"The old home town looks the same
as I step down from the train .... "
(Green green grass of home - Tom Jones)
Our long stay here in southern Calabria (21 days and counting) has brought a new dimension to our experience of things weird and wonderful. We have started looking in more detail to our surroundings, the buildings, the streets and the community at large. The camera which must convey what we see and how we see it, has also come of age and is being used to its full potential in order to tell the story of our sojourn here.
The region of Calabria as a destination in Italy, is not a natural choice for tourists and visitors, lying on the southern 'foot' of Italy and therefor somewhat at the back of beyond. However, as is often the case when you travel on the roads less travelled, it ticks all the boxes if you wish to be far from the maddening crowds. It is by definition a traveller's place to visit and not a tourist destination. Travellers are happy at seeing whatever they see, tourists expect to see what they have seen on brochures - there you have it!
Many moons ago I saw a notice on the Travel Desk of a hotel near Cape Town:-
Don't expect things to be the way they are at home -
they won't be.
they won't be.
I have not forgotten it and I hope I will never forget the message it carries. To make the point clearer I took the above and below photos, so as to show what the traveller's eye will see. None of the pictures will entice the normal tourist, because none of them will make the glossy pages of a tourist brochure. Hopefully you will see the point I'm trying to make.
Grill restaurant
Sunset at our camperstop
All the pictures were taken on the same day in the same Calabrian town. It shows various aspects of the town and indirectly of the community. It hopefully also communicates a mood and ambience of what we see and how we see it - through the eyes of two visitors travelling through Europe.
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