Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

  • Home
  • Contact us
  • Links

The Hill Towns of Molise

Posted October 23, 2019 by Sharon 1 Comment

Actor Robert De Niro’s great-grandparents emigrated from the Molisan hill town of Ferrazzano.

Even a casual observer of mass Italian tourism reads and hears the commentary.

Tuscany is overrun with outsiders.

Venice is sinking under hordes of cruise line passengers.

Rome is deluged with foreigners.

The Cinque Terre is so crowded that’s it has lost its once-remote allure.

Capri is a tourist trap.

These magnificent places attract multitudes who come to experience the magnificent art, history, cuisines, cultures, and natural beauty.

While it’s the job of the government, tourism industry, and local communities to sort out the long-term future of mass tourism in Italy, it’s my good fortune to offer a plan for right now.

Simply get off the tourism conveyor belt. Each time Walter and I travel to Italy, we choose to explore places that are new to us. Like the region of Molise. We wander, dine, learn, and laugh surrounded by Italians instead of English, German, or Chinese-language speakers.

And isn’t that the reason we all want to experience Italy?

Oratino, Molise

During our recent sojourn in the city of Campobasso, our B&B host Luciano Viola, urged us to drive up to Oratino for lunch at Ristorante Olmicello. He seemed so intent on the prospect that we began to wonder if he was a shareholder in the business. Turns out, Luciano was just the best at promoting some of his area’s finest.

As dramatic spring clouds scuttled across a brilliant blue sky, we made the 15-minute drive northwest of Campobasso to Oratino. In the small park and overlook, we soaked in a verdant vista.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Driving in Italy, Food, Italy restaurants, Lifestyle, Molise, Travel Tagged With: discover new places in Italy, Italian hill towns, italian travel, Molise, off-the-beaten-path Italy

Driving a Ferrari Spider

Posted July 16, 2019 by Walter 2 Comments

 

By Walter Sanders

We almost made it to the Enzo Ferrari House and Museum in Modena, Italy. The founder of the legendary automobile brand was from this prosperous town in Emilia-Romagna.

The museum was open. We were well within visiting hours. We had the money to enter.

But I got distracted.

A young woman standing on the sidewalk outside the museum entrance was handing out flyers. She was promoting Ferrari test drives.

And what a perfect spot for that offer! Passers-by arriving there have already self-selected their interest in Ferrari and the museum.

We talked for a bit. She explained that there were a couple of cars — a pair of Ferraris — just down the street available for driving. I could take a short spin for 150 Euro.

“That’s a lot of money. But at least we could have a fun photo opp with a car.” I said to Sharon.

Then Sharon said, “Hmmm, let’s take a look.” I interpreted that as maybe, just maybe, tacit approval.

Driving Reward?

This was our last full day of a ten-week adventure in Italy. I had logged just shy of 4,900 kilometers from Milan through Sardinia, Sicily, Molise and back again on a more-than-adequate Peugeot 308 station wagon.

It was sporty enough with six forward gears and had shapely lines for a middle-of-the-road passenger automobile. But a thrill to drive? No.

So perhaps Sharon encouraging this Ferrari flirtation with me was some sort of payback for handling the unique opportunities and challenges that define driving in Italy. I’ll never know. I didn’t ask and Sharon isn’t talking.

But as we headed down the street, I was getting excited. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Automobiles, Driving in Italy, Emilia Romagna, Ferrari, Ferrari Museum, Modena, Test Drive, Videos Tagged With: bucket list, driving a ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari 488 Spider, Ferrari Magic, GoPro Ferrari, Italy, Modena, mr j test drive, SimpleItaly, test drive, walter sanders

Follow Simple Italy on FacebookFollow Simple Italy on RSS
Lasagne_19 Simple Italy's Greatest Hits at a click!
Lasagne alla Bolognese and more

Recent posts

  • The Hill Towns of Molise
  • Fior di Latte Cheese
  • In the Mood for Molise, Italy
  • Silk from the Sea in Sardinia
  • Driving a Ferrari Spider

Posts by Category

  • Abruzzo (12)
  • AirBnB (1)
  • Amalfi (8)
  • Archeology (3)
  • Architecture (21)
  • Art (19)
  • Artisans (4)
  • Automobiles (1)
  • Bakery (1)
  • Basilicata (3)
  • Bologna (4)
  • Books (21)
  • Calabria (4)
  • Campania (17)
  • Cooking Classes (5)
  • Cremona (2)
  • Culture (174)
  • dreamofitaly (1)
  • Driving in Italy (2)
  • Emilia Romagna (2)
  • Ferrari (1)
  • Ferrari Museum (1)
  • Film (22)
  • Florence (30)
  • Food (134)
  • Fred Plotkin (1)
  • Friuli-Venezia Giulia (2)
  • Gardening (25)
  • Genoa (2)
  • Golf in Italy (1)
  • Guides (1)
  • History (8)
  • Hotels (14)
  • Inner Italian Q & A (11)
  • Italian seafood (7)
  • Italy Artisans (3)
  • Italy restaurants (17)
  • Language (86)
  • Le Marche (4)
  • Lifestyle (113)
  • Liguria (2)
  • Lombardy cooking (5)
  • Lucca (3)
  • Mantua (1)
  • Markets (26)
  • Mediterranean diet (55)
  • Milan (1)
  • Miscellany (86)
  • Modena (1)
  • Molise (3)
  • Mt. Etna (1)
  • Music (9)
  • Naples (2)
  • New Orleans (2)
  • Opera (1)
  • Palermo (3)
  • People (3)
  • Photography (4)
  • Piedmont cooking (1)
  • Puglia (9)
  • Quotes (4)
  • Recipes (64)
  • Rome (8)
  • Salerno (3)
  • Sardinia (4)
  • Sicily (15)
  • Test Drive (1)
  • Testimonials (2)
  • Travel (110)
  • Trentino Alto-Adige (1)
  • Tuscan cooking (17)
  • Tuscany (30)
  • Venice (2)
  • Videos (2)
  • Wine (23)

Inside SimpleItaly

  • American Couple Marries Italian-Style
  • Appearances
  • Contact us
  • Cooking Up an Italian Life
  • Le Marche Tour with Luisa
  • Links
  • Palazzo Donati Sample Itinerary
  • Palazzo Donati Tours
  • Privacy and Site Policies
  • Publications and TV
  • Sharon’s Inner Italian
  • SimpleItaly Adventure in Tuscany Tour
  • Thank You
  • Walter’s Inner Italian

Tags

Abruzzo bucket list Ferragosto Florence Gardening gelato Genoa Inner Italian Italian cooking italian culture italian food Italian food stores italian language italian lifestyle Italian music italian recipes Italian tourism italian travel italian wine Italy Italy travel Lago di Como Lake Como Mediterranean diet mozzarella di bufala Naples tourism Paestum Paolo Conte pasta polenta porcini Puglia Rome Santa Croce Sardegna Sardinia Sicily Southern Italy Stile Mediterraneo Sulmona Tuscan cooking Tuscany Uffizi Gallery Villa Pipistrelli women and travel