"That's not far, look!", I say to him. When I zoom out on the navi, I see endless zigzag lines. It looks like we're going to like it.
The national park covers the southernmost parts of the Apennines, including the Pollino and Orsomarso massifs. The craggy peaks form the heart of the park, while numerous rivers and streams characterise the landscape. They flow over rocks and waterfalls and through ancient forests. Thousands of years of erosion have created impressive gorges.
The roads are narrow, very narrow. Instead of serpentines, we sometimes go straight up the mountain! But our Felix can do it, Gerd anyway. I - a pro at ordering good conditions - order free roads and always solid ground. Knitting is cancelled for many reasons: Rumple-pumple, brilliant view and absolute concentration on being a co-driver.
When we drive through 3-house villages, the road flattens out for brief moments and I take a deep breath. Only to immediately look out of the window again into deep abysses or onto steep rocky outcrops. Hands firmly on the handholds, a soft murmur on my lips. That's how we do it. Whenever things get a bit tight. Gerd - my God, how can you stay so calm - stops at the most oblique slope, opens the windows and takes a photo first. Oh, oncoming traffic, let's roll back a bit, there was a small bay back there.
Somewhere up high above a gorge we spend the night. Gerd has a good point: "At night you can't see the depth of the gorge." Aha, well then. And yes, we sleep like a dream, the air is clear, the wind only light and nothing and no one disturbs us with noise.
The next morning we reach Terranova di Pollino. A mountain village of which the guidebook writes: "You have to want to go to Terranova di Pollino!" Only after the arduous and at the same time dreamlike drive do we know what is meant by this.
We are standing at the hand to the Sarmento Valley. The border with Calabria runs along the mountain ranges further up. Despite the altitude of around 900 metres, the air is pleasantly warm. The small mountain village with its approximately 1000 inhabitants looks like an elongated panoramic village and offers an ideal vantage point on the imposing peaks of the Pollino National Park.
We are briefly told by one of the village gentlemen that we are not parking properly and that we should please park with all our wheels inside the white line. It doesn't matter that we are hanging out a metre at the back, the main thing is the tyres... Because of the police who would come to check. Yes, no, it's clear. Here in the village, where now every car is criss-crossed and all passages must first be honked clear.
We stock up on fresh bread (delicious!), homemade cheese (well...) and a few biscuits. On the market square in the "Bar 007" we have a cup of coffee with a couple of older men who drink their morning coffee here in front of the cafés and chat with the owner a bit about the place, the people and the politicians who shout loudly from the TV.
Beautiful. Simply beautiful, such an Italian mountain village.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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