Memories of a Recent Trip to Calabria-Part I

                          Hot and sweet peppers hanging to dry- a common sight in Calabria in September

Posing in front of the church in the medieval town of Altomonte on our first full day in Calabria

piles of recently gathered licorice root

Licorice root grows wild throughout Calabria. Here at the famous Amarelli factory they produce and sell the finished product.

Ruggged mountains form a backdrop to the town of Civita

Here is an example of the antipasto sampler which began almost all of  our meals. The ricotta and mozzarella were fresh and often made from the milk of cows living at our agritourism lodgings, and the salumi came from their pigs. We learned to eat conservatively and save room for the following courses.

Goats at Il Mulino- they also had rabbits and cows for milk to make  ricotta and other fresh cheeses

In Civita we ate wild boar with beans, one of many courses in the Arbaresh restaurant La Kamastra

One day after lunch we toured and tasted liqueurs (including licorice) at a quaint shop

Outside we spotted figs drying and a compost bin. Fresh figs were in season and they were magnificent

         In Rossano the guy on the far right asked me to take a photo, so here he is with his three friends

        Here our group ate one of many fabulous multi-course lunches on the lawn of the charming estate Casa Solara. Then we roamed around and saw the chapel and the grounds and the citrus groves, trying to boost our appetite for another multi course, three hour dinner.



























After a short bus ride through the country side, we checked into our second agriturismo called San Michele which also grew all its own products and had an elevator built in the rocks down to its own private beach. The main sitting room was filled with paintings and antiques, and light streamed in through large windows rimmed with bouganvilla that opened out onto the Mediterranean Sea.

Lucia wading in Tyrannean Sea

On our first eveing at San Michele we took the long elevator ride down through the rocks and went wading in the warm and tranquil Tyrannean Sea. The next day the elevator was broken so we bussed down to the beach and helped prepare ultra-fresh anchovies for a delicious pasta course for lunch.

Fresh Anchovy and Tomato Pasta

After lunch we all went for a dip in the ocean. The weather continued to be hot and sunny throughout our stay.

One beautiful, hot morning we toured the extensive vegetable gardens and vinyards.

Grapes ready for the harvest. We drank great local wines throughout our stay

And on our way to the gardens we passed their vintage Fiat 500 in mint condition. As if we didn't know we were in Italy!