We are staying in Tropea for a few days now. We have friends – Roberta and Alessandro – who live in Cosenza and we are catching up with them. They too are sailors and we first met them when they saw our Australian flag on Marley and came to say “Hello”. They had spent their honeymoon in Australia and are in love with our country – and from there we have spent much time sailing and have fun together while we are in Italy.
Now we are going to spend a few days with them – they are going to show us their Calabria and their home town of Cosenza.
First stop is Pizzo – a small coastal village north of Tropea and the home of Tartufo -the ice cream. Then Reggio Calabria to see the Riace bronzes. These bronzes are held in the Museo della Magna Grecia which is the Greek inhabitation of the Calabrian coast. The whole area is studded with Greek influence as this abundant and fertile area was being used as a food bowl in BC times.
The bronzes were discovered in 1972 in the sea, covered in reef so that they would have looked like large rocks – 2,000 years underwater. By 2014 they were ready for display and a Museum was built especially to house them in a controlled atmosphere. They are quite magnificent and larger than life.
Next stop – Cosenza. It lies north and in the centre of large mountains. Surrounded by huge peaks it is elevated and feels like a mountain city. The drive in is across viaducts and through tunnels and you enter into a world of pine trees and river gorges. There are ski fields 30 minutes from town and the coast is 1 hour – the Tyrrenhian to the west and the Ionian to the south east. It is an historic old town and also a bustling new city – much cooler and apparently ‘cold’ in winter.
Alessandro drove us top into the mountains the next day and now we are in a mountain retreat with alpine buildings, lakes and amazing views. Very beautiful and obviously very popular. We so enjoyed their hospitality and their home and town.
Back to Tropea and Rog and I are now going to rent a car and drive across Calabria to Puglia. We are heading to Castro – southern Puglia – right on the coast with amazing views across to Albania and on a clear day we can see the top end of Corfu.
We are here for a few days along with 50 other Melburnites to celebrate a birthday and a housewarming. We are staying in various locations around the town and meeting for a highly curated set of parties. A lot of fun and a lot of eating. It is hot, and we head to the marina each morning and swim with the locals. Clear and cool water – and then a lot of steps to go back up to the top of the hill. We had a morning off and hired a little boat to coast hop and swim. This part of the Puglian coast is all rock with very little beach access. A boat is perfect. One of the things we marvel at is seeing the Albanian mountains opposite and Corfu is visible too. In 2017 we sailed across from Corfu to Italy and literally crawled into Santa Maria di Leuca – desperate to get off the boat after a horrendous crossing. Now it looks positively benign and close!
We head back to Tropea to get back on Marley and head out to the Aeolian Islands. Stromboli, Panarea, Salina, Lipari and Vulcano plus Alicudi and Filicudi. Vulcano and Stromboli are active volcanoes and puff away all day. Stromboli puts on a light show at night with lava flying up in the air. Panarea is a very beautiful and immaculate place with 5 star resorts. Lipari, the largest island, has all the amenity and administration that is needed to live out there. And Salina is my favourite. It’s quieter, smaller, colourful, traditional and is a delight to walk around and enjoy. We will stay out here a few days before we sail into Palermo.
Ciao ciao – Jane
janeandrogersadventure 