14th July 2018
Today was our final move and we go to another agriturismo called Casale Giancesare. We found this in The Lonely Planet guide and it sounds amazing – this may be because they have their own vineyard!!! Seriously though – it does sound lovely and has great reviews on Trip Advisor too. So we packed, had breakfast and checked out of Portasirena. This was a lovely stay for 2 nights but I’m not sure I would want to stay longer just because it seems to be more a venue for large parties and do’s – however, if you’re in Paestum – go there for dinner one night – the food was fabulous.
We got to Casale Giancesare mid-morning (looks gorgeous)
It was too early to check in but we left our bags with them and went for a drive through the National Park (Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano). This is the second-largest national park in Italy and a World Heritage Site. You obviously need to have a car and you definitely need a lot more than one day to see all it has to offer.
Driving through the mountains was amazing and we came across a village (ghost town) called Roscigno Vecchio that had been abandoned due to a landslide. It now has only one resident living there. We loved looking around here and there were only the two of us – apart from a couple of workers and of course, the one and only resident!
We were going to visit the grottoes next but unfortunately the engine light came on, so we decided to make our way back to Casale Giancesare. Another light came on too and it was a VERY hair-raising drive back down the mountain as the Sat Nav asked if we wanted a short cut and I said yes – BAD MOVE! It looks us down the bumpiest dirt track (it was not a road) – we thought we were going to leave half the engine behind!!! It went on for ever! I was very happy to get to the bottom (with the car still in tact!).
On our arrival back at Casale Giancesare we met Antonio, his father Enzo and Jonny (who we had met earlier). They are all lovely. Our room is gorgeous, it’s on the top floor and has a massive skylight with a mountain view. We love it.
Tonight we went for a meal recommended to us by Antonio. As usual we wanted to eat where the locals eat. The restaurant was called Caffe Centrale in Capaccio (no website but check it out on Trip Advisor). We really should have booked as we had to wait until 10.30 for a table so we went for a stroll around Capaccio and found a nice little bar where we had a drink and sat people watching. We love it here and everywhere you go in Italy for a drink they always bring you out bruschetta or other little snacks. Tonight was no different and it was all delicious (won’t need a starter tonight!).
We returned to Caffe Centrale, where there is no menu but a lovely girl who could speak English came and told us what the choices were. She recommended the pasta so that’s what we had. It was absolutely gorgeous and accompanied, of course, by white wine and limoncello! The atmosphere was amazing – we love it here and will definitely be coming back.
We arrived back to the B&B and sat drinking Limoncello with Enzo and Jonny till 2 in the morning! It was such a lovely evening and Enzo has told us about a place called Campagna where they have a water festival. I think the river is diverted to flood through the streets – and everyone has loads of fun playing in it – so we will check it out tomorrow.
It has been a brilliant day but just need to get the car changed. Antonino has very helpfully rang the car hire firm for us and sorted it out but we can’t go till Monday now – so hopefully the car will be ok till then – fingers crossed.