Calabria

We have never been to Calabria before. Don't actually know why, maybe because this region is not so known, but we promised ourselves long before to visit Sila National Park.

We went directly to Camigliatello Silano which is a popular ski destination with it's highest peak around 1800 m. Unfortunately in the summer the whole place seems sad.There are a lot of beautiful old villas that are abandoned, the city centre seems a ghost town and the cable car that goes up to the mountain is hardly being used. 

We opted obviously to go by foot, being surprised my vast pine and beech forest and quite easy trekking routes. We even found a porcino mushroom which obviously set Franco in immediate mushroom alarm😄.

Next day we moved with Rocco to the highest peak Monte Botte Donato. There's a road that connects the peaks and brings you to Arvo lake.It got quite chilly and foggy so instead of having a walk decided to move to a Nordic walking ski centre. It's a great, peaceful spot to spend the night. No one to see apart from these guys:

Yes there are at least 30 of them. Been a long time since seen so many wild boars. At home, there is currently swine fever epidemic so the population decreased drastically.

Seems there are a lot of ski refuges and hospitality structures that are slowly degrading and unfortunately are destined to finally be abandoned. 

Not sure if it's due to lack of local tourism or weather conditions but sadly they don't get valued enough to survive.

Overall I would recommend Sila for family and mid challenging trips. The are bike and foot trails for everyone, mushroom foraging, skiing slopes and coast line in less than an hour. 

On our way to Puglia we stopped at Rossano,small sea side resort. 

The summer season starts now so some of the restaurants just opened. We treated ourselves to dinner out and tried alici scattiate a local recipe for anchovies.

Puglia awaits😍 so we're on the road again!