Italy - Day 12 - Radio Banconara

Our last full day in Italy was spent in Martina Franca and the beautiful whitewashed towns of Locorotondo and Ostuni.

Locorotondo

 

I only saw two radio logos on the entire trip--a Radio 105 string bag that someone was wearing in Rome and this Radio Centro sign in Locorotondo.

Ostuni

Radio Banconara was on the air in the late 1970s and early 80s.  They were located in Milan which is nowhere near where we were traveling on this day but I just like the way the reto, hand-drawn sticker at the top looks.  

So long, Italy!  Our plan next year is to take a cruise starting in Rome which hits a couple places in Italy we haven't seen along with Malta and a few Greek islands.  
 

Italy - Day 11 - Radio Mondo Nuovo

Day three in Puglia was spent in the fishing port of Trani, the coastal city of Barletta and lunch in Minervino Murge "the balcony of Puglia." 

Trani

The moat and castle in Barletta.

Minervino Murge

This sticker has a map showing the southernmost area of Puglia, the tip of the heel of Italy's boot.  Radio Mondo Nuovo broadcasted on 95.75 and 96.00 FM but I was unable to figure out if they still exist.

Italy - Day 10 - Radio Anch'io

The second day of our time in Puglia began with a walking tour of Matera, a town famous for The Stassi.  We also went to the ancient center of Altamura as well as the castle in Gioia del Colle.

These prehistoric caves were the basis of what would become one of the earliest human settlements in Italy.  The ones in this photo faced north and were therefore never developed because they received less sunlight.

The southern-facing caves turned into what would become known as The Stassi, a city of cave houses and rocky churches where time seemed to stand still.  There is evidence of people living here as early as 7000 BC.  No picture can capture the beauty of this place.  Houses on top of houses dug directly into the rock itself and it just feels ancient.  

Matera / The Stassi

Altamura is known for their bakeries.  They bake a specific type of bread (Pane di Altamura) which is popular throughout Italy and stays fresh up to two weeks.

Construction on the Castello Normanno-Svevo in Gioia del Colle began in the 9th century.  Additions and fortifications took place until around 1230.

Radio Anch'io is a likely defunct station in Matera.

Italy - Day 9 - Radio Puglia

Yesterday we flew from Venice to Bari to begin a four day tour of Puglia. The region of Puglia comprises the southeastern part of the country including the heel of the Italy's boot. Our tour guide picked us up at our apartment and we met the other people in the group, a couple from Australia and two solo travelers, one from Philadelphia and another Aussie.  It was part sightseeing trip, part history lesson and part food and wine gluttony--and it was fantastic!

Monopoli, Italy

 

Polignano, Italy

Polignano, Italy

Polignano was the birthplace of Domenico Modugno, best known as the singer of "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" better known as "Volare."

The trulli houses of Alberobello, Italy.

Radio Puglia went on the air in 1978 and is based in Castellana Grotte, Italy.

 

Italy - Day 8 - Teleradio Veneta

After breakfast at the hotel we did what every tourist should do in Venice--take a gondola ride.  We purposely sought out a gondola that was away from the madness around Rialto Bridge and found one near the Santo Stefano Bell Tower.

Afterwards we just walked around Venice for a few hours until it was time to take a water taxi across Laguna Veneta to the airport.

St. Mark's Square

Teleradio Veneta has been broadcasting across the Veneto Region of Italy since 1975.
 

Italy - Day 7 - Club 103

From Venice we went north to tour Italy's spectacular Dolomites mountain range.  A guy from our hotel told us that if it was raining in Venice it will be snowing in The Dolomites and he was right.  We were in a small group with a family from Singapore who had never seen snow.

Cortina has now hosted the Winter Olympics twice.  We stopped to see the ski jump used in the 1956 Olympics.  It looked to be in rough shape and now had a soccer field at its base.  Our guide said that today's ski jumpers fly in the air too far to use it.

After warming up with some coffee at a bakery we walked around downtown Cortina.  I'm glad I packed a warm coat and hat.

Lake Antorno

A cassette sticker from Club 103 which plays Contemporary Hit music and is based in Valle di Cadore, Italy. Programming is heard across the Dolomites and the Veneto region.  They went on the air in 1976.
 

Italy - Day 6 - Radio Venezia

From Florence we took a two hour train ride to Venice ("Venezia").  It was raining when we got there but it was OK because we had already booked a mask making class at a place called Ca'Macana.  Venice is easily the most beautiful city I've ever visited.  Every corner you turn is another picture postcard--just gorgeous.

A view from Rialto Bridge.  Our super fancy hotel was just up on the right side of this picture.

Rialto Bridge from down below.

Venice's mask tradition dates back to the middle ages. I'm holding the plaster mold used to make the "plague mask" design I chose.  They use "cartalana" a special, highly absorbent paper that doesn't shrink when it gets wet. After drying, we painted and decorated them and added tie strings.  It was really fun!

I think the masks turned out great!  We paid to have them shipped home otherwise they'd probably get crushed in our luggage.

Radio Venezia was a terrestrial station from 1974 until 2023.  They can now be heard online and on DAB.  Listening live while making this post I heard Talking Heads, John Paul Young, DJ Maze, Double, Suzanne Vega and Alicia Keys
 

Italy - Day 5 - Radio Planet Firenze

Today we took the train for a day trip to Pisa for a citywide bicycle tour.  Our guide met us at the train station and set us up with our rides at the nearby bike shop.  We rode to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and got a very in-depth history of the tower and surrounding buildings.  It was very interesting!

The Pisa Baptistery, Pisa Cathedral and Leaning Tower.

Square of the Knights

Radio Planet was on the air from 1996 to 2002.
 

Italy - Day 4 - Punto Radio

Today began with a walking tour of Florence ("Firenze" in Italian)  Highlights included the Cattedrale di Santa Maria, the Basilica di Santa Croce and the Galleria dell'Accademia.  That evening we took a pasta making class and drank a lot of wine.  So fun!

Basilica of Santa Croce--burial place of Galileo, Michaelangelo and Machiavelli.

Fontana del Porcellino--rubbing the pig's nose for good luck.

Making pasta!

Michaelangelo's David at the Accademia.  This 17 foot masterpiece sculpted in marble was incredible to see in person.

Punto Radio broadcast to Florence from 1977 to 2007.
 

Italy - Day 3 - RAI

Day three began with an extended tour through the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.  We stopped at the post office to mail my dad a postcard with a pope stamp and cancellation from the Vatican.  We then started walking back to our hotel with stops at the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.  We ate lunch outdoors at a little bistro and stopped somewhere for gelato.  It was a great day!  That evening we took a train to our next stop--Florence.

St. Peter's Square

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

RAI is the Rome-based national public broadcasting company of Italy.  Programming is seen and heard in about a dozen countries in the European Union.  They began broadcasting in 1924 with a speech by Benito Mussolini.  More RAI stickers can be seen here.
 

Italy - Day 2 - Radio Studio Napoli 2000

On our second day we took a bus tour south to the ruins of Pompei near Naples.

I was surprised at the size of the city that was buried under 15 to 20 feet of ash after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  It's huge, really.  About 170 acres and over 2000 buildings and they are still uncovering new areas.  Pompei even had its own red light district.  A penis carved into a cobblestone on the street pointed the way to it.  I am not making this up.

 

This cast was formed by pouring liquid plaster into the empty cavity left by a human body in hardened volcanic ash.

The crater of Mount Vesuvius which last erupted in 1944.

I picked this sticker because Naples (Napoli) is located near Pompei.  But it appears that Radio Studio Napoli 2000 was actually a station over 400 miles away in Milan.  Is that Mount Vesuvius on the sticker spewing music instead of ash?  I'd like to think so but I don't know.  This website says that Radio Studio Napoli broadcast Neapolitan music in Milan circa the early 1980s.