Advertisement
Published: November 19th 2006
Edit Blog Post
My lovely travelling companion
Italy is the land of brunettes. Beth fits right in! We weren't invited to the Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes wedding that took place this weekend. They were in Italy, we are in Italy...I figured an invite was in the works. But...nooooo! So we opted to go on another road trip. We went to visit La Sellata-Pierfaone. It is a small ski area just south of Potenza in the Basilicata region. It is the closest ski area to Brindisi. We wanted to find out how long it would take to get there. Driving sanely (and in a Fiat Punto) one can make the trip in about 3 hours. This should work out for us as we plan to leave on Friday evenings and then return Sunday mornings.
I didn't take any photos of Potenza as it is a town that was damaged heavily in WWII and so the look is modern and uninteresting. We did walk around in Pignola, a little town at the base of the road to La Sellata. Unfortunately, we were there in the evening and so we didn't have much opportunity to shoot photos. When we arrived, we decided to go exploring some alternate routes. It was a beautiful drive. This part of Italy is mountainous and
Beautiful fall colors
This drive was just fun. Beautiful, sunny, little traffic... has large hardwood forests. The weather was fabulous - unlike the rain on the Cruise/Holmes parade, hah! Anyway, we checked into a hotel close to the ski area named Hotel La Maddalena. (I forgot to take a photo of it, but you aren't missing anything as it is a typical large modern mountainside hotel without much character. I would guesstimate that it was about a 30-40 room building.) We then went sightseeing. First we stopped at a small ristorante for lunch. It was another one of those family owned establishments that makes fabulous food. The young guy waiting on us was very friendly and insisted on recommending dishs that were typical to the region. We were very pleased with his choices. One of the common themes that we have encountered is that the southern Italians take a great deal of pride in their hospitality and beauty of the country in the south. It wasn't the first time we have been asked if we like the south better than the north. And actually, I do. The north has a great deal of art and important cities, but the southern way of life suits me to a "T." I have been greatly
Meandering road
This road was on the way to the hilltop village of Anzi... impressed with the warmth and friendliness of the people we have encountered.
Later that evening we strolled around the small town of Pignola. We wandered into the tourist information office and promptly chatted with the two girls that worked there. They were greatly surprised to learn we were Americans. Not many come to this part of Italy would be my guess. They too were very friendly and helpful. We hope to stay in Pignola instead of Potenza when we come on ski trips.
Afterwards we drove back up the mountain and went to our room. This was a rather unusual experience. First of all, we were the only guests and they didn't have us sign in, take a copy of our credit card or of our passports. There were only two staff members on duty. That night, we ate there and at first we thought that we would be the only diners. We walked into a small dining area only to find a large family already seated there and a guy setting up for kareoke (sp?). About 9:30 the place began filling up with people and the guy was in full swing. One of the two staff members came by
Looking across the valley
The view toward Mt Pierfaone and La Sellata ski area. and asked me if we would like an American song played for us. I said "La Bamba." Hee hee hee.
In the morning, there was only one guy and he fixed us a couple of cappucinos and gave us a croissant. The total bill for the room, dinner & drinks, caffe & cornetto was 70 euro! A screaming deal. The door to the place had been left open and we could have left and they would never known how to contact us as they didn't even know our names!
We headed back to Brindisi via an alternate route that took us through the countryside. It was an excellent drive. The morning was beautiful and there was very little traffic on the road. We drove through picturesque villages and beautiful country. I asked Beth if she thought that Tom and Katie were having as fun as we were. Beth said she didn't think so. I agreed!
By the by, if you are skiers I would encourage you to visit www.weekendwarriorsguide.com. My good friends Stephen & Judy have just published the first book in a series that is aimed at providing instruction and/or information for those of us that can only live
Happy Meal????
Trash on the side of the road...sadly rap, baggy jeans, McDonalds, cars with booming stereos are beginning to show up...say it ain't so! the life we want on the weekends. I will be compiling a travel book on Italy as part of that series. The first book is for skiers and is quite an excellent book as it provides instruction and tips in non-technical jargon. My hope is that I too can assemble something that is useful for people that want to visit Italy and aren't interested in bare bones travel nor tour marathons, but would rather plan their own holiday.
Next weekend: a train trip to Bari. This is a city located on the coast one hour north of Brindisi.
Ciao Ciao!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0911s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Judy
non-member comment
La Bamba
Hey, I think I know the Spanish version to karaoke! At least I think it sounds good when I sing it in the car! Beth is looking quite Italiana in these photos, that Brunette vixen...