Here we are, you were missing us a bit, weren't you? Don't worry, the craziest couple in the world never leaves you alone and we're ready to tell you about another adventure experienced together. August 2005...off we finally go for a well-deserved holiday. We have a whole year of work, stress and tiredness on our shoulders, and as is right now and then it's better to unplug and treat ourselves to a bit of well-earned rest; and what better occasion than to take advantage of 3 lovely weeks, and in August no less? One rainy morning I set off for the region of Calabria, the land of chilli peppers, where my other half Selene had already been for a few days....
Day 16 Aug 2005
the days spent.. in our ITALY
A peaceful journey even though those 6/7 hours by car really do make themselves felt, but in these periods, just to go on holiday, there are people who would be willing to do even 20 hours by car... Arrived in Caraffa di Catanzaro, a very small village 30 km from Lamezia Terme (Airport) and 18 km from Catanzaro, situated on a plateau from which you can admire the two Seas, the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian. The first day is all dedicated to relaxation and to recovering psychophysically from the journey, and we spend it greeting relatives and acquaintances. From Caraffa, to go down to the sea you have to face about 30 minutes of curves on not exactly exemplary asphalt: Soverato, Catanzaro, Caminia, Pietragrande... they are all seaside resorts bathed by the splendid Ionian Sea; crystal-clear and limpid waters that make it one of the most beautiful and clean seas in all of Italy.
The rocky seabed is then a further addition to the stupendous sea that bathes these areas... The first stop, as tradition dictates, can only be Caminia. Already the first image you have of the beach of Caminia is breathtaking, a sheer drop from the provincial road that ends right on the beach... Summer, ladies and gentlemen, can have its beginning... Selene, in the days preceding my arrival, had heard about a fantastic bay and after gathering the necessary information on how to get there, we set off to discover... Baia di Copanello. The narrow streets full of hairpin bends already suggested a very, very beautiful scenario... and indeed that's how much our eyes were able to admire shortly afterwards...
Light green waters and right on the rock a bay had been built, with a very simple kiosk in case someone wanted to refresh themselves with some drinks and a special space full of wooden sun loungers with foam rubber covers; to look at it, that place seemed very chic, the rental of the sun loungers was 12€ for the whole day including a drink; we couldn't believe it, so much so that the following morning we were already there sunbathing in the bay.
Once we arrived I didn't hesitate much before throwing myself into the limpid and crystal-clear waters... fantastic... so much so that I asked some people for masks to take a scenic tour of the seabed... As soon as I put my head under the water, guess what I see? A white starfish resting on a rock... beautiful... so much so that the next day I couldn't help but buy an underwater camera, with one particularity... not all stories always have a happy ending, in fact the following morning there was no trace of the starfish... Never mind...
meanwhile we had become regular customers of the bay, "customers" is actually a big word since another positive particularity of the place was precisely that during the day there could be at most 6 people besides us and you can imagine what silence and what tranquillity, you could only hear the seagulls flying just above the water in search of some fish to feed on and the waves of the sea gently breaking on the rocks of the bay... To break a bit the monotony, which was otherwise very welcome, of Baia Copanello, one morning we made a stop on the other side of Calabria, the Tyrrhenian coast, more precisely at Tropea.
It's always a pleasure to go back there... enchanting places where every time I return to Calabria, I want to go back... the historic centre is more and more crowded with tourists and the railing from which you can see the sheer drop over the sea is always full of tourists ready to capture these stupendous images, so full that I still don't know how long it can bear the weight of the people leaning on it... jokes aside... a beautiful sight... the only flaw of Tropea, about which I have sworn I will never do it again, are the horrible steps that from the historic part take you down to the beach, tall and long steps, a calvary!!!! Next year, if I go back, I think I'll get to the beach by car... the problem isn't so much going down as going back up in the evening after a day at the beach, when you're already tired from doing nothing...
The week then continues in total relaxation and tranquillity between Caminia, Soverato, Baia Copanello, etc... in the evening unfortunately there isn't a lot... this year however they opened several very nice places in Soverato right on the beach and one in Caminia above the only restaurant on the beach...
what a view...
Day 211 Aug 2005
And so we come to the day we were supposed to leave... to where?!?!?!? Yes indeed!!... I haven't told you anything until now because we wanted to keep it a surprise... turned on our travel companion GPS... we head towards the other part of the holiday we had planned.... 3 days on the Amalfi Coast... The first stop was Salerno where we went to visit a former teacher of Selene's, who hosted us for lunch in her beautiful house, in the company of her husband and their two small children; in the afternoon we set off again for Sorrento, the base of our stay on the coast, and on the teacher's advice we decide to do the whole coast up to Sorrento by car along the shoreline... Unique landscapes that testify to all the good and beautiful things that are said about the coast...
along our way towards Sorrento we decide to stop and visit the beautiful Amalfi, a maritime republic, it faces the sea but lives above all on the sea. Beautiful is the cathedral inside, characterised by the numerous steps you have to climb before reaching the top; shortly afterwards we set off again towards Sorrento; the tiredness is starting to be felt... we left Calabria at 9 in the morning and little by little we came back up Italy, as far as Campania... Along our route we encounter other small but at the same time characteristic little seaside villages like Minori, Maiori, Positano... all characteristic, but all at the same time have one thing in common... the stupendous sea that bathes them... Every now and then I would stop on the edge of the winding roads full of bends of the coast to capture the whole landscape with whatever most technological thing I had, camera, video camera...
I couldn't let images like that slip away... In the late afternoon we arrive in Sorrento... a very nice and welcoming hotel not far from the sea; in fact the following morning we get up bright and early and go to the port of Sorrento where shortly before 9 we board a hydrofoil, destination... Capri... We arrive at the small port of Capri after about 30 minutes by hydrofoil... but alas a nasty surprise awaits us... it starts drizzling... I curse for a few seconds but we don't get discouraged and decide to immediately go for a tour around the island on boats specially for tours... unfortunately the second surprise is that the not exactly optimal weather and the sea in bad conditions forbid many boats from leaving the port... At the point of despair we don't lose heart and shortly afterwards we meet a boat that decides to do the tour of the island anyway... we board and set off...
the real problems are only at the beginning... The sea in bad conditions makes us stop for about an hour moored in front of the Blue Grotto where some tourists wanted to go down to visit it more closely with small rowing boats... while waiting to enter, the rocking of the boat made almost all the people on board feel sick... we set off again after an hour and continue the tour at the mercy of dizzying waves, one of which makes me jump from the bow and get completely soaked... so much so that the flash of my camera goes haywire... the despair was great but by now we had to finish the tour anyway... Shortly before returning exhausted to port we can't help but pass between the symbol of Capri... The Faraglioni... a unique and stupendous sensation...
Back on dry land we climb up to the very famous little square of Capri where we can't back out of having a coffee there comfortably seated... as famous people do... shortly afterwards we walk along the very narrow and characteristic alleys of the little village... I won't describe to you the luxury of the shops we encounter along the way; photos of VIPs who have stayed in Capri are found practically everywhere... the gardens of Augustus are stupendous, from where you can admire the faraglioni from above, a few souvenir photos, a good lemon granita to refresh ourselves and towards evening at sunset we go down to the port aboard the typical open-top taxis of Capri... We take the hydrofoil again around 18:00 and make our return to Sorrento at sunset...
(sunset in Sorrento) At dinner we meet up with a family friend of Selene's and his partner who, as good Sorrento natives, offer us a wonderful Neapolitan pizza and with them we walk through the streets of the city centre, all lit up and full of tourists, for a healthy walk in the moonlight.
Our stay on the coast is now drawing to a close and the following morning shortly before lunch we set off again towards the last stop of our holiday, San Benedetto... Before that, however, we decide to stop for a few hours in Positano. On the outward journey, from Salerno, it had struck us a lot for being a little village right by the sea, where everything seemed small, where the houses seemed to be one on top of the other... and so it is in fact, very narrow and winding streets... where already as you park the car you feel the sea breeze... After a walk along the path overlooking the sea, in the early afternoon we decide to set off again towards San Benedetto. More than a holiday, San Benedetto is my city, the city where I was born and lived and where my dearest loved ones still live today... Here too, needless to say, the sea is the main protagonist...
but nothing to do with the crystal-clear Calabrian waters or the extraordinary scenery of the Amalfi Coast, but still beach and sea are present and therefore life is much more relaxed and flat... What can I say, our summer holidays are now at the end of the line, new places have been visited to enrich a little our cultural and geographical baggage, other places instead, given their beauty, have been visited again because after all it is always nice to return to places like Tropea, Caminia, San Benedetto... places and locations very different from each other, but with an important component that we just can't do without........THE SEA and THE SUN!!!
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