Still loving this great TR. You are making me want to go back to Villa Cheta and that entire area. I do remember the curvy, narrow road.