DJmotortouring – Page 39

Carpegna (Le Marche), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

It was getting on in the afternoon by the time we left Sassocorvaro but, using Google, Vanya had identified three camp sites within an hour’s drive. None were ACSI (In Italy, ACSI sites are thin on the ground away from the coast) and none had telephone numbers so it was a matter of just picking them off one by one until we got lucky. I say that because few camp sites remain open in Italy once summer is gone.

It took us almost an hour to reach our preferred site, Campeggio Pian Dei Prati (which overlooked the small village of Frontino and offered splendid views of Mount Carpegna) and Vanya wasn’t at all happy about the drive which was up, over and around a number of steep hills (well, steep by her standards anyway). In fact she chose to hide under a quilt in the back of the Van for much of the journey. Sod’s law the site was closed. In fact it looked as though it had not been open for some while.

I think the name of the second choice site was Campeggio Marecchia and/but I have totally forgotten the name of the third site. It matters not; they were both closed. Of course we spent at least another hour driving around the hills before discovering this and by then Vanya was a terrified wreck. She hates heights

The Satnav in the Van had us going around in circles. On at least two occasions we drove through places we had been not so long before. The worst instance was when we paused in a small mountain village to try and get our bearings (I think it was called Pennabilli over in the Emilia Romagna Region) and I pointed out a tiny cinema to Vanya. It seemed so incongruous there. A half hour later, after driving on what I thought was the road to Carpegna back in Le Marche, the Satnav brought us back to the cinema!! It was a bit like a Stephen King horror story. We were both unsettled at that point and decided decided to give up on a camp site. Vanya would have stayed anywhere so long as no more driving was involved. Me, I just wanted to get away from Pennabilli.

Eventually we found a small car park opposite a lonely pizzeria on the edge of the Sasso Simone e Simoncello Natural Park. The owners were very welcoming; it was warm and; they served an okay pizza with beer. I suspect the Prosecco was good too but Vanya was beyond caring.

We had a good night’s rest (read I had a good night’s rest) and were away early the next morning, heading for Venice, with me totally ignoring the Satnav and following my map until we were a good 50 miles away.

Having said all that, the countryside in the area is beautiful…

Sassocorvaro (Le Marche), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Sassocorvaro is a small sleepy town perched 1,030 feet up on a hill overlooking the Mercatale Valley through which the River Foglia flows.

It has little to interest tourists except perhaps for an unusual castle (the Rocca Ubaldinesca) and some fine views across the Mercatale Valley where the river has been dammed to create a sizeable artificial lake. Of equal interest to us however was the sizeable town square car park which nestled under the walls of the Rocca provided us with a perfect parking spot for the night. The car park had been singled out in the “Park4Night” website as being a good, quiet overnight stopping place and; with both a small pizzeria (to grab a bite and enjoy a beer in) and a small supermarket (from which to buy croissants in the morning) nearby, it promised a far better night’s rest than where we had been in the considerably larger, busier, noisier town of Urbino.

It suited us perfectly – and then Vanya read a local sign identifying that there would be a town market on the site the very next morning. The best laid plans of mice and men… ! No matter, there was time left for a brief wander around Sassocorvaro before looking for somewhere else to overnight at and, if worse came to worst, there were three camp sites within striking distance.

Small quiet square with a bar and store – fine to overnight on

The views over the valley, especially those over the lake towards the town of Mercatale, were impressive but we couldn’t get to see much of the Rocca Ubaldinesca because it was closed. Shame. It is a relatively small Renaissance style castle and quite unique because of it’s turtle like layout (but that wasn’t obvious to us from underneath the walls). The castle’s one claim to fame is that it was used during WWII to house works of art from across Italy in order to prevent them being stolen by occupying German forces.

As has already been explained, there is not much to the town except the castle and the views down the valley

It was time to move on. After checking various sources for camp sites Vanya had identified three camp sites between 20 and 30 miles away to the north east. Two of the three read particularly well… and that was where things started going awry.

Urbino (Le Marche), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Urbino was picked out by Vanya as somewhere she thought I would like and; I do, except we didn’t stay as long as we perhaps could or should have done to do the place justice. I had picked out another small town, Sassocorvaro, which place also looked worth a visit (and is just down the road a bit) and; because Urbino couldn’t offer decent overnight parking, we elected to do both Urbino and Sassocorvaro and trust that the latter town would offer more in terms of a place to overnight at. Well, that was the plan and; it worked well to start with. We enjoyed a brief stop in both Urbino and Sassocorvaro but then it went all to pot. Sorry, I am running ahead of myself. Let me talk a little about the two places and then I will explain how most everything else went awry.

Urbino is a small brick and sandstone walled hilltop city of just over 15,000 people in the Marche Region. It was both a Roman and Medieval town but it really came to the fore during the 15th century when the Duke Federico da Montefeltro, a real patron of the arts, totally remodelled the place into one of the most important Renaissance sites in Italy. He called some of the world’s most renowned scholars and artists to his court and created a centre of learning that would ultimately lead to the city being recognised in 1998 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Urbino is actually built on two hills which makes for considerable ups and downs as you walk the city

It is still a centre of learning with the University of Urbino being ranked as one of the oldest (founded in 1506) and most prestigious in Italy and in so many respects it is a proper university town – witness the numerous university book shops, coffee bars and accommodation letting agencies. We arrived near lunchtime and the town’s steep narrow streets were thronged with students, released for the day and crowding the coffee shops and bars. There are more students than native residents and, if what we witnessed is anything to go by, they invoke a lively, buoyant atmosphere. Ordinarily I would have said there was a real buzz about the place but, sadly, Vanya and I have been exposed to too much “lockdown” and “social distancing” as a result of the current COVID pandemic and I think we both felt somewhat uncomfortable by the tumult and general mood of the place (although we were not deterred from joining them in coffee and cakes at one of the local coffee shops).

Good coffee and an outstanding chocolate cake

There was insufficient time for us to visit even one of the city’s many local art galleries or museums but just by walking the city we viewed countless examples of architectural magnificence and the views from the city across the remarkably green, rolling countryside match any I have seen in Tuscany.

Outstanding panoramic views from the city include those towards the Chiesa Di San Bernardino (San Donato) and the Apennines

The most outstanding building and the centrepiece of the town is the very well preserved Ducal Palace and, alongside that, the Cathedral. The Ducal Palace houses the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche; one of the best renaissance paintings collections in Europe with Raphael, Titian and Pierro della Francesca predominating. Incidentally, Raphael (or Raffaello Sanzio to give him his proper name) was born in Urbino and the house he was born in is now a museum.

Other prominent structures include the cathedral…

And so it was that by mid afternoon we were heading off to Sassocorvaro…

Lesina (Puglia), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

It was raining heavily in Contursi when we went to bed last night and it was still raining when we awoke this morning. In fact heavy rain is forecast for the next few days in the Salerno area and along almost the whole of the west coast of Italy. There was only one thing to do – move to the east coast where the forecast is much brighter – and so we set off at about 9.30 for a place called Chieti which is on the Adriatic Coast in the Abruzzo Region.

Chieti is about 195 miles from Contursi and I estimated the journey would take between 2.5 and 3.0 hours using the motorways. In the end, we didn’t make it. In fact we are still 87 miles south of Chieti and that is after 5 hours driving! I went totally the wrong way. In fact, we are now in the small fishing town of Lesina on the Puglian coast of the Adriatic. No matter. We’re not in a hurry.

I don’t think there is much to see or do in Lesina but it is a pretty enough place. It is a genuine fishing village on Lake Lesina just to the north of the Gargano National Park (see the Vieste blog earlier this trip). I say ‘genuine’ because you get the impression here that fishing is what it is all about whereas, in a lot of so called ‘fishing villages’ the fishing has long since given way to tourism. We’ll find out for sure later tonight when we check out the restaurants and tomorrow morning when I check out the local fish market.

What’s to look at? Well, there’s an elegant looking (former) cathedral here, the Cattedrale della Santissima Annunziate. Not sure how it is or why a cathedral can revert to being a church?

There is some history here too in that USACE opened an airfield here in 1944 for 325 Fighter Group (317, 318 & 319 Squadrons) with their P51 Mustangs. It closed in 1945.

When arriving in Lesina we chose to stay at the local Aree di Sosta. By any standards the Sosta is a good one, even having a (very) small bar frequented by local fishermen. The proprietor was friendly and enquired as to whether or not we wanted any local fish, offering also to cook it for us in the small kitchen at the back of the bar. It wasn’t a particularly cheap meal by local standards but it was good and he served it with a very nice white wine from the Istria Valley in Puglia and then, to cap it all, presented us with complimentary liqueurs.

Yes, this is very much a genuine fishing village.

Contursi (Salerno), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Moved 30 miles inland from Pontecagnano to Contursi. It’s Vanya’s birthday in a week’s time and we decided to book into a Spa Hotel for a couple of days as an early birthday present. We settled on the Hotel Terme Rosapepe which had been recommended by a young couple we got chatting to in a supermarket in Eboli. Yes, it does sound kind of random, doesn’t it, but it’s true.

The journey was perhaps the slowest 30 miles I have driven for some while, taking us back through Eboli where there is a half decent supermarket (more wine), a pet shop (decent dog food), a vape shop (I accidently broke one of Vanya’s vapes the other day) and, surprise, surprise, a retail outlet (Vanya has never been known to pass one).

The Hotel Terme Rosapepe is very stylish and the welcome from its American owner was most warm – and she and her staff made our dogs very welcome

The hotel is built in large nicely landscaped gardens and the adjoining thermal baths have no less than 5 large pools (both indoors and outdoors) and offers a wide range of massages.

These are not my photos of the thermal pools. They are both pre-COVID

That first evening we chilled. We put the dogs in the Van while we ate (they were happier there than in the hotel room) and we ate and we ate and we ate. It was a fixed menu, absolutely no choice, but they provided a reasonable range of well priced wines (including a fair Primitivo and a Prosecco which Vanya rated as very good). As for the food, canapes were followed by a pasta dish was followed by another pasta dish was followed by a well cooked roast and then fruit. Not at all bad.

The next morning was about the thermal baths and a massage. Thirty minutes of the baths was enough for me but I did enjoy the massage. So did Vanya; she went back for a second massage in the afternoon.

Inside and outside we pretty much had the place to ourselves…

We’re back in the hotel room now. Vanya’s resting and I’m about to take the dogs out for some exercise. It’s not so much the dogs that need the exercise; it is me. We’re booked back in the restaurant tonight and I need to develop an appetite.

Amalfi (Salerno), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

We intended taking a 24 bus into Salerno today because it would take us all the way from Pontecagnano to the Piazza della Concordia where the boats leave for Amalfi but once again we were caught out by not having muzzles for the dogs. That happened in San Marino. Looks as if muzzles are a prerequisite for travel on public transport in both San Marino and Italy.

No problem, we made our way to Salerno in the Van instead. It meant parking on the Lungomare and walking a couple of kms to the jetty but, after a quick breakfast in Salerno, we were still in time to catch the 13.00 hrs boat to Amalfi. This was better in a way because the earlier boat went direct to Amalfi whilst this later one stopped off at Cetara, Maiori and Minori (which made for a much more interesting journey and still left us with all the time we needed for photo opportunities and to explore Amalfi before catching the 16.15 back to Salerno).

Breakfast at a cafe on the Piazza della Concordia was notable for two things. Firstly, in my best Italian, I asked for water for the dogs telling the waitress I had one large dog and one small dog. Something got lost in the translation because she then produced one a a half small cups of water. Just take a look at the photo below. Secondly, again in Italian, I asked the waitress for a coffee with milk. She looked nonplussed but then gave me an espresso with a shot of sambuca. I gave up. The dogs had their meagre drop of water and I had my espresso with sambuca.

The dogs made short work of the water and I did the same with the espresso and sambuca (which I understand to be called a caffe corretto – corrected coffee). It wasn’t bad.

Our first stop on the boat was Cetara. It was and still is a small fishing village, where the focus is on tuna and anchovies. Indeed the name Cetara is derived from the Latin word Cetaria which are tuna fishing nets.

A short way further up the coast to Amalfi is the smaller settlement of Erchie although our boat didn’t stop there. Another picturesque fishing village albeit much smaller with only 100 inhabitants), Erchie’s name is derived from an old temple built in honour of Hercules. The village’s original name was Ercla or Hercla.

The boat’s next stop was Maiori which is one of the larger towns on the Amalfi Coast and far more lively than Cetara or Erchie which two villages are probably the quietest on this particular coast. Maiori has the largest beach anywhere on the Amalfi and (so I have read) a more colourful nightlife but, we didn’t stay to find out.

And so to Minori, the boat’s last stop before Amalfi. Like Cetara and Erchie, Minori is a small, attractive fishing village not yet totally given over to tourism although it was a resort for rich Romans way back in the 1st century BC. There is a nice walk connecting Minori with Maiori. It’s known as the lemon walk which is perhaps not very surprising given the amount of lemons being grown around here and the fact that this area is home to the liqueur limoncello.

And then, within an hour of setting off from Salerno, we arrived at Amalfi.

In company with Venice, Genoa and Pisa, Amalfi had a long and glorious history as a maritime republic and for centuries was a trade bridge between the western and the Byzantine worlds. This is reflected to some extent in the Duomo di Sant’ Andrea which is built in the Byzantine structure and with Moorish style arches and decoration.

Nowadays, the focal point of the town (I should say “city” since Amalfi has a cathedral) is not the harbour area with its pretty promenade and marina area but the Piazza del Duomo right in front of the cathedral.

… and a wander around before getting the boat back to Salerno.

The Amalfi Coast is a tourist resort and packed between June and September. There are plenty of tourists in October too but, no matter. The place is beautiful and no amount of tourists can totally detract from that.

Pontecagnano Faiano (Salerno), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Time to move further north and so we made for a beach site up at Pontecagnano Faiano. There were a number of advantages to this site. Firstly, it is only 45 minutes from Contursi, where we are booked into a nice spa hotel, the Hotel Terme Rosapepe, in two days time (Vanya wants pampering for her birthday and this particular hotel was highly recommended by a local whom we met in a supermarket the other day – yes, I know, that sounds awfully random but it is true). Secondly, we will be within striking distance of the Amalfi coast, which is always worth a visit. Thirdly, the route will take us through a fair sized town, Eboli, where there is a proper supermarket and a pet shop (both dogs have reacted badly to some rubbish food we bought and we need to make that right). Fourthly, the site is right on the sea and we want another swim.

The sea was great although, unlike the last stop, there were no waves. The dogs much preferred it here. By the way, that’s the Amalfi Coast in the background

Beanie loves his swimming but it wipes him out

Tomorrow we’ll make visit Salerno and the Amalfi Coast but meanwhile take a look at that sunset…

Paestum (Calabria), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Paestum, also known by its original name of Poseidonia, was a Greek colony founded around BC 600 on the west coast of Italy, some 80 km south of modern Naples. It was conquered by the Romans in BC 273, renamed Paestum, and prospered for hundreds of years thereafter until some time in the 4th century when most of the inhabitants started to move inland to what is now Capaccio because of the spread of malaria in the area (following persistent deforestation and the land turning marshy). By the end of the 9th century, because of the malaria and ever increasing raids by Saracen pirates, the last inhabitants had left and the town was overgrown and lost until 1748 when during local road building the temples were rediscovered and excavated.

Today Paestum is one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world due to its three relatively well preserved Greek temples. They are purportedly the best of their kind outside of Greece although, trying to determine to whom the temples were originally dedicated is no easy matter. Google it and you’ll find that the larger middle temple of the three was dedicated to one of either Apollo, Poseidon or Hera. As for the other two, don’t ask. The museum attached to the archaeological site claims that the two larger of the three temples were both dedicated to Hera while the smaller temple was dedicated to Athena and I’ll go with them.

We were heading north towards Salerno and the Amalfi Coast and halted for a night or two at a camp site by the sea near Capaccio (at a place called Licinella-Torre di Paestum). It was pure chance that whilst out exploring the area around the camp site (I was actually looking for a decent restaurant) I stumbled on the archaeological site of Paestum… and wasn’t I pleased?!? I spent the next three hours happily wandering the site and it’s associated museum (and for dinner that evening we had to settle for a pizza and a couple of beers at the camp site). Some things are just meant to be.

The beach outside the camp site was fine and once again we were parked up right by it

There wasn’t much in Licinella-Torre di Paestum other than a lot of closed campsites: a 16th century tower and a Buffalo Tomato farm…but then I stumbled on the ruins…

The middle temple that was supposedly dedicated to Apollo, Poseidon and ultimately Hera

The second temple dedicated to Hera although for many years this was thought not to be a temple at all but a Basilica.

The third of the temples; this one dedicated to Athena

Leaving aside the three temples there is not much else left standing at Paesum other than foundations to the old Greek and Roman buildings. Seriously good examples of early Doric columns.

There was much of interest in the adjoining museum – not just the wine jug. Not sure why they put Mimmo Paladino’s Sand Horse on display between the two temples to Hera. This place had nothing to do with Troy and while Poseidon had, I think, a connection with horses, it has been proven that none of the temple’s were dedicated to Poseidon. Weird. It’s been there since 2019.

Scalea (Calabria), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Camp site at Scalea was disappointing and we elected to move on after the one night.

The dogs liked the place (give them sea and sand and they are over the moon) and, parked right alongside the beach, we had a tremendous view but neither Vanya nor I have ever been keen on grubby lukewarm showers.

We headed off towards Paestum in Calabria. Time for a little culture.

Craco (Basilicata), Italy October 2020 (Tour 3)

Whilst visiting Matera we stayed at an outstanding campsite just outside the town, Area Camper Matera (Kartodromomatera), owned by Gianfranco and family. He recommended a couple of places to visit and one of them was the hilltop village of Craco, also in Basilicata, which he told us is only an hour or so drive from Matera.

The drive was straight forward and passed quickly enough. Craco was easily discernible from some way off. Stark and striking and topped by a very obvious Norman Keep it is perched at the very edge of a 400 metre cliff in the Cavone River Valley.

The town was founded around AD 540 although, there is evidence of an earlier settlement on the same site during the Iron Ages. Much of the current town (such as it is) dates back to the Middle Ages with the Norman Tower, built in 1040, being the oldest known building.

It is totally deserted, except for some stray dogs and a few sheep. Throughout it’s known history, Craco has suffered from landslides and, to a lesser extent, earthquakes but a series of landslides between the 1950’s and early 1960’s compelled the majority of the population (some 1,800 residents) to move to nearby Craco Peschiera. A major flood in 1972 and an earthquake in 1980 forced the remainder to leave except for one last person who hung on until 1991.

Once abandoned, the town became overgrown and then, in the 2,000’s it started caving in on itself. Many of it’s buildings have since collapsed or are on the verge of collapse. A few remain intact with various original features still in place (range cookers, electricity meters, etc) but they have all been plundered for anything of value and for the most part they are not safe.

A local ordinance provides that no more than 35 people are allowed in the town at any given time and even then they have to be guided. No one was allowed in on the day we arrived (don’t ask me why) but it was easy enough for me to avoid security, scale the fence and have a good nosey around. It is quite surreal. I am used to seeing ruins on my tours and I have certainly seen abandoned towns before but never a whole town complete with 20th century fixtures and fittings.

I don’t see that it has any future. Film makers have made use of it – It formed a background for Judas’s suicide in The Passion of Christ and was used again in Quantum of Solace – but, it is becoming increasingly unsafe and, I suspect, totally beyond repair (even assuming anyone would be foolish enough to want to renovate buildings in an area so prone to landslides and earthquakes).

The two most obvious buildings still standing are the Norman Tower (the tall square building) towards the centre of the photo and the Chiese Madre di San Nicola Vescova (Church of St Nicholas Bishop) on the left

We have seen many ruins during our tour through Italy but few if any that were still inhabited less than 50 years ago. Note the electricity meter next to the doorway in the last picture above

One final look back at Craco as we drove off

Leaving Craco we made our way over to Italy’s west coast, enjoying splendid views as we did so, and settled on a campsite at Scalea in Calabria.

The only nice things to be said about that campsite is that we were parked up on the beach with pretty good views and the dogs seem to like the place. Otherwise… we’ll be moving in the morning.