Italy: The Southern Coast
From Naples, we drove a car down to the southern coast of Italy -- about 2 1/2 hours south of Amalfi, to the Cilento Coast, which is just south of the Amalfi Coast. I read about the Cilento Coast in this Conde Naste article, and was sold -- and indeed, as Conde Naste said, it's a quieter, less touristy version of the Amalfi Coast. I thought it was just as beautiful, although you won't see the same buildings teetering on the edge of a cliff like you do in Amalfi. Also, the Cilento Coast is bordered by a humongous national park.
Here's the view from our hotel:
These photos are from dinner at the hotel. Best seafood risotto ever.
Along the Cilento Coast, there are several quaint seaside towns to visit, so be sure to rent a car if you go. But, the driving is a little nuts, so you have to get used to driving super-curvy roads along the mountainside, with Italians tailgaiting you. I have to give props to the honey for handling the majority of the driving. Here's a little seaside town we stopped in, called Policastro:
We also drove to Amalfi while we were there. It is gloriously beautiful, but packed with tourists. Most of the Italians go down to the Cilento Coast (which made me feel pretty "in the know", ha ha). Just above the buildings in the photos below, you can see the stepped agricultural fields - they grow huge lemons and all kinds of other produce. It's pretty amazing.
Amalfi actually only had a couple of private beaches to swim at, that I could see.
And here are those famous buildings, almost falling into the sea.
Friends have asked me what my favorite part of the trip was, and honestly I haven't been able to answer yet. It was all so wonderful, and the different cities were all perfect in their own ways. But now that I think about it, I probably did have a favorite night in Italy.
We used the Slow Food guide to find a restaurant in Maratea. It was an adventure just to get there -- we drove up a super-windy road, immersed in fog, all the way up and past a ginormous Jesus statue. We finally found the restauant, Il Giardino di Epicuro, basically an extension of a home.
Ok guys, you know I'm an aspiring foodie, so this means a lot -- probably one of the best, and definitely the most enjoyable, restaurants I've ever been to. Three words describe the food: O. M. G.
We were greeted by Milena, the cook, who brought out her son Antonio, who speaks English and has travelled the world. There's no menu, they just give you an idea of what's cooking based on what you like. Everything in this restaurant epitomizes slow food: all of the meats in our charcuterie plate were home-cured; the pasta is hand-rolled by Milena; the wine grown and made by Antonio's uncle; the liqueurs made of wild strawberries, blueberries and grasses and made by Antonio's sister. Yes, we met pretty much the entire family, including Michele, Milena's husband. It was an amazing night. They served me the best lamb I've ever tasted -- with a thin, perfectly even layer of fat around each piece, it was melt-in-your-mouth slow food heaven. Oh yes, it was.
We had to explain to Milena that the only reason I couldn't gobble down every ounce of everything she served to me was because I simply couldn't eat it all. Antonio replied, "when you eat here, you don't go home hungry." Well, truer words were never spoken. It was an indulgent night full of cheer, food, wine, and great company.
Oh - and by the way - Milena mentioned that she recently hosted a chef who owns 5 restaurants in Napa Valley, and she taught him how to roll pasta. I haven't yet been able to figure out who that is.
Well, that was the end of our wonderful Italian vacation. La dolce vita, indeed.
Comments