Part 1
Calitri


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September 24/25 - Friday/Saturday
We went to our favorite wine bar at Dulles airport - Velo Vino - where we had several glasses of wine and a prosciutto, melted Brie, and fig sandwich. It was very good.

The overnight flight wasn't too bad as these things go. Luther and I sat in 2 window seats, one behind the other. The lady seated next to me was a lovely lady and her name was Lydia. She was traveling from Youngstown, Ohio to try to get to Italy before her 95-year-old mother died. She was very sweet. I hope she made it.

We picked up our car - a supremely ugly Lancia with a diesel engine and no guts at all. We set off and took the ring road around Rome and then the A1 south. The weather was awful - pouring rain and the clouds were so low to the ground we could see nothing. We could tell there were lots of mountains after we turned off toward Avellino because occasionally there was a break in the clouds.

We found Calitri and parked with the intention of finding lunch. We got our rain jackets and dove into the tiny twisting "streets". We had a very poor photocopy of a map. We managed to find a street which we remembered had a nice restaurant so we walked until we found it. It was called Gato di Cenerentola.

There was a big table with an Italian family (all ages) having lunch. Otherwise no one was there. A nice lady gave us a choice of seating. We went to the back into a big vaulted cave carved into the mountain.

We didn't really know what we were doing but it worked out. We had a huge shared bowl of penne pasta with tomato sauce. There were 2 before the meal snacks - bruschetta and a pastry filled with artichokes. She came back and somehow we ordered one portion of meat with potatoes. I think it was braised beef. With the meal we had water and house red (no label) and two expressi. It cost 25 euro.

We walked back down and got our luggage and found our apartment (right - left). It was nice but not terribly comfortable. One room was "kitchen", living room, and dining room with a cute fireplace. There was a loft upstairs with 2 single beds and a bedroom with a double and a bath.

We took a nap for an hour and I got up and washed of the road grime then we went to see if we could find the Conad supermarket in the new part of town.

We drove up to above the town to the market and bought pasta, coffee, cream, olive oil, wine, grappa, butter, garlic, anchovies, tomatoes, salumi, and cheese. We couldn't find bread. We checked out and found a back way to our flat.

We unloaded and went in search of a bakery that our flat owner had given directions to. It was amazing that most of the shops and stores don't have any signs. You just have to know they are there. The bakery was like that. No sign at all - we only knew it was there because of the directions we had.

We bought a nice loaf and returned "home". There was no TV or radio in the flat. It was very quiet. We had some of the wine we bought and reheated the pasta that the restaurant had given us to take away from lunch. I built a fire and it was cozy and we talked. It was a good first day.

September 26 - Sunday
It was sunny and cool when we got up at about 7:30. I made coffee and toasted some bread in a skillet on the stove. It was a typical Italian stove with very little control of the burners. The first coffee exploded so I tried again. We sliced up some salumi and cheese to round it out.

We decided to visit the Taurasi wine area. It was a nice drive with occasional showers. We got lost once or twice and never actually got to the town of Taurasi. Next we headed to Norca, which was supposed to have a Sunday market as well as a restaurant that I wanted to try. The old part of the town was on top of the hill as usual. There was really very little to call a market, only cheap clothes, soap, and odds and ends - no food. Boo

We dropped into the church just as a service started. There was a youth choir and the priest came in with a retinue of little girls who were very cute.


Church bell in Norca
Norca street
Norca street
Norca street
Norca pretty house

Norca street
Norca church interior
Norca view from walls

We had dropped by the Locanda di Bu and reserved a table for 1PM. We had to kill about 1 1/2 hours, then we returned. The chef spoke some English and was very nice. We arrived early but others soon followed with a couple of groups.

They brought a really nice rosé of aglionico grapes to have with an amuse bouche. We were just going to have 2 courses but I caved in and got the 5 course tasting menu. I was glad I did, it was wonderful.

We had veal Carpaccio with local black truffles - it was very briny and good. Next, fried ricotta on zucchini sauce with bits of salami - next a surprisingly good boiled potato with anchovies and egg sauce - very yellow - there was a garlicky fried porcini mushroom with it. Then spaghetti in zucchini sauce with truffles artfully served spun around a fork with sun dried tomatoes. Then soft homemade pasta in a pure very intense tomato sauce with soft cheese. Next lamb several ways - meatballs, chops, tenderloin and a soup with liver and sides of mashed potatoes and eggplant. The last course defeated me. Dessert was vanilla gelato with peach puree. For wines we had a nice Greco di Tuffo to start and a really nice Taurasi to finish. Expressi around. It was a very nice experience. Everyone was very nice and the food excellent. The chef gave me a bag with two little books of the restaurant association he belongs to as well as two small bottles of olive oil. The only icky thing was a couple with their about 13-year-old daughter at the table across from us. The couple were all over each other and in front of the little girl too!


Restaurant sign
Restaurant interior
Taurasi rosé to start
Taurasi white next
Before lunch munchies

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That evening we snacked on salumi, cheese, bread and wine with a lively conversation.

September 27 - Monday
We got up about 8:30 and showered and breakfast in the apartment. Off we went to visit some towns in Basilicata - the next province to the south. First was Melfi with its castle and cathedral and then on to Venosa which was a surprisingly active and attractive town with a castle and some very good Roman ruins of some baths, foundations of a housing area and a church, which was never completed. We were going to eat out in Calitri that evening so we stopped in a little café for a beer. I had a Panini and Luther had Focaccia.


Melfi grocery with drying peppers
Melfi castle
Melfi street
Melfi street

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Venosa castle
Venosa castle guard
Roman Road
Uncompleted church

We drove to Mt. Volture where there were 2 lakes in the extinct volcano's caldera. It was pretty. There were lots of bars and restaurants that were closed. I bet the place jumps in season.

The drive between Melfi and Venosa and then back out was spectacular with big rolling hills, lots of chestnuts, olive groves, and aglionico grapes. There were huge plowed fields across these enormous hills. The big sky which was blue with white clouds and occasional storms passing from which you could see the rain coming down in the valleys - it was very interesting scenery.


Volcano Vulture
Vulture caldera
Vulture caldera

Vulture caldera
Driving from Venosa - countryside
Driving from Venosa - countryside

Back in Calitri we walked up into the Borgo to find some restaurants or one of the 2 wine bars. We did find the restaurant but it was a pizzeria and we weren't in the mood for that. We never did find any wine bars. We decided to eat in after all.

We drove to the Conad supermarket where we got wine and some napkins and some seafood to put in the pasta. Then we went back to rest and relax some before dinner.

We had pasta agli olio with some red wine. Then we sat outside of our door where it's flat with a low wall so Luther could smoke his cigar.

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