Going for a walk?

3 tips to keep in mind to be able to visit a place when you're someone's guest Leggi in italiano “What are we doing today?” “I don’t know… let’s go in the town centre and then we see what to do”. This is the conversation that should have made us foresee how our visit of  Chiavenna  would have been. Never to leave without a plan! Even though  you’re someone's guest .

C’è un momento, quando ripenso a Palermo , che non dimenticherò mai e che riaffiora tutte le volte che si nomina questa città: quando vidi per la prima volta la Cattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta . La gente intorno a me accalcata nella via, decisamente troppo stretta per tutte quelle persone, e all’improvviso la visuale si apre. Non c’è tempo per tirare un sospiro di sollievo per lo spazio ritrovato, perché lo spettacolo che si pone davanti lo toglie di nuovo. Sembra un’oasi, che trasporta in un luogo sospeso tra Oriente e Occidente , al cospetto di uno dei gioielli di Palermo.

Il coronavirus ha bloccato tutti. Restiamo tutti a casa , aspettando che questa pandemia finisca e ci restituisca la libertà di uscire e vivere le nostre vite insieme. Chi viaggia ha dovuto fermarsi, rimandare tutti i progetti, annullare prenotazioni e posticipare visite. Non possiamo fare altrimenti. Anche io avevo tanti progetti, tanti viaggi su e giù per la Puglia e l’Italia, che sono stati rimandati a data da destinarsi. Come spesso si sente dire, capisci il valore di qualcosa quando sei obbligato ad allontanartene e mai come in questo momento ce ne stiamo rendendo conto.

It’s October. In Apulia,  this year autumn is getting shy and is not felt yet but for the fresh breeze that moves the curtains as soon as the sun sets. With this nice weather I barely remember that summer has been over for a while, but maybe some other excursions in nature , typical of summer period for me, could be organized. As for example, the one I made in August to San Fele Falls in Basilicata . I knew about this place by chance, when some friends published on their social profiles some beautiful photos of the falls. Being a lover of woods Lucan, surely I couldn’t make this discovery pass unnoticed and in no time the excursion was organized.

A gluten free itinerary along the East coast of Sicily. Where and what to eat in Catania, Taormina, Ortigia and Noto tasting some typical Sicilian food safely for coeliacs. At the beginning of August we’ve gone to  Sicily to see some friends who moved to Augusta. We knew that they would have guided us in a tour of their place and obviously made us taste some typical products. What we didn’t know was that, in reality, it would have been a real culinary tour with steps to check off. Obviously, they knew about my celiac disease , but it wasn’t a problem at all. So, here what they suggested (just the fundamental, eh) in those three days spent with them. Leggi in italiano

Did you know that in these days Verona celebrates its saint patron, Saint Zeno?  It’s an opportunity to enjoy the music, the performances, the craftsmanship and the food of this land. But I think that a visit to Saint Zeno Church is also due, even though you’re not a religious person.

Have you ever been in Bozen ? It’s a peaceful place, though it’s a town. It’s a perfect place to find yourself, to calm yourself. It’s amazingly connected with the surrounding nature. Walking in Bozen is the best way to experience it. Town, nature, town: there’s   no separation. It’s the aspect I enjoy the most here. If you like walking, you can forget any other means of transport (otherwise you can go everywhere by public transport).

Versione italiana      Version française "Oh, look how cute they are! They look like Hobbit's houses!" That's what I thought when, along the  hairpin turns of the highway 169, we arrived at Pietragalla and saw some little buildings parading in front of us that made us think about the Shire come out from Tolkien's pen. "Dad, stop!" It was unthinkable to leave that place without discovering what they were. Got out of the car, we ventured among the little houses to discover at the end that they were something completely different. And that's how we knew about the existence of wineries .

Versione italiana Classes are over. It's time to take the bus and to come back home. I walk toward the train station of Bari, I pass through it to reach Largo Ciaia, my stop. The bus is already there, waiting to leave with destination Taranto. I sit in the vehicle, near the window, as always. We leave. Slowly, the buildings that overlook on Viale Unità d'Italia parade and suddenly there it is: a little shiny green dome as a candle stands out among the buildings. It's the Russian Church of Saint Nicholas .

Versione italiana Sometimes you need to put a distance between you and the chaos of the town to recharge yourself, to delete the stress that, inevitably, everyday life brings us to stock. According to me, the best way to do so is to dive into the nature. So, periodically, I make a trip in the woods of the National Park of Pollino , usually staying in the part of Basilicata. Not always the final destination is clear: we get on the car with destination Park of Pollino and drive along the Basentano motorway. In front of you several different landscapes run: the sea, then the dry and stark riverbed of the Basento, reduced to a little river during summer, and in a distance mountains with their woods. Then you go up and up, dealing with the hairpin turns that hug the mountain. At a certain point you find yourself plunged in a greenish half-light, surrounded by oaks, rocks covered by musk and breath the lively air that makes you forget about the heat of Southern summer.

Versione italiana This summer, suddenly blown up, is making us gasp here in Apulia. Sometimes a bit of  wind blows and  it seems to give you a bit of relief, until you realize you have welcomed with open arms a rush of warm air.

Versione italiana     Version française Magic has always fascinated  human beings. They are afraid of it, but at the same time they can't resist it. It's not rare to run into the old popular wisdom that dictates that through spells and prayers it is possible to heal, to ward off or to cast the evil eye, that is to say the so called "affascino". Massafra , for example, has built a fame on this popular tradition and for this reason it's called " terra dei masciari " (the land of sorcerers). Ravine of Madonna della Scala

Versione italiana     Version française Summer is slow to come here in Apulia and someone may think that  it is not right time to look at bathing places as holiday destinations yet. Well, not so wit Salento: let's see the town of Taranto It is very appreciated in summer, but did you know that it is nice discovery in other periods of the year too? Here, for example, what to see when heat gives way to mild temperatures. The Castle

Versione italiana     Version française I say Taranto and I think: the town of two seas, the turning bridge, Cheradi Islands and breathtaking sunsets from the Lungomare. Those who have been in Taranto at least once in their life know what I'm talking about and have an idea of how important the sea is for it. Without the sea, Taranto  would feel lost: the has given to it everything, even its patron saint. Those who have arrived in this place from Mar Grande or have had the luck to make a boat tour on the two seas of Taranto may have notice the statue of a man dressed as a bishop at the entry of the harbour. Who is he? He's Saint  Catald , the patron saint of Taranto, indeed. Taranto from Mar Grande

Versione italiana Old harbour in Monopoli The Holy week comes and what is the question that rises in everyone's mind? Exactly, right that: what are we going to do on  Easter Monday? I love going and discovering new places every time I can. So, obviously, I always answer in the same way: EXCURSION ! Ok, but where? Here my proposal: a tour throughout Monopoli , Conversano and Polignano a mare . Ready? Let's go!

Versione italiana      Version française Some days ago I was inespectedly invited to a visit at the MARTA , the Archaeological Museum of Taranto. Many of you may know it for its famous craftsmanship in gold that goes sometimes around the world in the most important archaeological museums. Taking advantage from the initiative #Sundayathemuseum , some friends and I decided to spend an hour immersed in the history of our town.

Versione italiana   Version française There is a huge tunnel in front of me. There are a lot of skeletons in front of me, stand near the walls.  They are all dressed with clothes of old ages: some of them look up, others down and others seem to stare at me with their empty eye sockets. I see some of them that seem to sneer and others seem to scream in fear.  There are skeletons of men, women and even children in this macabre and frightening place.

Versione italiana     Version française Palermo is a town where it is possible to see everywhere the union between the Orient and the Occident, at the point to make me think that it would be a paradise for an Orientalist . Its monuments have a so peculiar style that it is difficult to give properly the idea. For this reason I entrust Guy de Maupassand, who in his La vie errante describes them in this way: After seeing these monuments, which, though belonging to different periods and being different origin still have the same character, the same nature, one can truly say that they are neither Gothic nor Arabic nor Byzantine, but Sicilian; one can assert that there is a Sicilian art and style, forever recognizable, which is assuredly more delightful, varied, more highly colored and full of conceptions.   It seems a marvel, doesn't it? And in effect, it is. With this post, I would like to propose to you a little itinerary to discover some of the most bea...

Versione italiana     Version française Verona = Romeo and Juliet It is not possible to name this town without thinking about the most famous love story of all times. Crowds of young people (me included) are fascinated by this story and many of them, perhaps, decide to visit Verona just because it is its setting. I admit that a part of me wanted to visit this town to see the well known Juliet's House (but I underline that it not the only thing that makes Verona a magic town), but I must say that I lived this experience as something estranging. First of all, when you cross the door of the town, a plaque with Shakespeare's verses from the tragedy greets the tourist. The verses say that there is no life out of Verona and until now nothing strange.  

Versione italiana     Version française Unlike the  other travels I have done, carefully planned and organized in advance, this one to Palermo has been unexpected. Sure, it has been proposed to me a couple of weeks earlier than the actual departure, but then I did not know if I could really go yet. Certainty arrived a week later, 7 days before the departure. Someone might say: "A week is more than enough to get organized". No doubt. But a week was not enough to prepare myself to what I would have met. The old and the new next to each other in the same picture