The eternal city

I love Rome.  When planning this trip we were considering skipping Rome due to having the car, we've visited a couple times already, and we expect to return sometime without a car.  However plans change and I'm so glad they did.  Brother Ron and family joing us has been an awesome experience to share and we got to go to ROME!

The day started nice and easy, at least for Kathie and I.  Ron, Rose Ann and Gena headed to Vatican City, Kathie chilled at the B&B and did some school work (crazy, I know) and me, I walked around Trastevere, one of the neighborhoods of Rome.  I really wish I had better lenses and was a better photographer, however even so I'm certain the spectacular panorama of Rome could not be captured in a picture. I hiked to the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola and then took in the panoramic view of the city.

 

 

I then hiked up to Piazza Guiseppe Garibali to check out more views, however the monument in the middle of the traffic circle was really nice (and easier to capture in photo)

 

On the way back to the B&B I passed this monument, constructed to honor the men who died on Gianicolo Hill fighting for Italian independence from papal rule.  I am not up to speed on all the details, (the Google will help later) however in 1860 Italy wanted more freedom from the church, their independence, and drove the pope out of town to Gaeta.  Men from all over Italy streamed into Rome to help defend the city as many northern European countries were not happy.  The French sent an Army to land outside of Rome and retake the city for the pope in April of 1860; they were driven away.  The French army was reinforced and attacked again on June 1, 1860.  The Italians were greatly outnumbered yet fought honorably, finally defeated and agreeing to a truce on June 30th to clear the dead from this very hill I was hiking.  The below monument was erected in honor of these brave men.

 

After a quiet walk down the hill through streets like this

 

I picked up Kathie and we headed out to meet the gang.  We had an unremarkable lunch near the closed for renovation Spanish Steps, it was so damn hot I just had proscuitto e melone, then headed to the Trevi Fountain.  It was a super hot day, packed with tourists, and the fountain was a zoo.  I had very little interest but it was on our route so might as well ensure Gena got to see it.

 

We then proceeded to one of the most unique buildings in the world, the Pantheon.  There just isn't much better than it, the architecture just blows me away.  Its the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world, its 142 foot height equalling its diameter.  A 2000 year old church, still preserved in this condition, its truly remarkable.  The inlays of marble, the sheer magnitude of the roof, the concept of an oculus in the center which allows light to flow through as if truly from heaven, yea, this is a special place.

The oculus:

 

The first King of Italy is buried in the Pantheon, I signed his register.

 

The heat was getting to us after leaving the Pantheon, it was about 94 that day, so we decided to head back to the B&B for a shower and some rest before the evening.  One nice thing about Rome is you can walk the ancient part of the city without an issue, or you can do like us and ride fthe public transportation as needed for free.  Nobody checks tickets, hell half the time it is so loaded that you cannot reach the validation machine on the bus or tram anyway.

After a late afternoon riposo we headed back out, via bus, to the Colosseum and dinner.  There is a tremendous amount of construction in Rome now on Via dei Fouri Imperali and some in the Forum, really hampering the evening views.  However the company was great as was the atmosphere.

 

 

There are always people playing music in Italy, rarely have we been to a city where there weren't.  This guy, however, was really good, and we have no idea what the instrument he was playing.  It was like a piano without keys and played with a mallet.  It sounded great.

 

Dinner was back in Trastevere and a very thinly crusted pizza, about half the thickness of a tortilla.  Toppings good but unimpressive just the same.

Buona sera.

Family Time in Rome

We departed Praiano and headed to Rome to pick up my brother Ron, Rose Ann and their daughter Gena.  The drive from the Amalfi Coast to Rome was uneventful, other than Naples traffic we sailed up the autostrade pushing the little Fiat to get to the airport on time.  I am likely in for.a speeding ticket when I get back stateside.

We did get a nice view of Mt Vesuvius, our trip several years ago with the kids included a hike up to the top, highly recommended.

 

Their flight arrived at 12:30 and we had just the plan to help them combat the jet lag, a visit to what Rick Steves and others call the hidden gem of Rome, 

Ostia Antica,  This was the port city for ancient Rome, the most important port in the entire empire, 10 minutes from the airport, and virtually un-visited by tourists.  It was perfect to get out and walk among the 2000+ year old city for the afternoon after the long flight, I highly recommend it.

The place is really interesting, the city's size and layout really lends one to imagine life back in the Roman Empire times, the shop keepers, the bars, the security, all are evident.  Additionally it is now inland a couple miles as the land has shifted with silt from the river, that physical change to our land in a relatively short amount of time is quite interesting to me.

The crew

 

This was a gym where they boxed, no weight classes, and a spa:

 

The forum of Ostia Antica.

 

The garden and theater

 Only the Ostia bigshots sat in the first three rows, the marble seating, at the theater.

 

We then headed to B&B Zoe in the heart of Rome's dining district, Trastevere.  The place was very convenient, comfortable, and after a nice meal at a restaraunt on Piazza di Santa Maria we crashed for the night.  

Ciao

Food food food

This is what you really want to see, some of the delicious food we had at the Hotel Tramonto d'Oro:

Orata (sea bream) baked in salt, absolutely awesome tasting:

Gnocchi in Agerola cheese, our waiter said this was his favorite.

 

Riccota filled ravoli with a lemon cream sauce, Kathie said it was so light and delightful.

 

Dessert, lemon sponge cake with limoncello to drizzle from the chocolate cup.

 

You may have noticed lemons are kinda significant on the Amalfi Coast.  The lemon groves are terraced all over the hills, grow quite large and sweet, and require a 950 stair climb each day for our friend Valentino at Il Gusto della Costa to make his wonderful limoncella.  I'd highly suggest picking up a bottle from your local liquor store and enjoying a shot after dinner as a digestivo, or incorporate into a recipe, you won't be disappointed.

Ciao

Path of the Gods

The Path of the Gods is one of the most beautiful trails for a day hike that I could imagine.  We wanted to hike the whole trail, in the downhill direction, so we needed to get up to Boomerano to begin.  Speaking with our hostess at the wonderful Tramonto d'Oro Hotel in Praiano we decided against the 2-2.5 hour bus trip up there and hired a taxi to take us directly there.  90 Euro, ouch, but we wanted to beat the heat, and the crowd, and get to the right spot, and you only live once.

Plus it was the first time I got to ride along and really take in the scenery of the Amalfi Coast as I been the driver both times we've visited.  Just a place beyond beauty, it truly is.

We started the hike and there weren't too many people around, although we did have couples ahead and behind us the whole time.  The trail itself was honestly pretty easy, although we were prepared.  We had our good hiking boots and poles, something few had on the trail.  We encountered people in flip-flops, large back-packs, runners, and those going the opposite and much more difficult direction.  We did carry plenty of water and ensured we were filled at the few fountains that were on the trail, one just after the beginning and the other at the Praiano/Nocelle turn.  We hiked the entire trail, Boomerano-Nocelle, just about 8km, in about 4 hours.  We took our time, stopping and taking in the scenery, unlike many others that appeared to believe it was a race.

The only drawback is the exit of the trail, down to the bus or Positano, it was literally 1700 stairs.  Now down is better than up, however I'm here to tell you that uneven, odd sized staircases will pound on your knees in a way that isn't fun, that said I'd hike it again tomorrow if we could.  I highly recommend this to everybody, you just cannot appreciate the natural beauty of this place from pictures.

The views, they were amazing.

 

 

 

Ciao

 

Paestum & Praiano

We departed Matera for the Amalfi Coast on Tuesday, leaving the cave town for one of Europe's playgrounds.  The beauty along the drive was lovely, through the rugged center of the deep south of Italy.  We stopped for fuel in Potenza and I learned my lesson, I chose the full serve lane instead of fumbling with figuring out payment, getting diesel on my hands, and basically looking like a goofball.  I have a felling that box is still checked.

Anyway, we proceeded on to Paestum, about a 30 minute diversion from our route, to see some additonal Magna Grecia temple ruins.  As we approached the archeological area the first of the temples was visible, as was the extensive park that we didn't realize accompanied the area.  Our visit was a short one, there's only so much walking around ruins in the heat and blazing sun one can take, and we've seen a few temples, but this was not to be missed.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the time but it was short; knowing the drive on the Amalfi Coast to Praiano would take some time we set off.  We were headed to the place my doctor recommended, the Tramonto d'Oro, thank you Dr Kohls, it was wonderful.  I was amazed at the grace of the staff, so humble about the facilty and so accomodating at every turn, truly earning the 4 star rating.

Our room was simple, sea view and balcony were sold out and honestly out of our price range anyway, however when the view from the spectacular dinner or breakfaast seating looks like this how can one complain.

 

This was our first night in the hotel, a lovely dinner with a great sunset over Positano in the background.  Not sure how many yachts were anchored in the harbor but there were several pushing 120ft.  The rich folks know how to pick a harbor and scenery, we were out of our league just a little.

The night was early as our main purpose for the Amalfi Coast visit was waiting in the morning, the Path of the Gods hike, awaited us/

Ionian Sea--check

We spent our last day in Matera, June 20th, by taking a trip to Metaponto to see the ruins and take a dip in the Ionian Sea.  The ruins in Metaponto were quite easy to find, contrary to some postings online, we literally drove right there following the signs.  We did not get in, however, as the Parco Archeologico was chuiso, ugh.

We looked at the site from the gate, it appeared in decent maintenance and would have made for a good hour of walking around the temple, remains of the amphitheater among other things but alas, we moved on west a little.

The beaches around Metaponto all rate highly on the web, we wanted to get a little away from the crowds so we headed for Scanzano, west of the city a couple exits off E90.  We followed the signs for Mare and headed into the massive and empty parking area, down the beach a little to about the 3rd business with chairs and umbrellas.  We brought a lot of things on this trip but beach chairs and umbrellas are readily available for rent and Lido Tre Sirene was perfect.  I'm telling you this was the nicest beach yet, the sand was soft and clean, extending 50meters or more into the water.  The beach was extensive, both deep from the lot to the water and stretched from one horizon to the next.  The family running the place was super nice, happy to have us there, I think there were 5 of the 120+ umbrellas rented.

We enjoyed the sun, had some delicious fried squid and gamberetti (shrimp) and french fries.  I've been craving fries and my Irish girl loves potatoes.

 

I got to swim in the 4th Sea surrounding Italy, the Ionian Sea.  The water was slightly warmer thanks to the shallowness near the beach and it was more calm than the other seas I've swam.  The sandy bottom was great and the water felt amazing.

The evening was quiet, we spent an hour looking for a laundry mat that wasn't there despite what "the google" said.  We enjoyed an absolutely wonderful meal at Trattoria del Caveoso, Kathie's linguine chicory pesto with almonds and pecorino over mashed potatoes was fabulous, she of course won the best dish contest.

 

I enjoyed the local flavor with pasta con cruschi peppers and pecorino cheese, we then shared a seondo piatti of rolled, stuffed, grilled pork.  Yea, I wasn't missing stuffed pork.

 

 

Ciao a tutti!!

My birthday in Matera

I celebrated my birthday with a restful day in Matera, a city that has been continuously inhabitiated for 10,000 years.  A city that not very long ago was considered the slum of Italy, even of Europe.  A city that has used it's history to become revitalized.

We are staying in the B&B Sassolino which is down in the Sassi of Matera.  Matera is built on two hills, rather in two hills, that people long ago dug out the limestone to live in the caves.  The Sassi is the lowest part of the city, the true slum, whereas the top of the hills where the main churches are and represent the more affluent peasants.

I have real mixed emotions about Matera and the Sassi as a whole.  Its hard to fathom that just 70 years ago the population of Matera was still living caves.  I mean caves, really?  The infant mortality rate was 50%, the sanitation was horrendous with garbage on the streets, but the people had community and mostly wanted to stay.  The government was embarassed so they came in, built new apartment buildings, imposed regulations on living in the caves, and forced people to move into the apartments or upgrade their cave at a steep price.  Naturally these poor folks had no money so over 70% were forced to move into the new government housing, losing their home as the governemnt took over.  As I think about the true role of government, libertarian that I am, I'd suppose that this falls into the "promote the general welfare" responsibility of government and that the success now of the town validates the governmental take over.  That said, for me having the government take your home and force you to move is really a tough pill to swallow.

Sassi from across the ravine, look at all the little cave openings:

 

Politics aside Matera is a pretty cool town.  Morgan's makes fantastic pizza and has about the friendliest wait staff you will ever find.  We enjoyed a couple meals there, tasty pizza I tell you.

We took a tour of the Sassi with Andrea, he was really knowledgeable and I'd recommend hiring one of these guys if you visit.  On a side note I think this is the perfect vehicle for the lower Keys, one of the non-chariot models, these Piaggio's are awesome.

 

Matera by night is really cool as well, although my photography leaves something to be desired:

 

 

My birthday was nice, thanks Kathie!!

Alberobello, Ostunia & the Adriatic

We headed out from Matera on a day trip to Alberobello, the quaint little Trulli town and UNESCO World Heritage site, seriously looks like something out of a fairy tale.  There were several trulli on the way, however this town is chocked full of the little movie set looking things.

 

 

 

The structure of these things are really interesting.  Story is that they were originally made to quickly be able to take down quickly or moved and therefore not pay tax to the Kingdom of Naples.  Maybe these were the first Libertarians, realizing the government took more from the people than necessary.

If you do visit Alberbello I'd suggest you only plan for a couple hours, unless you are really into this kind of thing.  I'd also suggest arriving just after lunch, I'm not exaggerating that the crowds, and there were lots of people, were about 25% the size after lunch as before.  

We had an outstanding lunch at Ristorante con Giardino, mozzarello al forno (small mozzarella balls wrapped in proscuitto and baked, so good), and ravollini pesto.  Kathie had something that was good as well, but not as good as mine and that is a rare occurrenc.  They started us out with a bowl of olives, and given our next destination we shouldn't have been surprised.

 

We departed Alberobello and headed SE to Ostunia, the white town on a hill.  We didn't have any real plans other than wanting to see the place, it was basically nearby, and the Adriatic Sea was close.  I wish I had the GoPro on the dashboard for the drive through town, the streets were so windy, hilly and tight that it was an adventure getting through.  However the eastern side of town is where the view appears, and its spectacular.  The town sits glowingly atop the hill, sun gleaming off it like a statue.  Its really tough for a guy like me to get a picture capturing the essence of the view; I'm learning on this trip to take a shot that will enable me to recall the mental picture later which is so lovely.

 

In the foreground of this shot are some olive trees.  Some is an understatement.  The above and below shot are from the same point, just using zoom on one above and wide angle lense on the bottom.

 

 

I'm talking olive trees as far as you could see between the hils on the left and the Adriatic sea on the right, just thousands of them.  Here's a big on that we found alongside the road.  The narled looking trunk on this one is typical of the older trees, some of which are several hundred years old.  There are stories that some of the olive trees in Italy go back to Roman Empire times, that's my kind of appetizer!

 

We made our way through the olive groves and to the Adriatic Sea, which lies on the Eastern side of Italy.  I plan to swim in all 5 seas surrounding Italy on this trip, this day marked the third.  (Mediterranean-Selinunte & Portopalo, Tyrrhenian-Tropea).  Let me tell you my friends the water has been cold in all three thus far, but so refreshing.  After the heat of Alberobello and the car ride I couldn't wait to get in that water!  Sandy bottom below and a little murky as the sea was rolling but there's nothing like saltwater to make you feel refreshed.

 

We had a quick stop here and after some weaving out of the "parking area", in Italy if your car fits you can park there, we headed back to Matera for dinner.  We hoped to hit the nearby trattoria but there were about 4 groups waiting so we headed up to Morgan's pizzeria again, this time opting for pasta & fish.  My pasta was supposedly spicy then baked, resulting in crunchy spaghetti noodles that was tasty but not spicy the way I like it.  Kathie got codfish materanna (with tomatoes, capers and olives) and naturally it was far better than my choice.  I did also order a salad, gotta get a couple veggies in, but if this thing wasn't the biggest salad ever I don't know what could top it.  Tuna, mozzarella, corn, green tomatoes and lettuce, so good.  I could only get down about half of it.

 

And there was wine.  We really like wine.

Ciao :-)

Pollino National Park & Matera

We had a short stay in Tropea by design, it was just too far to go from Siracusa to Matera.  So we set off from Tropea making our slow journey north toward Matera hoping for a nice lunch and hike in Pollino National Park, Italy's largest park, on the way.  The drive was uneventful other than my passing a truck, with a van appearing around a curve and headed at us, and guardrails all around, it was FAR too close let me tell you; but Kathie had her eyes covered which is probably why she hasn't killed me.  We headed toward Rotonda, the National Park HQ, and a nice lady hooked us up with a park map and suggested a couple areas for a short/couple hour hike.  We then proceeded to grab lunch somewhere and happened into a Bar.  Now this town does not see Americans, and even though we're pretty versed in the way things work this guy in the Bar was not having any of it.  He was big, never smiled, but when he offered to make us paninis I smiled quite large.  I didn't see the slicer and bread but he did hook us up.  Two proscuitto paninis, two water, a bag of chips and an espresso, 8.50 Euro.  I like that kind of deal.  

Anyway, we proceeded into the park to find a spot to have lunch and hike a little.  The park is beautiful, and there is nobody around, just the way we'd hoped.  We did get delayed a little by a road block of sorts:

 

Yep, cattle free-ranging in the park, their bells were clanging like crazy.  We made it up to a nice spot, enjoyed our sandwiches and I grabbed the drone for a quick shot of the open landscape.  

Well that's when the "fun" began.  Sure enough, I flew the drone into a nice big tree, about 30 feet up.  So time to problem solve, we had some small rope we bought for a potential clothesline, so I tied a rock around one end and figured I could loop the branch and the drone would fall out.  You guessed it, I threw the whole damn rope into the tree!! 

 

So at this point we are about 20 minutes from town, which is closed for riposo, and kinda stuck.  There were some people at the building you see in the background but I wasn't in a good spot to talk to anybody, let alone try to ask them for help win this kind of situation. However Kathie, she is my steady, calm, rock took the best approach.  We found two long sticks, bungeed them together, added a hangar to the end, and I was just able to reach the rope.  Afterwards getting the drone down took about 3 tosses and down she came, no damage!  I make this sound a lot simpler than it was.  There was a bunch of cussing, some stick and rock throwing at the drone to try and loosen it, and just a little bit of laughing.....the whole process taking over an hour.

At that point we were confident that we should head on to Matera, counting our good fortune to keep the drone.  I was not confident I'd be leaving with it.

On our way out of the park we did see some really majestic scenery

 

We arrived in Matera and this place is really difficult to get around in, especially when Google Maps are about 2 years out of date.  One way roads now that weren't put us in the middle of the town piazza and double parked checking out our map.  We were approached by a guy in an official looking Matera Tourism shirt that offered to show us how to get to our B&B, rightly calling the city a labryinth.  He called his buddy to get the scooter to drive the 2km, then said it would be 10 Euro.  I laughed and told him no, at that point we had about 2500km on Grazea and I'd driven in Palermo among other tough places, this dude was not getting our money.  About 20 minutes later we arrived at B&B Sassolino, in the heart of the old town.  

 

When I say old it is an understatement.  Matera is a cave town, literally caves carved into the hillside, and it is the 2nd oldest continually inhabited city on earth.  People have lived here for 30,000 consecutive years!  That is amazing to me, just let that settle in, 30,000 years of settlement.

We had a great dinner of pizza and wine at Morgan's Pizzeria, just up the hilly road, it was tasty.  

More later from Matera and the day trips we have planned, including Alberbello, Ostuni, the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, and more.  

Ciao