bucket list

In the Mood for Molise, Italy

Posted September 19, 2019 by Sharon 1 Comment

The village of San Giuliano del Sannio in Molise.

My love affair with Italy started in Tuscany a long time ago but has expanded to other regions since then. The more I traveled and reported throughout the peninsula, the more I discovered new ingredients and cooking styles, dialects that didn’t sound like Dante’s Tuscan Italian, myriad cultural heritages, new-to-me wines, and more Saints Feast Days than I can recount. Maybe, I thought, there’s no such thing as “Italian culture” but rather “Italian cultures.”

The boulevards in Turin, Piedmont, looked more to me like Paris than Rome.

The white city of Ostuni, Puglia, resembled a sun-bleached Greek island instead of a hilltown floating in a silver-green sea of olive trees.

Ponte de Legno in Alpine Lombardy seemed Swiss while the architecture of Modica in southern Sicily appeared Spanish. Yet, all these places and more are the vibrant threads in the glorious tapestry of Italy.

Intrigued by all of these Italys, I’ve promised myself to spend quality time in each of the nation’s 20 regions, roughly the equivalent of a US state.

These are the regions I’ve explored:
Toscana
Umbria
Lazio
Emilia-Romagna
Veneto
Piemonte
Lombardia
Abruzzo
Puglia
Basilicata
Le Marche
Campania

On a trip from March-June this year, Walter and I checked out Liguria, Sardinia, Sicilia, and Molise.

Molise has been on my radar screen for the last year or so. Travel media have begun promoting it as “undiscovered,” “unspoiled,” and “not touristy.” Can calling it “the next Tuscany” be far off?

What You Won’t Find in Molise: Tourists

Hilltowns dot the countryside of Molise.

[Read more…]

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…]

Bosa in Sardinia

Posted April 29, 2019 by Sharon Leave a Comment

The banks of the Temo River in Bosa, Sardinia. The Malaspina Castle is on the hill (above left).

Driving south from Alghero on the northwest coast of Sardinia, it’s a scenic hour-long drive south to the ancient town of Bosa. On a fine sunny April morning, with tapestries of wildflowers cascading down the mountains to the Mediterranean Sea, you might think you were in Paradise.