Bay of Naples

Street scene, Naples

Hand painted tambourines

Rocella Ionica, Calabria, Italy
March 2016

The four of us rented a car from a company at the Reggio Calabria airport for only 7€ per day.  We took it for 10 days and made a trip to Naples (Napoli).  From our location here in Roccella Ionica it's a 500km drive on scenic highways through the mountains of southern Italy and along the Tyrrhenian Sea, with spectacular views all along the way.

We stayed in Herculaneum, a town at the base of Mt. Vesuvius and about 20km away from Naples.  There are two now famous towns that were buried by ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.: Pompeii and Herculaneum.  A short walk from our B&B brought us to the excavation in Herculaneum.

The chariots just went by.

Original wall painting, colours too

It was buried in 60 feet of ash, which has turned to rock, and was discovered slowly as a result of wells and tunnels dug into the town. The first excavation took place in the 1700's. Seventy five percent of the ancient city is still buried under the present day town of Ercolano.

See the modern city above Ercolano?

Roadside restaurant, help yourself!

This is what is still under Ercolano.

What sets it apart from Pompeii is that, while the actual site is smaller, it is much better preserved.  Three story buildings still stand and in some cases the original wood lintels in the doors and windows exist, now charred in appearance due to the extreme heat of the eruption and ensuing pyroclastic surge of gas and ash.  There are grim reminders of the catastrophe in the form of fossilized skeletons of victims that were instantly killed by the fury of the volcano. When you stand in the present-day town and look over at the distant Vesuvius, it is hard to imagine the violence of the eruption that erased the towns between it and the sea.

Branko made me take this.

Check out the floor.

That was on the first day when we arrived.  The next saw us take the circumvesuvio train to Naples, which is only a 20-30 minute ride.  The station is near the historical centre of town and we hoofed directly to it.  Naples is one of the bigger cities in Italy, and like most of them, has wonderful sights.  We love to traipse through the various neighbourhoods, climb through narrow alleyways and up to vantage points to get the best views, and to chat with folks and see how they live.

Duomo ceiling, Naples

Gateway to old Naples

The famous steps

 Naples does not disappoint.  There are the requisite beautiful cathedrals, historical buildings, castles, forts, and museums, but what I liked best was the view from the hilltop at the north end of the city. An arduous set of stairs lead up to the castle, now a museum, atop the hill.  From there you see Naples lying at the top of the Bay of Naples, the sea to your right and the sleeping volcano brooding away in the distance.  The descent takes you down to the port and the massive four-cornered castle that once guarded the port.

We spent two days walking all over Naples and each night we all came back tired and grimy to our digs - called Vesuvius Smiling - to take a shower (pups too cause they were filthy walking so close to the ground) and rest.  I was also on a mission while in Naples to have my guitar (thanks Gayle and Jeff) refretted because I actually wore ruts into the top three from playing so much and using a capo.

Branko, his fixed guitar and new friends.

On Via San Sebastione there are several excellent music stores and one special luther's shop called Anema e Corde on a side street called Port'Alba. They carefully repaired the frets for me on the same day and gave me a tour of the shop.  If I had 3000€ I would have bought one of their guitars even though they specialize in Italian mandolins and restorations.

On the drive back we took a route through the rugged mountains of Calabria to see the spectacular scenery and the mountain towns.  Before there were cars and roads, these places were remote and often if you were born in one of those villages, you likely never left it.  No problem for us, though, except for the poor condition of some the roads and the torturous, twisting turns.

Selfie 

What next they ask?

We had the car for a few more days, so we made a trip back to the Tyrrhenina Sea to visit the town of Tropea along with new friends Tracy and Mike from Rio Luna. I realized when we arrived to this beautiful sea-side town that I was starting to take for granted all the beautiful things to see in Italy.  Here we were strolling through a picturesque and popular resort town with a beautiful beach set in the rolling hillside and I wasn't overly impressed.

Caulonia Superior

Back road to Stilo

Tropea, from the sandcastle

Tropea again

Festa in Caulonia

Winding roads

When we eventually leave the Med, we will pass through the Messina straights and visit more of the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy.  I will promise to be more impressed.

Branko

Smoked Eggplant

Building the smoker (and fireplace)

Branko has been busy this winter, preserving food. 

It started last year with fermenting cabbage to make sauerkraut and morphed into smoking eggplants and hot peppers.  To clarify, Branko wasn't "smoking" eggplants but smoking them to eat, using his wood stove as the smoker.

He came up with the brilliant idea to use a bamboo steamer,  which is made of interlocking trays with perforated bottoms that stack one on top of the other. The whole basket is placed over the chimney so the smoke  rises through the layers,  curing and smoking the food.  

Bamboo racks

Bamboo steamer

The eggplants are peeled, sliced, salted and left for an hour or so,  allowing the salt to draw out the moisture.
After wiping the excess moisture from the eggplants, they are placed in the steamer trays.

Ready to get 'smoked'

Twigs seem to be the best for this stove.
The steamer is placed on top of the Charlie Noble (top of the chimney)
Moisture is still created from the vegetables and smoke, so the eggplants need to dry in the air/sun after a few hours of smoking. 
Depending on the thickness of the slices, the smoking process can take a couple of days.

Chimney with Charlie on top

Bamboo steamer added

Finished product

Because of the curing process the eggplants and hot peppers are preserved, needing no refrigeration.   Branko made babaganosh and smokey eggplant oil ( using olive oil.)  The hot peppers were made into siraccha sauce, but also left as is (smoked and dried) for added flavor in any meal.

Next up orange and lemon marmalade.
Sue Chef,
Marg
(I know it's not spelled "Sue")

The Normans

Norman Castle (Naples)

Gerace, Calabria

I was trying to include my new found interest in 'The Normans'  in other posts,  but I kept coming up with more  information about them.  So they will have their own.  They deserve at least that much.

10 Interesting Things about the Normans:

1)  Originally pagan barbarian pirates from Demark, Norway and  Iceland.

2)  French King, Charles the Simple gave the Normans Normandy, to halt their plundering.

3) The Normans (William the Conqueror) in 1066 took over England.

4) Winchester Cathedral, Colchester Castle, Mont Saint Michel (France),Windsor Castle, 
     Tower of London, Monreale Cathedral (Sicily) and 1000's more castles across southern Italy, 
     Sicily, Ireland, France, Malta, Cyprus, Canaries and Scotland were built by the Normans.
     The White Tower in London is a quintessential Norman keep.

5) Between 1066 and 1087 in England the Normans built 86 stone castles in 21 years.
6) The Doomesday Book and the Bayeux Tapestry was created by the Normans
7) The Normans moved into Sicily and Southern Italy as mercenaries. They had previously been 
    Crusaders.
8) Queen Elizabeth is the 22nd granddaughter of William the Conqueror.
9) The Normans introduced stone castles to England.
10) Chivalry stems from the Norman codes of conduct on the battlefield.

Here in Calabria and in Sicily the Normans are still visible what with the keeps, castles and towns that still stand. Initially my interest in the Normans was due to where the castles/keeps were built. Inhospitable areas, on the peaks of mountains, with sheer cliffs surrounding the buildings (this is now, imagine what it would have looked like in medieval times?)  How did they get all that stone up the sides of cliffs?  Prisoners and ruled under the feudal system.

Entrance to Norman castle, Naples

Nice stonework, Norman castle

When available, stone and brick was taken from existing structures.   In England many Roman roads and buildings were pillaged and the brick reused.  The sites of the castle were important as they were built to act as fortified posts for the military, frighten the locals (in the town below), govern the area without getting too close to the frightened locals, build on the highest ground, often where rivers joined.  The Keep was the initial structure surrounded by ditches, banks and later moats. The rivers were used to transport stone, hence the location near rivers.   I imagine the fact there was fresh water close by might be good for a castle and its residents.   The Keep was the most protected part of the castle.   Medieval towers and cranes were created for building purposes and a Barbican was built at the large stone gateways.  Capturing stone castles required specialized equipment,  they often used siege engines and dug under the castle.   Seige engines?  They pounded the wall with stone missiles or huge arrows. 

A few different kinds of seige engines:
1) The Ballista
2) The Mangonel 
3) The Trebuchet
4) The Battering Ram, in many sizes

The moats were created to stop the miners/diggers.  The Normans and their enemies fought by ramming doors, walls and digging tunnels to the corners of the castle building (a weak point that led  to the creation of round stone castles) where they set fire to brush and tinder thereby collapsing the corners of the castle.

While the miners and rammers were busy working the Normans would defend the castle:
1) Throw, fire, toss - arrows, stones, fire and boiling liquids down to the attackers, as they dug 
    tunnels, climbed the stone walls, busy ramming or just negotiating the ditches, embankments or
    moat
2) Boiling liquids, called Greek Fire, was any liquid made from molten metal or oil

What was the key/keys to their success? 
The Normans saw themselves as a warrior society.  Which is likely no different a society then how their enemies, saw themselves.  The medieval world was a violent place to live.   It seems though that the Normans had inherited warrior genes, they retained many of their viking traits.   
Restlessness, recklessness, a love of fighting,  courage and a craftiness and; cunning that went hand in hand with outrageous treachery.  In their expansion into other parts of Europe, the Normans compiled a record of astonishingly daring exploits in which often a mere handful of men would vanquish an enemy many times numerous.  An unequaled capacity for rapid movement across land and sea, the use of brutal violence, a precocious sense of the use and value of money - these are among the traits traditionally assigned to the Normans
Unbridled character and capacity of quick and fruitful imitation and adaptation.  Many of the most powerful and successful secular potentates of their age in western Europe in their ability to create political institutions that were both stable and enduring.
the Normans began as pagan destroyers and ended up by the 11th century as one of the most highly feudalized states in western Europe.

The Normans were seafaring warriors that because of their trait of imitation became masters of cavalry warfare, leadership and luck.  The leaders possessed capable and charismatic personalities, Iron Fisted -William of Normandy, Robert Guiscard whose epitaph begins "Here lies the terror of the world..", and Rollo the Walker, called that because he was such a giant that no horse was strong enough to carry him.  

Information on The Normans taken from a variety of sites.   Wikipedia, The Normans and Battles of the Normans.
Marg.

Rocella's Norman castle