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As I travel around Italy, each time I return home with ideas for other places to visit. One advantage of traveling alone is the greater ease in making somewhat absurd plans without having to mediate and account for them with anyone.
For example, in June 2024 I had 4 days off and decided on an on-the-road itinerary in which I would touch some places I had skipped or seen not well enough on other trips. After a stop in Tivoli to see Villa D’Este, I headed to Salerno, which I had not managed to see decently on my previous difficult vacation. The city is worthwhile, both for the cathedral and for the narrow streets of the center and the waterfront. The other destination I had missed on a previous trip, but because of traffic, was the Amalfi Coast.
I had been there 40 years earlier with my parents, and I wanted to go back as an adult; from that time I remembered especially the glimpses and wonderful views on the winding road connecting the various villages. On a tour in which I saw Caserta and Pompeii I also tried to get closer to the coast, but had to desist after half an hour at a walking pace. Excellent solution is by sea, from Salerno and booking the ferries in time. In one day I saw both Positano and Amalfi and the whole coast from the ferry. Taking note of the crazy prices and the crowds, I can say that the super touted Italian places, I got sick of them.
Fabio stopped in Eboli
After 2 nights in Salerno; early Sunday morning I realized an idea I had had since I read Carlo Levi’s famous autobiographical novel, Christ Stopped at Eboli. Since my university days, when I had 2 Lucanian housemates, I have always had a certain sympathy for that region, in general for the south and in particular for the less touristy but truer areas.
On this somewhat absurd ride, with so many miles in the car alone, the best (besides the food), however, were the landscapes that our peninsula can give. For the chosen route I was able to pass by several iconic and recognizable places: from the start, the familiar mountains of Romagna (Carpegna; Simone and Simoncello mountains; San Marino) and Marche (San Bartolo and Conero). I spotted and passed under the still somewhat whitewashed Abruzzi ones (Majella and Gran Sasso) and then approached Vesuvius.
On the way back I first crossed the beautiful landscapes of the Lucanian hills (stopping in Potenza, Venosa and Melfi). Finally I faced the outline of the Gargano and drove up the Adriatic coast between glimpses of the sea and other hilly promenades dotted with many villages and further embellished by the bright yellow of wheat fields.
Climbing the Stromboli, one of my dreams
I’ve been back to Sicily several times; on one of those trips, I visited Palermo, the A eolian Islands, and the Egadi Islands. I had the chance to spend some time with a friend of mine and his friends who live there.
We spent the night in Lipari, planning to visit Vulcano and Stromboli. We weren’t able to climb Stromboli because there had been an eruption just the week before that had caused a fatal accident.
So I was left with a fixation on Stromboli where I was able to go up in 2025 with a friend. Everywhere it is written that the visit can be done only with organized groups and guide. Actually the point that can be reached even independently is great for witnessing the explosions and seeing the cone.
Also, we were not lucky with the guide. She explained little and seemed tired of her job. She made us do a rather treacherous piece when other groups had stopped earlier. We also came down in the dark after waiting so long, only because she wanted to collect pictures for herself. At first he incited us by telling us to go slowly. It began to rain, and, since the uncertain forecast was supposed to be all the more reason to come back earlier, he began to say fast-fast, partly because in wet weather you have more grip.
She took it for granted that everyone in the world is dumbed down. If you asked her a question, she would not listen, immediately leaving with a standard answer. In the village she invited us to turn off our flashlights so as not to annoy any bee cars (the only vehicles on the island) we might pass. Finally he almost began to run and we behind in the absolute darkness of the alleys.
In this link my video on the Stromboli.
Touring Italy on spring bridges, a nightmare
I returned to Naples not many years later, this time as a couple, and of course I had no problem eating, quite the contrary! The problem was that so many people had the same idea as us because it was the April 25 bridge.
With my companion we decided a bit at the last minute and could not find a place to see the chapel of San Severo the church and cloister of Santa Chiara. Otherwise it worked out well for me because I saw other places that I had skipped the first time. Above all we went to Ischia, which had been a lifelong favorite of mine. Then walks in the main streets of Naples can always be repeated gladly.
In fact, almost always, because at certain times of the day they were really overcrowded. The fatigue of having to scramble or avoid being blinded by an umbrella in the rain outweighed the pleasure.
Touring Italy turns out to have improved (for tourists)
The first time I went to the Naples area with my parents was back in 1983. At that time the so-called Camorra war was raging. There was one murdered person a day and you could not walk around freely because of the risk of muggings.
One of my father’s colleagues who invited us to lunch and took us on a mini-trip in his car, strictly without getting out. He had recommended that we not go alone because of the dangers. Already very impressed by all of this, in those very days there was a maxi-raid of alleged camorrists in which Enzo Tortora was also arrested. The famous TV presenter unfortunately only much later was exonerated because he was absolutely innocent, but my little boy’s head produced a nightmare in which I was threatened by poor Tortora.
Evidently over time the underworld organizations have realized that it is better to have quiet tourists around the city than to have them frightened away at home, and I think that is mainly why now at least the center of Naples (but also those in lovely Palermo and Bari) is probably safer than many other cities in Italy.
The real danger at present for a tourist is to become so overly conditioned by readings and hearsay that they stand in kilometer-long lines to eat a pizza at the very most famous pizzeria, when there are dozens of them of the same level. Or going to a celebrated bar; spending as much as in a dinner for two coffees and a slice of cake and the mockery of a single bathroom at the limit of decency for hundreds of male customers, with no paper to dry their hands and the little man outside even wishing for a tip.
Open-thigh lemonade
I’m not even going to mention how much good there is to eat and drink in those parts; walking around downtown Naples there is continuous olfactory and visual stimulation, not least because of the way certain delicacies are offered. For example, the kiosks with the juicing of their gigantic and excellent lemons, which impressed me even as a child.
As well as a great digestive, lemons with open thighs, that is, with a teaspoon of baking soda, are too much fun. Just stand back a bit and wait, often some customers are unprepared: I saw a girl all distinguished and with the classic stick up her who in two seconds became all drooling and with tears in her eyes because to drink the lemonade in one gulp had gone through her nose.
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