Sunny and savory Calabria is the culinary gem you’ve never heard of.
“STUPENDOUS,” I SAY about 20 times en route from Reggio Calabria Airport up to the coastal town of Tropea.
But my husband, Ed, only glances at the views as he maneuvers the rented Fiat 500X along squirrelly roads pocked with holes.
Un altro mondo, a Tuscan friend told us. Calabria, another world. So far, what’s otherworldly is the beauty. Long, flour-white beaches bordering a sea shifting across the blue spectrum. The roadsides dizzy with wildflowers. Purple asters, face-size Queen Anne’s lace, pink morning glories, blurs of yellow, bursts of blooming cacti, and tumbles of vulgar magenta bougainvillea. Finally, we can pull over. Below lies the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Calabria’s location, on the (misshapen) toe of Italy's boot poking far into the sea, determined that the land would be from the beginning of history an object of desire. Of the many invaders, the major influence is Greek; archaeological sites dotting the map show the extent of that colonization in what was known as Magna Graecia. Greek words remain in local dialects.
The landscape seems to underscore Calabria’s tumultuous history. The last upheavals of the Apennines striate the region, dropping straight into the sea and creating a sensation of geography in motion.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/italy/things-to-see-and-do-in-calabria/