759 Calabria

I spent the last 2 weeks of June back in Italy and after seeing to family business in Campania (Procida and Capaccio) I ventured South to explore Calabria. I have spent all my trips to Italy visiting the family in Campania and am a big fan of the area. I have driven through the North and Central areas on the way to the South but never had time to stop and explore (I intend to do this in the coming years). I have also been into Basilicata and just into Calabria in the past to Praia a Mare.

This was my first holiday there since the death of my gran in Novemebr 2003 so had more freedom to leave Campania than before.

I spent Monday to Thursday lunchtime of the first week at my Uncle's on the island of Procida with a pleasing day out on neighbouring Ischia on the Tuesday. I returned to the mainland on Thursday afternoon to head south.

2 weeks ago today, after spending the 4th night in Capaccio Scalo (near Paestum) and visiting the family around there, I left Capaccio and hit the long road south not knowing where to end up. The scenery was stunning through the mountains towards Sapri and Calabria (I had been this way before), I stopped off in Sapri for a juice and a walk along the lungomare watching Italians relaxing on the beach. I passed through Basilicata then into Northern Calabria.

I had never ventured south of Praia a Mare before and had preconceptions of Calabria being a scruffy area full of rogues and gysies (basing this on things I had heard and the only Calabrian I knew, Franco the dodgy spiv who married cousin Anna Maria!).

I stopped in the town of Paola for an ice cream and the bar owner (a dead ringer for Vincent Schiavelli, the train ghost in Ghost) was very friendly and helpful in recommending the town's only hotel. I deceided to continue to the next town and if nothing was doing, cut across to Cosenza.

The next town was San Lucido, a small town which just happened to be celebrating a Friday night festa. It seemed rude not to stay the night! It was a lovely atmosphere and reminded me of the mountain festas I used to attend as a boy in Campania. Found a pleasant hotel called La Fortezza who offered a 2 floor modern apartment for the night at a very reasonable rate.

The next day after breakfast in the courtyard I hit the road again intending to take a look at Tropea on the way. THe towns I encountered after San Lucido got progressively worse and things didn't look promising until I reached Tropea.

Tropea is a tourist town (though mainly for Germans and Dutch, I saw no English) with great scenery and a beautiful beach. I took photos of the sea and it looked like a postcard with the sky and water of beautiful colours. As I sat drinking a caffe fredo at a bar overlooking the sea I decided it was worth staying. I found a hotel called Hotel Virgilio (my christian name) so booked there for Saturday and Sunday.

Deciding to do no more travelling that day and take advantage of the gem I had found I headed for the beach, ranked the 8th best beach in a magazine article I had read of Italy's 20 best beaches. The sand was clean and the water warm and crystal clear, the icy water I had swam in in The Algarve the previous month provided stark contrast! The high walls of the town loomed dramatically over the beach and it fully deserved its ranking.

I found a delightful terrace restaurant on the evening overlooking the mountains and sea, the food was superb. I had a traditional antipasto of local meats and salamis followed by a local pasta made with the speciality local red onions. The main course and dessert were good too. They had trouble with my card for payment as their machine broke down during transaction, they said (very trustingly) I should go back the next day to pay!

The following day I hit the road for Reggio Calabria, Italy's toe. Again I was expecting RC to be similar if not worse than Naples. The coastal road south was stunning through some delightful little towns and Sicily soon came into sight across the Straits of Messina. Upon arrival in RC I was pleasantly surprised at what a clean and attractive city it was. Pity it was Sunday and everything (I mean everything) was closed.

After a nice couple of hours in RC I headed back to Tropea looking forward to another nice evening meal.

I returned to the previous night's restaurant and the greeted me at the door to say the transaction had gone through okay. Deciding variety is the best option I opted to try Il Normanno restaurant next door. What a treat. We were led into a courtyard rooved with trees in a pleasant setting and sat down to a delicious meal, even better than the previous night's (and considerably cheaper too), the waiter was very good and very friendly and there was even a complimentary Limoncello each to round off.

Sadly the next day marked the end of our brief sodjourn to Calabria and we made the long motorway journey back up to Capaccio. After a night in Capaccio and a meal at Ristorante di Nonna Sceppa (usually one of my favourites but not a patch on the Calabrian delights) I headed back to Procida for the final 2 days of my holiday.

It was my first time in Italy as a real tourist rather than visiting family and I discovered the Italy I knew existed but was normally talked about by other people and I loved it. It was the best holiday I've had there and will do the 'tourist' thing many times in the future.

Calabria was a very pleasant surprise and I do not understand why it is not popular with more Brits, maybe because it is too far from any major airports?

Anyway sorry to go on but I know how Italophiles minds work (I'm one myself after all) and know that they like to share these wonderful Italian experiences!