visiting the Basilicata region of southern Italy, also known as Lucania
Aug 12th, 2002, 05:33 PM
#81
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Yes, that was my brother mentioned in an April post who has now had 2 articles on the "Italy with Us" website. Definitely worth your time to check out if you're interested in this region. His name is Jack Renshaw. Check it out. And go to Calabria! You'll never regret it.
Aug 25th, 2002, 07:50 PM
#82
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Dear Carol & others:<BR><BR>Thank you for your info on Basilicata. I too have grandparents from that region: the town of Moliterno in Potenza. There is very little information here in the US, but a few years back the APT in Potenza sent me tons of touring booklet, maps etc. I am taking the plunge this October and taking my 80 year old mother to Moliterno. So we are really excited!!! We are starting in Venice and working our way south, so wish luck!!<BR><BR>
Aug 25th, 2002, 08:36 PM
#83
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I have an article about Basilicata coming up in the September issue of Italy With Us. <BR><BR>A lovely gentleman from the US writes about his visits to the area to discover the places his grandparents grew up in.<BR><BR>I have also been persuading the tourist office in the region to give me more information about events there to put into the events section of the IWU site.<BR><BR>They do have a great site which gives good information about every town in English:<BR>http://www.aptbasilicata.it/modules.php?name=comuni
Aug 29th, 2002, 06:22 PM
#87
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Your trip to Basilicata sounds great! I have to confess I had no prior knowledge of this part of Italy before reading your posts. I have a trip that I am planning for April 5-12, 2003 and I don't have a location yet. The festas you all describe sound wonderful. How can I find out if there are any local fesivals happening in April??
Aug 29th, 2002, 08:58 PM
#89
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To Mel:<BR><BR>Check the previous post -- about 4 or 5 up for the aptbasilicata.it web site. They have lots of info and events listed for all the towns.<BR><BR>To Bill:<BR><BR>No, I don't think Carol is involved with that tour company--she did take one of their tours to the area. I'm on their mailing list and the October tour has been cancelled due to lack of interest. But hopefully there will be something in 2003.<BR><BR>Let's hope Rick Steves doesn't "discover" this area, it will be ruined!<BR><BR>Regards, Michelle
Nov 24th, 2002, 05:03 AM
#94
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Has anyone been there recently? If you went alone, how did you find driving to samll hilltop towns on rugged mountain roads? If with a tour, what company?<BR><BR>In answer to a previous post, no, I'm not involved with ANY tour company, but I did take a tour to Basilicata as I described, and I think the tour will be offered again next May. I am not aware of too many tours to the region. Besides the one that I took, there is a hiking tour in Pollino park/nature preserve in southern Basilicata that is offered by a British tour company, ATG-Oxford, which has a very good reputation. I've heard that this Pollino tour is beautiful but extremely strenuous. There used to be a short (5 days, I think) tour mainly to Puglia, which also went to one or two places in Basilicata, but it doesn't seem to be offered for 2003. It was offered by Italian Connection, a company based in Canada, which gives OUTSTANDING, very intelligently planned small-group tours in Sicily (I just took one and spoke to people who've taken others). (And no, that's not my company either--I'm not in the travel business at all, unfortunately, and must just scrape by on my limited vacation days each year.)
Nov 24th, 2002, 05:37 AM
#96
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Yes, I had a great time. I was on my own for a week, then took an excellent 7-person tour for the second week. I managed to get to "my" town again and spent two nights at an agriturismo on the outskirts of the little mountain town in the Nebrodi Mts. where half my ancestors lived. The variety (in terms of history, geography, types of towns and accommodations, cooking styles, varying sounds of the dialect, even climate) I experienced in just two weeks on a single island was incredible. I thought November might not be such a great time to visit, but I got there just in time to see the olive harvest in several places and also saw two olive mills in action, where waiting for the family's or the farm's oil is quite an "event." Will e-mail later.
Nov 24th, 2002, 01:12 PM
#97
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In October, my mother, sister and I rented a car in Salerno, spent one night near Paestum, then headed to Basilicata to find our roots. My mother's parents came from a small town in Potenza called Moliterno. I had an excellent map from the Basilicata tourist board which shows every village, road and donkey trail. However, we still screwed up and missed our exit off the Autostrada. So I decided to take the next exit, down about 10 miles and take a yellow(smaller)road to Moliterno. It probably added an extra 45 minutes to our trek. The road winded through the rugged hills and was basically one lane. It was in fair shape with washed out areas. We stopped a shepard with his sheep and goats and got an idea that we still had a long way to go.<BR><BR>We finally reached Moliterno. It was a real thrill for my mother to see the town she had always heard so much about from her mother. Mom is 81 and her parents left there in 1913, never to return. <BR><BR>We found a hotel, wandered and drove up to the old town. There is a ruin of a Norman castle plus the old churches dating to the 1600s and 1700s. We asked about our relatives, but everyone we spoke to had only lived in the town less than 5 years. Finally, at the cemetary, we asked two old ladies in black if they knew our family. We had to use the family nickname, Famiglia de Sette and Amaride(?) for them to figure it out. Sure enough, they knew my grandmothers neices and nephews. <BR><BR>To make a long story short. We met our cousins the next day and had lunch with them. They own the butcher shop so we had great sausage. They could not believe an American, my mother, could speak their dialect, Moliternese. We said out good byes and hope to keep in touch.<BR><BR>As far as the driving, on the way back to Salerno we used the "red"(bigger)road on the map. Much better and quicker. I think it would have been hard to do this by myself. My sister drove and I navigated. I hope we can do it again an spend more time in the area. We barely got an intro to the region.<BR><BR>Michelle
Dec 1st, 2002, 07:58 AM
#99
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Michelle, I'm glad you were able to get a quick taste of this region including your ancestors' town. I also thought that some of the materials given out free by the Basilicata tourist office were excellent. I just looked up Moliterno on my Italy map. It looks like it is fairly near some lakes that looked very beautiful and unspoiled as I was passing through. I'm very surprised that you found all those people who'd only lived in Moliterno a few years. I didn't think people usually moved TO these towns. so many move away to the large cities, especially in the north, or other countries. Is there some inmdustry in the town that is making the town a magnet for newcomers seeking jobs?
Dec 1st, 2002, 01:46 PM
#100
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Dear Carol:<BR><BR>Moliterno is somewhat of a summer vacation resort. They have a very large sports center. I believe it is cooler there in the summer, thus the vacation draw. One man had moved there from Calabria and ran a cell phone and computer store. The others were running the newest and largest hotel in town. They were from either Calabria or Naples. We were able to gather that the old time locals, like our cousins, thought this new hotel was not good and had lousy food. The town is also a business center: banks, shopping, etc. for the smaller villages nearby. <BR><BR>I hope we can make another trip some day.<BR><BR>Michelle
