Perched high above the instep of the Boot in the eastern extreme of the region of Basilica is a city unlike any other in Italy. What makes Matera unique and marks it as a Southern Italian “must see” are its historic, or rather prehistoric, quarters: the sassi. Literally meaning “the rocks,” Matera’s sassi offer the best example of troglodyte (cave-dwelling) existence anywhere in the Mediterranean. People have inhabited these caves since Paleolithic times (as early as 15,000 B.C.), making Matera one of the world’s oldest continuously settled cities, older than Petra or Byblos.

Matera’s sassi give the impression of a city that’s crumbling, and as little as 50 years ago that impression was accurate. Following WW II and Carlo Levi’s shocking exposé Christ Stopped in Eboli, Matera was considered “the shame of Italy” and residents were forcibly evacuated. Then, in the 80’s, a younger generation, fascinated by the cave dwellings, began inspired restorations and people started moving back in.  Artisans set up workshops and galleries while bars, restaurants and boutique hotels sprang up. The UNESCO designation in 1993 and, later, the filming of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ helped put Matera on the map, but tourism only really picked up five years ago when Matera won its bid to become the European Capitol of Culture 2019.

You know tastes have come full circle when travelers clamor to live like troglodytes … at least for a few days!

A special thanks to Frank Yantorno for this stunning slideshow. Frank lives outside of Bolzano and is a spectacular photographer, fine artist and guide with Ciclismo Classico.

The markets of Sicily are brimming with the fish from the nearby seas, seasonal fruits and vegetables from orchards and fields just kilometers away, and spices from around the globe. Choruses from fish and meat vendors fill your ears; your eyes are inspired by colorful canopies shading a rainbow of purple eggplant, green zucchini, and canary-yellow melons; and your nose inhales the scents of cow and sheep cheeses seasoned with saffron, black pepper and olives. While you walk through the markets you can feast on a bounty of hand-held dishes that will challenge your palate: arancine (rice balls jammed with beef ragu and caciocavallo cheese), panelle (fried chickpea fritters), pane ca meusa (a bun stuffed with spleen and lung), stighiola (grilled, marinated sheep or goat entrails wrapped around green onions and fresh parsley), cazzilli (fried potato croquettes with mint), pastella (fried vegetables, sardines, and more), cannoli filled with sweet sheep’s milk ricotta, and brioche bursting with your favorite flavor of gelato.

From Palermo to Catania, from Trapani to Siracusa, Sicily not only offers travelers 3000 years of human history and sweeping landscapes but also a variety of tantalizing aromas, flavors and textures that will inspire your taste buds and lift your spirit.

Grazie Mille to Allison Scola, founder and curator of Experience Sicily for this appetizing post.

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.