ITALY

Day 61 to 81

24th June to 14th July

Marrakech to Milan. 3.5 hours and $80 with Easyjet. Entry into Italy took over an hour because of the strict security regarding African visitors. However, when our turn came, we were waved through in the time it took to stamp the passport. No custom check either.  Rented a car: oh dear – left hand drive, 130 on the Autostrad and Vodafone having internet issues. No maps!  It is hard to find a paper map and even harder to get directions in English. After emulating the malteser advert and circumnavigating Milan 3 times, we finally were on our way to Nibbiaia in Livorno, Tuscany.

Since arriving in Italy we have had exceptional kindness from locals. Our first accommodation was at a farmhouse in Nibbiaia. It is in The Livorno (means Leghorn?) district in Tuscany.  As we spent so much time trying to get from Milan to this little dot of a place, we ended up being totally beaten by 2am. Asked a man sitting on a porch with his mother (why at 2am?) if they knew where our accommodation was. They didn’t. The next minute he was driving down the road beckoning us to follow as he had looked it up! Our hosts were also waiting up for us. This beautiful accommodation that was part of their farm house, was set up with real coffee, breakfast and a welcome cake. After buying provisions for the next few days and a GPS,  we settled into the peaceful life. Washed all our filthy clothes and drank wine on the verandah in the late afternoon.

Quercianella is 5 minutes down the road from Nibbiaia and is on the Ligurian Sea. The beaches are rocks but the water is warm. There is a charge for umbrellas and sunbeds. To be under our budget we sat on the rocks. Everyone here wears coral shoes because it is so hard to get into the water without them.

The train from Livorno to Florence return is 18 Euros and they were clean, air-conditioned and had no graffitti.

The Galleria dell’ Accademia houses Michelangelo’s David and is around $A30 entry but was closed as it was Monday! We had both seen him before and guessed he hadn’t aged much in 30 years so it wasn’t too much of a disappointmet. The statue of Neptune in the Piazza della Signorria was almost covered in scaffolding – almost! Florence is lovely but the day we went it was around 39 degrees and very crowded.

This trip was to discover all the small places that are off the beaten track but you can’t be so close to  Florence without having one last look.

Siena – this is what Italy is all about. The landscape is lovely, lush and green and the colours and light are unique to Tuscany.

Siena is a beautiful old town but so is San Gimignano, a hill town in Tuscany, southwest of Florence. Encircled by 13th-century walls and with less people.

Montemorle is the home of our friend Vittorio’s, vineyard. His wines are lovely and there is a special story regarding his new label. A few years ago, he completed a vintage in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia and loved the place so much that he called his new dog “Yarra” and the label looks like an Aussie road sign but with his dog on it.

Time to leave our hillside home in Tuscany and off to Umbria and to St Francis of Assisi’s home town.

Saint Francis was a lover of animals and is the Patron Saint of Ecology. Although born with a silver spoon and a total bad boy in his youth, he relinquished his wealth after having a dream. Francis reasoned, what could you do to a man who owns nothing? You can’t starve a fasting man, you can’t steal from someone who has no money, you can’t ruin someone who hates prestige. Very smart guy, very strange dream.

Assisi is a wonderful place with so much history and character that it just leaves you with a peaceful, mellow feeling.  Set on top of a hill, it looks over the farmlands below.

Another  surprising example of Italian hospitality was in L’Aquila. We booked a  B&B to find it was a block of flats.  Sought confirmation of the address from a  lady in the street and she took control of the situation and called the landlady while hand signalling parking directions. The landlady  turned up 5 minutes later and we were ushered into a lift and the lady in the street (Luisa) came in as well only to find another two people in the kitchen. We had no idea what was going on. It was a common area with separately rented rooms. Before we even sighted our room we were told to “sit down and eat”. We still had no idea what was going on as our hosts were making us coffee, cutting up cake and chatting away in Italian while laughing and joking in sign language with us. It was great.

Went to the restaurant across the road for dinner and the owner was just as friendly and the food was delicious. This is the reason we don’t stay in the big cities.

L’Aquila is in Abruzzo, the area that was decimated by the earthquakes in 2016 and there are still hundreds of cranes dotted inside the town doing repairs.

Taranto is a port and naval base in Puglia, Southern Italy.

We tend to underestimate the drive time between locations and this section was no exception. We also don’t have a plan when it comes to accommodation. We found a B@B above a bar/restaurant in Taranto – the old town in San Francesca Piazza. It was $25 each per night so sounded perfect and, it was lovely. We had to park our car outside the square as only motorbikes and tiny little tuk tuk type vehicles do deliveries. It is quiet in the daytime but the night becomes a social hub. Lovely room and very well maintained with modern amenities.

First stop on our  walk to the landmarks of the city was the Castello Aragonese. We joined an Italian speaking tour of the military Castillo but couldn’t understand a word until a very dashing naval officer decided to give us a personal tour. It was fantastic. He was in charge of the Castillo and showed us more than the usual tourist route. We know what you are thinking but it was a delightful time with a delightful man. A highlight to our stay in Taranto.

The Beaches

The  differences between Italy and Australia are: In Italy you can drink alcohol, smoke, take dogs,  park anyway as long as you kind of fit, play soccer on the crowded  beach (sand doesn’t fly up because there is none) and have live music and dance parties. Fun times. Downside is that a lot of beaches are privately owned. The  public ones are full of fun, laughter and noise. Anything goes when it comes to swimwear and the body image that plagues us is not an issue here.

Matera is famous for its ancient town, the “Sassi di Matera”. The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement that was carved into the caves. These dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in Italy. They are now residences, restaurants and Bed and Breakfasts. Some people from here boast that their families have lived here for 9000 years. Not really something we would admit.

The last night in Taranto was a feast of Mussels as they are farmed here. We ordered an entrée size plate to share and were served a plate of at least 4 dozen mussels. Problem was no one could speak English to check if it was the correct order so we ate the huge delicious meal wondering if it was going to cost us a week’s budget. It cost 8 Euros. Wish we had known sooner so we would not have been so anxious eating them. Luckily it was early enough to cancel the main we had ordered. Seeing the look on our faces – they understood that!

Salerno is in Campagna, the south of Italy. Came across the B&B Contessa with booking.com. Salerno is built into hills and our accommodation was very high up. Nerves of steel are required to drive up these extremely narrow one-way streets. It is a wonder how there are not thousands of accidents per day as they fly down these streets in mopeds and little cars without a care in the world. Yet again we were greeted by a charming host and ushered into the kitchen without a look at our room. Coffee and a lovely chat. Renting a room in Italy is a side event to turning up and having a chat. Pietro was our host and made sure we had maps, directions and all the advice he could think to tell us.

While he was talking to us at the kitchen table a huge noise came over the house. He casually said it was not a war but an aeroplane that collects water from the sea to take to the fires. They came over our accommodation every 10 minutes. We had heard that there were fires in Tuscany and Sicily. It has been an unseasonably  hot year so far.

We have found, in Italy, to save money is to order a glass of wine each. With this purchase you receive peanuts, small pieces of pizza, olives, little biscuits and crisps. Dinner! All for the cost of 2 glasses of wine! 8 Euros.

Positano was a ferry ride from Salerno and cost 12 Euros. The view from the water is breathtaking and is what we remembered the Amalfi coast to be. The domed church sits front and centre of the town. Mauve wisteria shade the alleyways and purple Bouganvillia climb up over the houses. Positano is well known for its lemons. Limoncella, lemon candles, scents and the lemon shaped soaps that we were given as children as a treat in Australia. We loved them but they were always so ergonomically uncomfortable to use. There are tourist shops everywhere. The beach is so small and looks like bitumen from a distance. It is a very steep place and you see the sunburnt beachgoers trudging up the steep slopes to their accommodation. Beautiful though.

Amalfi hasn’t changed much but the  prize for charm belongs to  Positano.

Further south to Cosenza and English becomes very rare. Booked a B&B and had our hosts greet us at 3. They stayed with us until about 7. We had wine and cheese and a great time. Excellent people. Viviana was from Sicilia and Antonio was from Codenza. Google translate had us all in stitches.

Sicily – The reason why it was kicked off the end of Italy’s foot.

With all the historic bad press Sicily has received in the past, it was difficult to not have a slightly teinted view  but we took a positive aproach and hoped that we would be presently surprised. But no. From the toll collector blatantly trying to charge  double on the autostrad to driving all the way south to Noto to find our accommodation was completely different to what was advertised.   The twin room we booked with a view of the city, a pool and spa was a double bed, small window view of the delapidated building next door and no pool. The spa was a room next to ours with a massage table in it. Argued with the landlord via google translate which unlike yesterday,  was no fun at all. Finally agreed to stay one night and be refunded for the 2nd. Oh well we have had a perfect run of great accomodation  up to this point.

In a panic to find accommodation for the next 2 nights we came across a B@B in Agrigento. We arrived early and went to a lovely beach where there was DJ and the music  was great.

It was 37 degrees today and touched by the sun we arrived at the accommodation through a procession of drums and trumpets and over 50 young men carrying a statue of a black saint.  We believe his name was Saint Calogero. When it stopped  people  hurled themselves on top of the raft he was sitting on and kissed and hugged it while wiping his face with cloth. He is supposed to have healing powers.

Later on there was another procession of drums.

Up two flights of stairs to a room that on one side,had a  balconette with a view of the ancient square and, on the other side, a deck with sweeping views of the ocean. It was gorgeous and less expensive than the hovel from the night before.

The Scala dei Turchi or Stair of the Turks is close by Arigento and we ventured down to see an amazing site. The white steps are formed by marl, a sedementary rock. It looks and feels like plaster of Paris and is cool to touch even though it was 32 degrees.

The surrounding beaches are torqouise and sandy.

The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento is one of the most important archeological sites in the world. There are Greek ruins spotted all over the town even down to the beach. It looks like the sites are still being found. Tours in English are very rare and it was 34 degrees so we decided to forgo this one.

It was extremely hot here and our last day in Sicily was going to be 41 degrees. After a quick look around the town we got into our car and drove to Palermo.

Agrigento is the jewel in Sicily’s tarnished crown. Our impressions of Sicily may not be everyones but they are  ours from the 3 days we were there.

 

Palermo. The port where we caught the ferry to Genoa!

It is called Genova when in Italy. The English pronounce this city Genoa but that is Genovas’ football team. Historically it was a club to represent England abroad.

What a beautiful town.  It took 18 hours on the ferry but was worth not having to drive anymore! We had Pullman seats that were allocated in rooms. It had a pool, restaurants and bars but we took our dinner on board. It wasnt too bad sleeping on the ferry as it wasn’t full, you had the opportunity to lie down.

Our accommodation was again, lovely and not very far from the historic area of Genova. Took a guided tour through the old areas where the wealthy traders and families once lived. Interestingly, only the very rich were allowed to cover their house in black and white stripes of marble and slate.

Also a lot of the old buildings have porticos and columns painted on them rather than the real architecture. It was a thing.

The  main shopping street leads to The Bristol Hotel where the famous staircase is located.

After leaving the tour  we went looking for a  travel adaptor in a little shop in a little alley. We heard a loud commotion outside and asked the retailer if there was an argument going on. He said “no”. OK, Italians often sound like they are arguing. We left the little shop to walk smack bang into 2 policeman and one man of “African appearance” having a major issue; both parties throwing punches while  trying to restrain the guy. We were about 3 feet away and the police had guns so we ran down a dark alley in case a shot was fired. The guy got away and the next minute there were at least 15 polizia and carabinieri blocking off the alley. Five minutes later one gentleman of “African appearance” feeling very sad for himself, gets shoved into a police car.

You are probably thinking ” why are they walking down alleyways?” Well the whole place is alleyways. It comes from rich families protecting their homes by being able to block of smaller streets from invaders or pirates. A few of the alleys closer to the port are multi cultural and the smell from the restaurants was enticing.

After a few more kilometres we had the most delicious mango Gelato and went back to pack for Barcelona tomorrow.

Places we would recomment to stay and prices per room, per night.

Casa in Campagna.   A$60. Our beautiful spot in Nibbiaia, Tuscany

Aquarium B&B. A$80.  A great host. L’Aquila, Abruzzi

B&B San Francesco. A $52. Above a cafe restaurant in Taranto, Pulia

B&B La Contessa. A$67. Another great host. Salerno, Campania

B&B Night and Day. A$60. More great hosts. Cosenzo, Calabria

Palazzo dei Giganti. A$ 67. Best spot in Sicily.  Agrigento, Sicilia

Actor Hotel. A$120.  Expensive for us but a delightful place .Genova, Liguria