San Leo Agriturismo - Acerno

Wild Camp 30: Cava di Tireni

We left Pompei and headed inland to our next stop, Cava di Tireni, approximately 18km away. A quiet area in a sleepy village, we set the BBQ up and marinated some prawns and set about relaxing after a crazy couple of days sightseeing in Pompei and Sorrento. We sat out under the awning with our prawns and mixed kebab skewers as rain showers came and went and played cards and caught up with some blogging. There was a large sports hall next to us being used by lots of elderly men to play bowls, the few that arrived early sat in the park having a chat swinging on the swings. You would have thought it was a group of teenagers not old age pensioners. One man turned up in a beaten up old Fiat Panda and attempted to park it. He narrowly missed our camper, scraped down the side of another car and came to an abrupt halt when he hit the curb. Clearly pleased at his parking attempt he jumped out of the abandoned car and went off to meet his mates. 

Honey & Garlic Prawns

Acerno -San Leo Agriturismo

We left Cava di Tireni in search of a wild camp in Acerno, a quiet village set right in the mountains of Parco Regionale Monti Picentini, the drive was unpleasant as we wound around the mountains at a snails pace climbing higher and higher, rarely meeting another car, although when we did it was a competition to see who could brake last and who would move over to let the other pass. When we finally reached the town we were unable to find a suitable place to wild camp so decided to stop at a ranch for the night, our first experience of an Agriturismo.

We arrived and pulled onto a long gated driveway, there weren't many people around so the place looked deserted, we weren't even sure if they were open. Jac went in to find out some information about staying the night and was greeted by a sweet old lady in a piny named Anna. She spoke a little English and offered us a place for the night and showed us where to park, it was 10€ for the pitch and 3€ for electricity. We set up our camp and went for a wander around the ranch with Oscar, it was huge, 16 hectares in total.

The main house, an outbuilding & the camper

Exploring the grounds (spot the Beagle)

When we returned from the walk with Oscar, Anna called us over and asked if we would like lunch. Never ones to turn down a meal we settled on a cute bistro set under an oak tree at the front of the main house. Anna appeared with two plates piled high with food. We tucked in and neither of us said a word until our plates were clear. We had veal, spinach and cheese rolled in pasta with tomato sauce.

 

Veal, Spinach & Cheese Pasta

After lunch, fascinated about the Agriturismo, we quized Anna about her land and what it was all used for. She told us that she had inherited the land from her father as a cattle farm and decided to turn it into an Agriturismo in 2002. On the estate there was the huge family house, a large cattle field, three out-buildings, two log cabin appartments, an outside bar, a large chicken coup and a large derelict house.
 

 

Chestnut Trees

 

Derelict Outbuilding

Log Cabin Apartments



Chickens gathering around the bar

Anna had four cats, eight chickens, three horses and two dogs named Silveo and Romeo. Her estate continued across the road where she had two large fields, one to house the horses and another filled with chestnut trees. The field was enclosed so we could walk Oscar without worrying he would do his disappearing act, there were really great views of the surrounding mountains too.

 

Parco Regionale Monti Picentini

There was one family staying in the bed and breakfast inside the main house and a couple staying in one of the log cabin appartments and us camping in the field so it was fairly quiet. Anna told us that by the weekend the ranch would be full of horses from Spanish horsemen trekking in the mountains. We couldn't quite believe it as everything seemed so overgrown and underused. We had only intended to stay for one night but there was so much to see we decided to stay an extra couple of nights. That night we ate in the camper van, Jac made baked Camembert and roasted garlic. We spent the evening watching films excited to get out and explore more of Anna's estate.

 

San Leo Agriturismo

The following day Ahmed, the gardener was up at the crack of dawn cutting the grass in the cattle field, this was no small job. He was sat on his lawn mower dressed head to toe in blue overalls wearing a straw hat and didn't stop until late afternoon. We walked Oscar early before it got too hot, we spent the morning wandering through the chestnut fields, watching Oscar bounding in and a out of the long grass, disappearing for a few minutes and then reappearing covered in cobwebs and flea darts. We headed back to the van for a siesta, the Agriturismo was like a ghost town between 1-3, so peaceful.

 

After being impressed by the lunch the day before and keen to try more of her home cooked traditional Italian dishes we asked Anna if we could have dinner in the restaurant that evening. She told us to be ready for 8pm and to bring Oscar along too. It's taken us a while to get used to Italian menus and the way they eat their courses. Typically they start with bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, followed by a pasta dish (first course), followed by a meat and vegetable dish (second course), followed by fruit and an extremely strong coffee.

We started with bread and red wine (2€ per 1/2 litre), followed by tomato ravioli and mushroom tagliatelle. Next we shared a pork chop and pork stick (sausage) with red peppers marinated in olive oil, Jac thought they had the same consistency as slugs, but still tasted nice. Anna bought Oscar a huge bone for his dinner which kept him amused whilst we enjoyed our meal. We declined the fruit and coffee and instead Anna bought us some biscuits to take back and dunk in our tea, typical English.

We sat and chatted with Anna after dinner, quizzing her further on her business and her family, she told us that all her family would arrive the following day and we could meet them all. Anna's friend, the father of one of her employees joined us and played the guitar for us. He sang us traditional Italian songs, one about coffee in Sorrento, a prison inmate and Nepolian. He and Jac had a couple of shots of liquor and we headed back to the camper.

Trying the local Liquor

The next day we were up early and walked Oscar in the chestnut fields, when we got back to the ranch some of Anna's family had arrived. We were introduced to them and spent the afternoon chatting to Anna's husband Alfredo and thier daughter Giovanna and her husband Frank. Frank told us that Anna had phoned him and told him about us, that she absolutely adored Oscar and he was her best customer in nine years. The feeling must have been mutual because every morning she would call him and he would run from the camper and jump all over her. It also helped that she usually had a bone for him too. She called him picollina Oscar, little Oscar and made a fuss of him every time she saw him.

 

Later that afternoon a large group of horsemen and women arrived. They were stopping overnight en route from the mountain trek. There were 10 horses, all beautifully turned out, with brightly coloured rugs under their expensive looking leather saddles. The horses and thier owners all looked exhausted, they hosed the horses down to cool them off before putting them in the field, we sat outside and watched as they set up their tents for the night and waited whilst Anna cooked them dinner. We decided to pack up and leave that evening. When we said goodbye to Anna she made us promise to take Oscar back to visit her. She even had a little tear in her eye and tried to persuade us total an extra couple of nights. We'll definitely be going back to visit soon.

The horses from the mountain trek

Wild Camp 31: Torella dei Lombardi
43km North East we reached our next stop, we almost got stuck under a bridge on the way so had to find another route. We really should start taking notice of height restrictions. Really just a business car park, we stopped in the village for dinner supplies and set up camp for the night. There was free electricity here so we made full use of it, we made dinner and watched a film. There wasn't anything around here to see and as we had already had one close encounter with the bridge we decided to stay out until we left the following morning.