Southern Italy- Ciao Amore Mio!

Italy--Where do I begin? It's my last post after seven weeks in this diverse country. Despite the average of one sunny day (and kilo gained) per week I still love this country. It's the place that converted this die-hard mushroom hater into a lover of truffles. A country that, despite my desire to never step foot in yet another church, drew me in and impressed me over and over again. The land of delicious food, fashionable men and beautiful women that are warm and affable. I hate the idea of leaving, especially with so much unseen!

I suppose I should start with my dear friend, Antonio, who turned out to be My guardian angel of sorts. Throughout my travels from Rome to Sicily he connected me with friends, friends of friends, and couch surfing hosts that met up with me and gave me the opportunity to hang out with locals and experience local music, food and sights. They were generous with suggestions on where to go and what to do. Unfortunately the weather and lack of a car prevented me from doing many of them, but they have been saved for my next visit! Not only was it very kind of Antonio to think of me and make the effort to initiate these connections but it also speaks volumes about his friends and their friends, Italian people and their hospitality. A big Grazie Millie to you all!!

Southern Italy begins in Naples. There seems to be an invisible line separating the South from the rest of the country. I've been told the government doesn't care about the south but it seems that, although very proud, the locals don't either. Naples and Sicily are, by far, the dirtiest places I've been to in Europe, which is surprising considering how proud they are of their respective cities. I spent an unprecedented eight days in Napoli. Not so much because I loved it but in part because of the lousy weather, the great hostel and my need to just take a break for a few days. However there really is quite a bit to do. Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius and Ercoleos were a day trip as was the Amalfi Coast. There are three castles, a church with the most wonderful sculptures I've seen to date, the Cemetiere Della Fontanelle--a cave cemetery filled with bones and skulls-- and the Serino Aqueducts. These 12 km of Ancient Greek aqueducts had been closed for 150 or so years once cholera had been found in the water then drained and reopened during WWII to be used as bunkers for the towns people. Now one km of them are open for tourists and experimental grounds for growing plants in that environment. A city known for its pizza, I ate more than my fair share. A whole one can be purchased for less than four euro and was just the right size. It can also be eaten fried, which is soooo good! I gave up gelato in favor of babas--a very light, super moist, rum cake. The sweets in Italy are fantastic!! They vary from region to region and taste much better than they look, which is the opposite of my experience through most of my travels.

Too many places to go into detail yet I didn't go to half of the places I wanted to go to. Next time I'm renting a car! I visited Bari, where I ate the best food in all of Italy and enjoyed the fun company of a friend of Antonio's friend as well as many of her friends. Did you get all those 'friend' connections haha! I joined a couple Dutch ladies for a very fun day in amazing Matera--a must see! Polignano and Lecce were fantastic despite most everything being closed due to low season. The upside to traveling off-season is that hotel rooms can be obtained for as cheap as hostels but I get my own room and toilet!! Tropea was a fantastic little village on the sea where I briefly met two wonderful American women whom I ended up spending a day with at the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, Sicily.

Sicily has a completely different feel than the rest of Italy, which at this point I can't quite articulate because I really haven't had a moment to stop and think about it. But there is so much beauty to see on this island, especially if you have a car. Catania is a nice town within an hour of Mt. Etna, the tallest and most active volcano in Europe. It took 1.5 hours to walk 500 meters up the snow capped mountain to the highest point we could go to without proper equipment. Even though there were too many clouds for a view, it was well worth the effort. Agrigento is another popular destination for the 2,600 year old ancient Greek ruins of Valle dei Templi. 1,300 hectares big, each temple is dedicated to a different mythological God and some are so well preserved. WOW!

My last stop in Italy was in Palermo. Perhaps, like the rain on my last day in Venice, it's good that this dirty, unhappy place was my final destination or else I probably wouldn't want to leave. There were some bright spots-like my couch surfing host, good music, a couple churches and the best gelato- but overall a city that I would have been fine with skipping. However it is the port town from where the ferries to and from Africa dock and it was here that I crossed paths with my American friend with whom I'd traveled around Morocco. He'd just come from Tunisia and gave me some great tips on where to go and stay, including a couch surfing host in Tunis. Armed with this information I boarded the ferry, unscathed by my Schengen Zone over-stay, and said Arrivedirche Italia!