Calabria developed a certain reputation in the 1970s when the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, carried out some high-profile kidnappings. In past decades, this may have influenced tourists not to consider travel in Calabria, but I found it beautiful and relaxed with super welcoming people.
My recent vacation on the Calabrian coast with my Colombian cousins was fantastic. One day we drove from Tropea down to Reggio to see the famous Bronzes of Riace. We took the A3 highway that runs from Salerno to Reggio, and that was finally declared “complete” less than a year ago, in December 2016.
This highway was begun in the 1960s in order to end Calabria’s isolation. The mafia infiltrated the construction of it and received kickbacks and the project dragged on for 50 years and became a billion-dollar-bungle. Italy was ordered to pay back $594 million of the grant money it had received from the European Union for the highway’s construction after the corruption was uncovered.
Many articles have called the highway perilous with badly built bridges, unlit tunnels, constant detours and backed up traffic. We found it to be fine.
With me at the wheel, we cruised down it for about 65 miles to its terminus in the city of Reggio and ran into nary a detour nor broken bridge.
A goal for our next visit. Sounds great. So many amazing places in Italy.
I know Paula, a lifetime isn’t enough!
A marvellous trip! ! Italy and its people are beautiful, the sea is amazing, the climate fantastic, the art inspiring, the food delicious and doing it with Chandi makes it extra special!
Great article. …xx
Wow, so many compliments ???? So glad to share it with you. ????
We stayed in Scilla the night before we saw the Bronzes. They are very impressive! We were doing a “Magna Grecia” trip and toured south of Naples and Scilly, of all the Museum we visited, the one in Taranto was probably the best. Our hostess at the trullo near Locorotondo was surprised we had included Taranto on our itinerary and was rather dismissive of Taranto.
Hi Bill, I am not surprised she was dismissive of Taranto. I get that attitude so much living here in Italy that I have learned to not pay much attention to it. It is beyond just the north-south thing. I think some of it goes back to the concept of campanilismo. Here in Lucca as I am looking at houses for sale, sometimes I’ll search in the hills on the other side of the city from the hills where I am now and my neighbor will say, “Oh my, why would you look over there? These hills are the best, this is where you need to look!” ????
What totally amazing sculptures, every detail is breathtaking. I’m thrilled that you had this great experience and wish I had been there too, thank you for the excellent photos.
It would have been great if you could have been with us!
I love your enthusiasm for the little things Chandi! I also love myths and tales they give such a cool narrative before arriving in a place and add a fairytale type quality (even though they obviously aren’t true!). Life should be an adventure and we need all the fairy-tale experiences we can get these days
What a great way to put it, “fairy-tale experiences”! ????