We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary with a trip to Italy. Brian was in charge of planning and he made a wonderful job of it.

We spent just over three weeks touring regions of Southern Italy: Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Calabria.

Roma

The Eternal City deserves a return visit(s) for sure and we started our journey there. Piazza Novana, the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum and so much more.

Napoli

We drove to Napoli and quickly discovered that the driving is out of this world. Our first intersection was 6 streets coming together with no stop signs, traffic lights, or round-about. Cars, scooters and pedestrians were going every way. In this land, laws and traffic signs appear to be simply suggestions so we drove with caution, aggression, and many arm gestures, as the Italians do. On the other hand, off-leash dogs have a sense of navigation and watch for cars when crossing the road and are not strangers to crossing at pedestrian crosswalks.

Mount Vesuvius is ever-present and makes for a beautiful backdrop.

Napoli is known for pizza and we tried many variations, including the fried pizza.

We toured the St. Gennaro Catacombs

Matera

One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stayed in the Sassi, the area of the city where many historical cave dwellings are located, on the slope of a ravine. The cave dwellings were evacuated due to poor living conditions in the 1950s. Many are now refurbished into museums, shops, hotels and modern dwellings. We hiked the ravine and explored the historic cave dwellings.

The bread in Matera is hearty and well-loved. In historic times, residents made dough at home and took it to communal ovens to bake. They personalized their loaves with bread stamps to be able to identify them. I purchased a bread stamp from the artisan below.

The Sant Angelo Hotel was a favorite with modern, cave-like rooms.

Tropea

We stopped in Tropea to break up the drive to Sicily. We stayed in a gorgeous transformed convent, Villa Paola. Beautiful lodging and views of the gardens, marina, Tyrrhenian Sea, and the old town made this another favorite.

Taormina

We boarded the car ferry in Villa San Giovanni for the 25 minute journey to Sicily where we stayed at Villa Carlotta, looking out to the Ionian Sea.

We took a day trip to Mount Etna which is a cooler temperature, located up above the clouds, and surrounded by volcanic rock. Mount Etna is a beautiful backdrop for many sights in Taormina.

We toured the Ancient theater.

We took long walks each day to explore, shop, and absorb it all.

We were aware that there was a supercar tour in the city while we were there with 25-30 supercars, mostly Ferraris and Lamborghinis. As we were preparing to leave they happened to zoom by. Vroom vroom.

Maratea

This little town is not easy to get to but worth the effort. We stopped here on the way to Ravello and stayed in another villa that was formerly a convent. Maratea is a hidden gem that feels untouched by time.

Ravello

Amalfi was not a disappointment. According to locals, the crowds in Amalfi this fall were similar to what you would normally see in high summer season. We stayed right off the main square at Hotel Rufalo, next door to Villa Rufalo Gardens, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.

We visited Villa Cimbrone gardens…

Villa Rufalo Gardens…

We took the passenger ferry from Amalfi City to Capri for a day. Capri was stunning but overcrowded with many passenger ferries arriving at the port every hour or so. We opted to skip the lines and visit some less populated spots on motor scooters. Once on the scooter and helmeted up, I was pulled over by local polizia within 5 minutes for a routine document check, whew. Brian loved driving the scooters. It’s not for beginners but well worth it to see a lot of the island on a short trip. We rode up to Anacapri and took the chair lift up to the point. We scooted all around the island at our own pace and loved it.

We toured the local shops and towns near Ravello, sampling the cuisine along the way. Brian consumed his share of limoncello and we discovered delizie al limone- thank you Stanley Tucci! We purchased pottery from the local potter, Pascal, pictured below.

Sorrento

Sorrento is base camp for many travelers touring Italy. The city center is loaded with shops and restaurants and if you are lucky, you will see the weekly fireworks.

Pompeii

We spent a day wandering around Pompeii and being amazed. Pompeii was buried under approximately 15 feet of volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. A recommended stop for all.

We loved our time in southern Italy from start to finish and Italy is still one of my favorite European countries. The breath-taking cliff views, sparkling seas, astounding mountains, serpentine walkways with never-ending cobblestone steps, bountiful olives, lemons, limes, pomegranate, kiwi, oranges, etc., delightful meals, and lively, bold people warmed our hearts. Our memories will keep us smiling for a long time.

Arrivederci Amici,

Betty & Brian