Campania

We land in Rome, take the Leonardo Express to Termini Station and pick up our rental car to make the drive to Cuma, just outside of Naples. Not too much to say about the Europcar rental experience. I guess we had a difference of opinion. I thought rental a car with the spar tire flat is not a good idea, they thought that was just fine.

 

Villa Giulia, Cuma

To took about three hours to make the drive from Rome to Cuma, located about ten minutes from the port town of Pozzuoli. We may our way to our rental apartment at Villa Giulia. It was heaven. Villa Giulia dates to the 17th Century. This entire area was the former location of a major Roman settlement. Everyday we drove under the ancient Roman Arch, (Araco Fellice). A jeering experience as the car bounced a top of the original roman road stones.

 

Pozzuoli, Procida

Here we visited the amphitheater, Neroniano Flavio, the third largest in Italy. Above ground not as impressive as the Flavio Collessum in Rome, but the underground structures are remarkable. Forget those crowds of Rome. We just walked in and there may three to give other people there. The Macellum, the old Roman market, was actually under water until about 20 years ago.

 

Caserta, Marechiaro, Naples

One one day we drove up to Caserta to return to the Royal Palace. Here the King wanted a Palace that would rival those in other areas of Europe. Some of the morning photography locations include the fishing village of Marechiaro and Agnano a suburb of Naples.

 

Apulia (Puglia)

 

From Cuma we drove across the country to the Adriatic Coast. It was about a three hour drive. We stayed hear Polignano a Mare at the Masseria Don Bonifacio. It was nice, and the fact that we were the only people at the five apartment masseria was great. It was our pool!

Basilicata - Matera

 

Our next stop was Matera, in the Basilicata Region. This is a stunning location. Known as "la Città Sotterranea", the subterranean city, is was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.

The Sassi, the ancient town started as a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, is a maze of homes/churches dug into the rock and then later, layers and layers of buildings built on the slopes of the gully. It is all very remarkable, we write about Matera in our Travels in Italy and we looked forward to returning.

In Matera we stayed at five-room the Palazzo degli Abati. The Palazzo is located in the historic centre of Matera.

Then it was on to Rome.