Shame on Us!

I've written so many times about how we don't appreciate the beauty that we see every day, that it takes the eyes of an outsider to make us see what surrounds us.  Sadly, this week I was on the receiving end of this message and it makes me ashamed that we have ignored what's in our own backyard for so long.

We all know about the big cities, and the medium sized towns that Rick Steves has brought to light.  But the tiny villages and hilltop towns tend to be ignored.  That's where the website borghipiubelliditalia.it comes in.  I found out about this site while watching a weekend travel show called Linea Verde.  This program celebrates so much of what makes Italy special, from the beautiful scenery to the magnificent buildings to the delicious food.  The borghi piu belli site puts all this information into easily clickable bits of information and when I visited it I was surprised to see that there are several towns very near here, and one that we have gone to dozens of times over the years.

Montesarchio is one town over from Cervinara.  I've always admired the castle and tower that dominates the landscape, and have known that there is a very good archeological museum there, but we've always just used Montesarchio as a shopping venue.  There's a little mall that we've visited, a supermarket that carries all our necessaries, and our Tim Telephone tech center.  I've always ignored the historic center.  Well shame on me!

This past week our friends and cousins from Milan came down for a visit.  On their list of things to do was to visit the Castello in Montesarchio.  I'd been homebound for several days due to dear hubby's nasty cold and was ready for an excursion. 

We started with a fantastic lunch at Colle d'Ercule, a family run restaurant at the foot of Mount Taburno.  What culinary treats awaited us!  This wasn't our first time at this restaurant but it was certainly our most enjoyable!  Varied plates of antipasti, pappardelle with porcinis, and a fig and robiola crostata made for a most satisfying lunch, all accompanied by well chilled falanghina wine.  Superb!

After lunch and a nice stroll through their gardens we drove up to the top of the promontory that looms over the town below.  This was a really lovely spot that is worth a visit and I feel so bad that with all the friends and family who have visited us over the years, we've never taken them here. 

We went through the museum that is free of charge and were amazed at the wealth of this collection, all relics from ancient civilizations in this area, and many excavated from Via Cervinara!

From the museum we walked down a narrow pathway and into the old borgo, in search of an 8th century sanctuary.  There isn't much left of it, but it was lovely finding this ancient place of worship.

Our day was blessed with blue skies, mild winds and strolls through history. 

I promise to all those who will come to visit us in the future that we will not ignore the beauty and history that lie not 15 minutes from our front door.  And I also promise to try not to be one of those who require the presence of "outsiders" to appreciate what I have been given! 

Next year we'll be exploring Sant'Agata dei Goti, another town in our area that is among the most beautiful borghi of Italy.  There's always something new to discover, here in this beautiful part of the world!