Flexibility makes yoga poses so much easier. It also makes travel so much more fun.

If Lisa B. hadn’t bent the rules that day on our way to Malpensa Airport, I might never have experienced C-Colzani Caffè. And that, i mie amici, would have been a major loss to my aspiring Inner Italian lifestyle.

C-Colzani has been named Gambero Rosso’s Bar of the Year for two years running. It is artisanal, sleek, smart, and gustoso. It is the creation of the young, talented brothers Marco and Andrea Colzani.

But I’m jumping ahead in the story. Lisa hadn’t premeditated going rogue but her instincts are sharp. As the representative of the travel firm sponsoring the familiarization trip to the Lake Como area, she was charged with keeping us on schedule. One evening, we dined at  il Griso hotel near Lecco on the eastern branch of the lake. C-Colzani continua

Question: What’s wrong with this picture?

Answer: Absolutely nothing!

I snapped this beauty from the terrazza of the Hotel Il San Pietro di Positano, a Relais & Chateaux property named one of the best hotels in the world by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler.

I was with a group of travel professionals and writers touring the hotel during a recent certification program hosted by the province of Salerno, which occupies about half of the region of Campania. The Italian Government Tourist Board North America (ENIT) and Alitalia Airlines were also sponsors.

In three action packed days, our Salerno hosts treated us to some hidden gems. They’re working hard to expand awareness of Salerno’s offerings, the best known of which are the towns clinging to the Amalfi Coast.

The Villa Cimbrone Hotel in Ravello.

Salerno is the Amalfi but a lot more as well. It is the mountains north of the coast that divide costiera d’amalfi from Naples and also the large area south of the city of Salerno. This includes the incomparable Greek ruins at Paestum, plenty of beaches, and the wild beauty of the Cilento national park.

In my upcoming posts, I’ll share some tastes and sights of Salerno province where new doors were opened for me.

Twin portals in Positano.

Cruising the Cilento coast south of Salerno.

Castello Arechi standing guard above the city of Salerno.

A musician in the town of Minori.

A seafood feast at the King's Residence Hotel in Palinuro.

Two gentlemen on the steps of the Duomo in the town of Amalfi.

I stayed for a few days in "Lemon Heaven" overlooking the town of Amalfi.

Portside in Amalfi.

Gladiator girl gearing for conquest.

Taking a little rest in Ravello.

Have you visited Salerno?

What destination spoke to you?

Sharon at the crica 500 BC Greek temple of Ceres in Paestum, south of Naples on the Cilento Coast.

We’re thrilled that the award-winning paid subscription newsletter Dream of Italy is featuring three stories–leading with Paestum and its breathtaking Greek temples and museum–about Sharon’s recent exploration of the Amalfi and Cilento coasts of southern Italy. If you love traveling in the real Italy (or armchair fantasizing that you are!) this is the publication for you.

Subscribe now and you’ll Dream of Italy for days to come.

Subscribers to Kathy McCabe’s award-winning Italy travel newsletter Dream of Italy will see Sharon’s work in the November 2009 issue. She penned a profile of “Stile Mediterraneo Cooking and Wine School” owners Cinzia and Marika Rascazzo and also a feature “Sisters Share Their Private Puglia” with the siblings’ travel recommendations for their region on the heel of Italy.

If you don’t subscribe to Dream of Italy, there’s no better holiday gift for your Inner Italian. Check it out here.

Sharon and I wanted to explore Lecce, the spectacular capital city of Puglia — often referred to as the “Florence of the South.”

We needed to find a place to stay that would position us near Lecce, yet keep us within easy striking distance of nearby attractions and points south. Plus, we didn’t want the hassles of city parking.

It was my turn to choose a place so I perused booking.com for accommodations near Lecce.

The B&B Cavallino looked perfect: an intimate property (3 suites), outside of Lecce, reasonably priced and boasting some of the highest customer ratings of any lodging establishment in the area. We e-mailed and were able to procure a room.

B&B Cavallino proprietor Paola Danielli (right) and her husband Paolo Mercurio.

Upon arrival, we met the luminous proprietor Paola Danielli. Efficient, lovely, charming (and fluent in English), she showed us to our “room.” What an exciting surprise! We had a spacious apartment with two floors, two terraces, a kitchen, and a huge bedroom overlooking a quiet green campo.

The apartment really felt like our home away from home for the next few days. Every morning before we set out, we brewed our own coffee and feasted on a lavish tray of local pastries that Paola had purchased for us. As Sharon always says, “You have to love a country where they eat cookies for breakfast.”

The only minor glitch during our stay    turned out to be the source of more joking   than frustration. Due to local street repairs,   access to and from the southern route to the Salento peninsula ran through an AGIP gas station. It was so well trafficked, we took to calling it the AGIP autostrada.

We couldn’t have been more fortunate in finding this jewel of a B&B. It’s easiest to reach by car, however, with proper advisal the hosts will provide transfers to and from the Lecce train station.

B&B Cavallino is the perfect starting point to explore the many attractions of the Salento peninsula south of Lecce.