Program 316: Inside Italy's Deep South; Pirates of the Carolinas

It's a rarely-visited part of Italy, where an English-speaking visitor has to learn how to gesture with their hands to communicate with the locals.  On the next Travel with Rick Steves, we look at what the "heel, toe and instep" of the boot of Italy has to offer the adventurous traveler. 

And we'll explore pirate history and lore along the Carolina coast, where legendary sea scoundrels made their mark during colonial times. 

We'll take you from the deep south of Italy and Sicily, to pirate haunts in Beaufort and old Charleston, on this week's Travel with Rick Steves. 

• Alfio Di Mauro and Tommaso Pante, tour guides based in Sicily
• Terrance Zepke, author of "Pirates of the Carolinas" (Pineapple Press)

• Describes highlights of a June 2009 month spent in southern Italy, where few other Americans travel, and English is rarely spoken.  Adds the beaches around Puglia are the most beautiful she's seen in Italy. "I can't recommend the region highly enough. The sites, towns, food and people were all fabulous.  We stayed away from the big cities in Puglia and focused on the smaller towns and villages. I recommend Lecce, Trani, and the many small towns in the area around Ostuni. It's also a very easy day trip to Matera in the region of Basilicata and the fascinating cave homes." (Darlene in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Visited Sicily and Matera area in southern Italy in the winter and loved it. "On the way to Sicily we stopped in Reggio Calabria and saw the bronze statues of the Raice Warriors. We got the tip to see them from an artist in Volterra. They are fabulous!" Discusses Magna Grecia history and sites in the region.  (Paula in Seattle)
• Describes what it's like to be self-sufficient and live on a sailboat fulltime, and the sailing culture he's encountered since 1988. (J Bruce, aboard a sailboat in the Florida Keys) 

• Cincinnati Pops Orchstra, Erich Kunzel, cond., "Be (from 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull')," Sailing / Telarc
• D. Siclari, "Non Su' Lupu," Il Canto di Malavita (collection) / Play It Again Sam
• Ennio Morricone, "Anima Mia," Ciao Amore (collection) / Warner Special Products
• Aria, "Home (based on 'Va pensiero' from 'Nabucco') (Verdi)," Aria / Astor Place
• Mediaeval Baebes, "Star of the Sea," Mirabilis / Nettwerk
• Capella Savaria, "'Aria: L'alma mia' (from the opera 'Agrippina') (Handel)," A Decade of Excellence (sampler collection) / Harmonia Mundi
• * The Newstead Trio, "La muerte del ángel," Romanza / Prince
• Jean-Francois Pallard Chamber Orchestra, "Adagio cantabile (M. Haydn)," Relax with the Classics, vol. 2 (collection) / LIND Institute
• Paolo Conte, "Alle prese con una verde milonga," Ciao Amore (collection) / Warner Special Products
• Tino Vailati, "Fili D'Oro," Le Canzoni dei Ricordi, anni '40 (collection) / Duck Record (Italy)
• Gaia, "Firewater," Windham Hill Sampler '94 (sampler collection) / Windham Hill
• El Domingo, "I Cacciaturi I Muntaltu (Hunters in the High Mountains)," Il Canto di Malavita (collection) / Play It Again Sam
• * Los Ultrasonoros, ‘‘Baja,” Rebel Burlesque! / Brano Media
• The New England Music Collection, “Blow Ye Winds,” The Wind In the Rigging / North Star Records
• Cincinnati Pops, Erich Kunzel, cond., with The Village Waytes and Friends,"Blow the Man Down," Sailing / Telarc
• Joe Thompson, "Donny Got a Rambling Mind," Africans in America (soundtrack) / Ryko-WGBH
• Bette Midler and Barry Manilow, “Slow Boat to China,” Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook / Columbia
• The New England Music Collection, “Blow The Man Down,” The Wind In the Rigging / North Star Records

• Tommaso notes, starting at 14:20, that prices are about half in the far south of Italy, compared to elsewhere. He gives an example of being able to enjoy a good dinner, with wine, for about €20.
• At several points when discussing Matera in segment A, Rick and guests mention it as the filming locale for the film "The Passion of the Christ," which was produced by Mel Gibson.
• Terrance notes at 45:40 that the remains of what is probably Blackbeard's ship Queen Anne's Revenge have been excavated since 1996 from the waters off Beaufort, NC.
• She adds at 47:10 that there are good pirate-themed walking tours in Charleston, SC.
• At 52:30, Rick says "last week" on the show, we first spoke with caller J Bruce from his sailboat in the Florida Keys. At 56:23, Rick asks J Bruce about the risks of modern-day pirates. He describes how sailing parties will sail together through the dangerous waters near Somalia, if they want to get to the Mediterranean without sailing around Africa.