Napoli, full of complexities and contradictions, defies classification and doesn’t enjoy the bucket list reputation of so many Italian cities. Often treated as a pass-through en route to the Amalfi Coast, Naples is seldom explored and its many beguiling layers are overlooked by most travelers. If you do have the time to visit, you won’t be indifferent: you’ll either love it or feel just the opposite. There is no “in between.” You’re either drawn to its paradox of love, loss, sex, religion, superstition, birth and death or you may want to run away from it. For me, I love it. I felt its magnetism immediately — the good, the bad, and even the “brutti” … the ugly.
Besides being officially recognized by the EU as the home of pizza (pizza having been recently designated by UNESCO as a cultural treasure), Naples has a rich history and many spectacular Baroque churches. Not always as spiffy as other cities, it offers a veritable feast for the urban photographer. It’s sacred and profane. It’s both Old World and kitsch; camp and hip; seductive and bewildering. It’s chaotic and random; gritty, edgy and operatic. And somehow also pious, and even at times … serene. Napoli throbs with life, exuberance and color.
Everybody falls in love with Italy. For some, it happens on the streets of Florence or Rome, or on the sun-soaked Amalfi coast, or perhaps over pizza in a small trattoria or on a misty morning in Venice. Once you’re smitten, it then happens over and over and if you haven’t yet discovered the beautiful region of Apulia, Italy’s “heel,” you must, for you will fall ever more deeply in love.
For decades, Puglia has been a popular summer destination for northern Italians and, still thankfully, it remains a place unmistakably by Italians and for Italians. Without the flashy jewelry, La Bella Puglia nonchalantly showcases her unique cultural identity and spectacular coastline bathed by the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Home to the Boot’s most ancient olive groves and the Baroque jewel of a city, Lecce, (deserving of a separate slideshow that’s coming soon!), Puglia basks in Italy’s southern light and is a land of extremes. Deep sapphire waters offset intensely white towns; miles of olive trees cover the horizon, sprinkled with compact villages. With the heat and sun comes the region’s propensity for languid living . . . time seems to pass more slowly, giving one the opportunity to appreciate every detail and richness of la dolce vita.
[Towns featured here include: Alberobello, Locorotondo, Martina Franca, Ostuni, Gallipoli, Ortranto and Polignano a Mare.]
Just beyond Bellagio is the medieval town of Varenna, with its quaint cobblestone streets, charming porticos, breathtaking scenery and laid-back ambiance, makes a perfect retreat from the more obviously touristed towns around Lake Como. Like a sentinel in the middle of the lake, Varenna is located at the “Y” intersection of the three branches of Lago di Como just beyond Bellagio, across from Menaggio and Cadenabbia/Tremezzo (with Villa Carlotta), and is perfectly situated for exploring the hiking and mountain biking trails of the Esino valley. You can discover a magnificent medieval fortress, the Castle of Vezio, set high above the lake where I encountered mysterious sculptural apparitions chilling out. But the jewel of the town is Villa Monastero which hosts a museum, an exhibition center and a quiet lakeside garden full of rare flowers and plants.
From Varenna’s pier and ferry station you can stroll along the romantic Passeggiata degli Innamorati (Lovers’ Walk) along the edge of the lake which leads to the center of the old borgo (town) lined with charming boutiques and lakeside bars and restaurants where the twilight is always magical.
Copyright - Postcards from the Boot.