On my return from Australia and my travels through China and Hong Kong with Jim (read about our trip here), we both experienced itchy feet (this is normal for me after a long trip away) and watching the excellent Race Across the World on the BBC didn’t help. On the first episode I watched, around 30 minutes in, a pair of competitors arrived in Diamanté, a coastal town and commune in the province of Cosenza, part of the Calabria region of southern Italy. A distinctive feature of Diamante is the murals, which have brought the city the award of “most painted city of Italy”. As you can imagine, I was hooked and quickly googled the town to find out more. Once I had described it to Jim, we both decided that it would be a nice place to visit and to pick up some summer sunshine. Our next step then was to contact Michelle at Kenneth McLeod Travel to explore the possibility of a trip there, and as usual she very quickly put together excellent plans for what became a wonderful holiday, as described below.
I realise that not everybody is as interested in street art and murals as I am, so other than the original 1981 murals, I will not include photographs of them here; instead they can be found in the Street Art section of the site here:
Day 1 Home to Naples via Edinburgh
Due to our early flight from Edinburgh Airport (07:20), we decided it would be best if I stayed the night at Jim’s. So at sparrow’s fart we set off on our pre-booked taxi along the M8 to catch our Jet2 flight to Naples. The flight went well, and although not quite up to Emirates standard, it was relatively comfortable.
On arrival in Naples, we had to go through the new EU Biometric scanning process before reaching immigration and baggage collection; this added a bit of time onto our arrival process. I think we were just in time to catch our driver before he left. As it was, he didn’t have a car available, so he paid a local taxi driver to take us to our hotel.
Once in the city centre, we checked into the Star Terminus Hotel and our fine room on the 3rd floor; this room was perfectly adequate for our needs with a nice balcony overlooking Piazza Garibaldi.
On our first venture out, we visited the nearby Central Station to find out where to catch the next day’s train, before stopping off for lunch in the station’s food court (this was an easy choice until we were able to scope out better options)
From our hotel balcony, we spotted a nearby giant mural by local artist Jorit, of a portrait of who we thought was Maradona, who is quite the hero of Team Napoli (Jorit’s style is very similar to that of Matt Adnate, one of my favourite artists). We could only see 2 portraits from our room, but when we out later to visit the building, we discovered that there were 3 portraits. On our way back into town, stopping off for a coffee, we were taught that it pays to learn a little of the local language, as Jim discovered that when you ask for a latte in Italy, you get a glass of milk, and my coffee was excellent, but just a little bit small.
We continued to stroll around the area surrounding the station before returning to the hotel for a little siesta, which was very welcome after the afternoon heat.
In the evening, we visited Franco Gallifuoco, a nice little Pizzeria almost next door to the hotel. I sampled the Neapolitan Vesuvius pizza (comments regarding Neapolitan Pizza to follow), while Jim enjoyed an authentic Spaghetti Carbonara; we decided that the place was so good that we would revisit when we return later in the week. We finished off the day with a few beers in the hotel’s rooftop lounge.
Day 2 Naples to Diamanté
After a leisurely hotel breakfast, we decided to visit a local supermarket to stock up on some goodies for our train journey to Diamanté. We couldn’t find what we were looking for, then Jim remembered seeing Granato, a good-looking bakery across the Piazza, and it was there that we managed to pick up a couple of nice sandwiches, packed full of local ingredients for lunch. We returned to the hotel, packed our bags, checked out and made our way to the station.
We were booked on the Trenitalia InterCity 551 service from Rome to Reggio Calabria; unfortunately, the train was late leaving Rome, and during its trip towards us picked up even more delays, which added around an hour and a half to our journey. The journey itself was very pleasant and comfortable, and our sandwich lunch was very good indeed.
It was a little annoying to arrive during the afternoon siesta, as there were no taxis or Ubers available for us; this meant that we had to make our own way to the hotel, which is about a 20-minute walk. I must admit that, with our luggage in tow, it seemed a great deal more, especially on an extremely warm and sunny day.
On arrival at the Hotel Ferretti, we checked into our nice room on the first floor, with its large balcony overlooking the bay. After the exertions of the day, we settled for a quick bar snack and a couple of local wines before retiring for the day.
Day 3 Diamanté
Following our breakfast, we strolled into town, admitting that the walk was much more pleasant than the previous day’s. We then started our search for the many murals dotted around the town. We tried in vain to find the tourist information office open, so we set off to explore the town. Apart from the main promenade on the seafront, which was fairly level, the rest of the town, which is separated into 2 halves by a river, one side the old town with its myriad of little lanes and back alleys climbing forever upwards, and a more residential and modern area to the north. This tiring work searching through the old town’s lanes and alleys entailed many refreshment breaks throughout the day.
After the sun went down, we resumed our mural hunt before stopping off in the Il Capriccio Pub for a lovely meal. Jim selected the Cotoletta Di Pollo XL Con Patatine (a huge breaded chicken fillet), which he loved, although there were just too many fries for his liking. My choice was an Italiana pizza, with Mozzarella, Basilico, Rucola, Pomodorini, and Pancetta. I love pizza, and while this one was perfectly cooked and the flavours of the toppings were excellent, I was again disappointed by the base. Neapolitan pizza bases are just a little soft for my taste; I much prefer a crispy base. However, the large glasses of the draught Ichnusa beer washed it all down nicely. After our meal, it was very pleasant strolling back to the hotel along the beach road.
Day 4 – Diamanté
Thinking about the timings of siesta in the town, and the high temperatures during the day, we decided to spend the morning by the hotel pool relaxing and catching up with our books; this was just what we both needed, and a nice lunch on our room balcony set us up nicely for another jaunt into town; even then, all the shops etc were still closed for siesta, not opening until around 5 pm. Again, we wandered through the maze of lanes and alleys with our cameras in hand. In an effort to cool down, we stopped at Dia Mare, a little caffetteria with a seating area on the promenade, for a cooling gelato, and were surprised to be served by a nice Canadian lady; this was a good way to stay out of the afternoon sun.
Again, we couldn’t get the Tourist Information Office open; goodness knows what hours they kept! We found a roadside map with the location of the 12 original murals, so off we went to capture images of them, again up through the winding lanes and alleyways. We did manage to find them all; however, the ravages of time, saltwater, and sunshine have left many in poor condition, yet they still deserve to be photographed. By the time we had finished searching, it was time for our evening meal. To make things easier, we decided to return to the Il Capriccio Pub again, where I had a lovely Hamburger Rubia Gallega, while Jim elected to stick with the Cotoletta Di Pollo XL Con Patatine, this time, he decided not to have the fries, thinking he would get a salad, but the language barrier struck again, and what he got instead was a pile of salsa sachets, we were both very happy with our meals though, and their good beer was very welcome.
Day 5 – Diamanté
After yet another relaxing morning, we headed back into town to capture photographs of the remaining murals. We decided to go back to the map showing the 12 original 1981 murals and to check if we had managed to find them all; it was quite fortunate that we did, as we discovered that we had missed a couple. After stopping off for yet another nice gelato to cool us down, we crossed over to the newer, residential area to photograph a couple of more modern murals; they took a fair bit of hunting down, but the search certainly was worth the effort, especially searching in the blazing sunshine. We did indeed manage to find the original murals that still remain; but no matter where we searched in the area, we just couldn’t find #4, by Uruguayan artist Pablo Atchugarry, even searching for a photograph of it online proved fruitless.
During our many wanders through the town, we had spotted what looked like an interesting restaurant, Sapore di Mare, a small family run seafood restaurant tucked up one of the town’s little lanes leading off the seafront promenade, so for our final evening meal, we decided to sample their offerings, This was a good choice as the service and food were excellent, and the location was interesting; we were sure that when we had passed through the lane earlier in the week during the day, and it was bereft of the tables and chairs that were set out at night to turn the area into a restaurant.
Coming back out onto the promenade after our meal, we discovered that the town had come alive while we were away. The place was very busy with large family groups, the cafes and bars were packed out, and there were loads of little stalls selling craft pieces. The highlight, though, was a performance by a folk group called Gruppo Folklorico La Ginestra. Apparently, the text written on the stage’s background banner translates to “Everyone dances making a wheel, because this is the tarantella of San Salvatore.”, the Tarantella being a fun and lively dance. (If you watch the video I took, you may be surprised to see Jim L taking part, second from the left on the stage.)
All too soon it was time to wander back to the hotel, after yet another full, fun and interesting final and full day in Diamante.
Day 6 – Diamanté to Naples
We set our alarm just a little early this morning to prepare for our departure from Diamanté, and after a good breakfast, we caught a pre-booked taxi to the station for our train to Naples; fortunately, it arrived bang on time. The train back to Naples was much busier than the one going to Diamante, but we managed to find our seats for a pleasant journey, arriving in Naples just in time for lunch before checking back into the Star Terminus Hotel. This time we were allocated an upgraded room; it was much larger than the previous one, but the view wasn’t so nice. Then again, we weren’t there for the view.
After checking in, we ventured out to see a little of Naples, we both felt that area around the large modern station was a little bit run down and seedy, but I’m sure that could be said of any large city, after exploring the area and stopping off in a nearby supermarket to buy some provisions, we had dinner in Sapori De Partenope, a really good and authentic Italian restaurant, located just steps away from the hotel, it was good to just relax over a nice meal watching the world go by.
Day 7 – Naples
For our final day in Naples, we decided to take advantage of the local HOHO bus, which has 2 routes through the city, so after a nice hotel breakfast, we wandered to our local stop. We were there early, but it was pleasant watching the Neapolitan version of a morning rush hour. Once on the bus for the Red City route A (historical route), which took us through the cultural areas of Naples, featuring many landmarks, the route ended at the bus company’s depot next to Largo Castello, where we stopped off for lunch at a nearby little deli-type café. On returning to the depot, we boarded the Blue panoramic route B, which provided stunning views of the coast and the city’s seaside vistas and the many islands in the Bay of Naples.
We had also booked a Street art tour of the Spanish Quarter through GetYourGuide for later in the evening, so once we had finished our second tour, we headed off in search of the meeting place, which turned out to be quite close to the bus depot. To get there, we passed through the Galleria Umberto, a large shopping mall in the form of a Latin cross. The architecture is stunning; the glass dome, marble floors, and detailed facades created a spectacular atmosphere so nice that we decided to stop a while over a coffee before returning to the HOHO bus to go back to our hotel for our siesta.
We returned to the meeting place, fortunately on the last HOHO bus, to be met by Miriam, our tour guide, who was joined by another lady, a trainee tour guide. It appeared that we were the only people on the tour, so the four of us set off into the nearby Spanish Quarter. Miriam was an amazing guide; she really brought the Spanish Quarter to life. We got to see and hear things we would never find out without Miriam’s knowledge; it was an interesting tour in what was a less attractive area of Naples. What came across quite strongly was the impact Diego Maradona had on the city; the tour, at times, felt like we were there to pay homage to him. During our tour, we retraced part of the life of the Argentine legend in Naples, recalling the corners of the city that were most closely linked to his figure. It is almost as if we were being shown authentic places of worship, which over time have become pilgrimage destinations for people who flock to visit the area.
By the time we had finished the tour, it was too late for the bus, so we took advantage of the Metro system to get us back to Central Station; the service was excellent, fast, clean and very inexpensive. Once back in Piazza Garibaldi, we revisited Franco Gallifuoco for another lovely meal before returning to the hotel.
Day 8 Naples to Home
All too soon our trip was at an end; we ate a good breakfast, finished packing and checked out of the hotel, before being collected by our driver for the journey out to the airport. The usual check-in, security, etc all went well, despite the changes brought about by the European Union’s recently introduced Entry/Exit System. The return Jet2 flight was again very busy, but there were no delays, and we eventually arrived back in Edinburgh on schedule. Being a pair of skinflints, we decided to return to Glasgow using our bus passes, followed by the train to Hamilton where I had left my car.
This trip turned out to be just what we expected and more. Naples was an interesting city to visit; on reflection, a couple of more days there would have allowed us to venture further to places such as Pompeii & Herculaneum, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. But the jewel in the crown was Diamanté; I must admit that I highly recommend it. The historic centre is a delight, with its narrow alleys, small churches, little shops, small restaurants, and the inevitable murals. I am not much of a beach or resort lover, but I will admit that in the blazing sunshine, this cool town, which is situated on a wonderful coast with its blue flag beach, is perfect for soaking up the sun or taking a dip in the turquoise Tyrrhenian Sea; I could see the attraction.
