Calabria is a place for two types of people:
Calabrians (calabresi) and adventurers. It is
bewildering, even frightening to all others, but richly
rewarding for those who want to go beyond the Hollywood
stereotype of Italy. You will find no Florences or Venices
in Calabria. You won't even find a San Gimignano or a
Positano (Although
Tropea comes close!). Art treasures are often
encountered in remote villages. There's a
spectacular seacoast with a mix of resorts,
seacoast villages (many seemingly "hanging" on the edge of
cliffs), and expansive beaches. Calabria , known as Brutium in Roman times, is
a region in Southern Italy which occupies the "toe" of the
Italian peninsula South of Naples . It is bounded in to
the West by the Tyrrhenian Sea , and to the East by the
Ionian Sea . The island of Sicily is across the Straits of
Messina and is not connected to the mainland. What else you will find in Calabria?
Unforgettable vistas across rugged mountains, vast golden
wheat fields and crystal clear seas. Age-old olive trees
that grow as tall as eucalyptus. Ancient Greek, Roman,
Byzantine and Norman ruins, forgotten by time, which
suddenly loom over the horizon, beckoning you to your own
private rendezvous with history. Shy but hospitable
villagers who still wear voluminous black skirts or
colorful traditional costumes. Delicious fish, vegetables,
cheese, sausage, salami, wild mushrooms and figs.
If you venture inland, you'll step
back into time... this is not the modern stylish Italy we
all know and love. You are in the Mezzogiorno and you will
see a world that is both Mediterranean and traditional.
You'll drive past countless roadside fountains dispensing
natural mineral water. Take your place in line to fill
your plastic bottle, or ask a local woman to teach you how
to balance a terracotta jar of it on your head. Driving
through the towns, you'll see old men playing cards at
tables in the main squares. Grandmothers sit on their
doorsteps knitting, weaving or embroidering. You could
spot a group of villagers waiting outside the house of a
local santina , a psychic who "sees" the souls of the
dead, sweats blood, blesses the farm animals or performs
miracles. You may see small children, but you won't see as
many of their parents, who periodically emigrate north or
abroad to support their parents and offspring. Whenever
they can, they return home to add that second storey to
the house they're gradually financing. Come tour this strange, wonderful land,
which has been conquered and forgotten by every major
culture in the Western world. Should you decide to travel
here, the residents will reward you with memories
guaranteed to last a lifetime.