What to see and do in Calabria in November

It is cold, yet the weather at these latitudes still offers sunny days, ideal for a trip or a walk outside the city to enjoy the colours and scents of autumn.

November in Calabria is full of gifts, from mushrooms to foliage, from festivals to excursions in the parks. The Christmas atmosphere is in the air, and there are many opportunities to start the festivities. Here are three of them, three suggestions for discovering undiscovered aspects of a surprising region full of peculiarities.

November is the month of must turning into wine and of waiting for the barrels to open. 11 November, San Martino, is the festival of new wine.

There is no town in Calabria where the grape harvest is not made, often a family tradition handed down with pride and meticulousness. And when the first bottle of "novello" (new wine) is opened, it is a feast you can come across while walking through the streets of the villages. Never refuse the wine offered in the traditional "sciannachiello" (a small glass, equivalent to a twelfth of a litre), a gesture of hospitality you get used to when visiting Calabria. 

It is also during this period that you can visit the producers of new wine, to taste it and buy it directly from the hands of those who have taken care of every stage, from harvesting the grapes to pressing. Many producers offer visitors the chance to take a tour of the vineyards, learn how the barrels are pickedle, and if you are lucky, you can enjoy a delicious Km 0 aperitif, where the glass of wine is accompanied by a platter of cold meats and cheeses.

Christmas is approaching, how about getting ahead of the game and thinking about quality gifts? Maybe a handcrafted product, made by expert hands, unique and non-serial, to give or receive as a gift. This year the danger of unwrapping yet another pair of pyjamas is averted, if you take a trip to Calabria you will be enchanted by the beauty of precious objects that have an ancient and fascinating history.

Ceramics is your passion? You are spoilt for choice, the art of shaping clay is widespread in the region, but there are three excellences that you absolutely must get to know.

The ceramics of Squillace (CZ) you will recognise for the characteristic technique with which they are decorated, so old that it dates back even to Byzantine times. The ceramists shape vases, plates, and jewellery that you can buy in the workshops; it is not for nothing that Squillace is called "the town of ceramics". 

Gerocarne (VV), on the other hand, is known as "the village of the potters" and you can visit the ancient kilns where clay was fired and purchase the objects made and decorated according to ancient techniques that some craftsmen continue to use.

Completing this journey through Calabrian handicrafts is Seminara (RC), renowned for its special apotropaic masks and zoomorphic ceramic figures, traditionally used to drive away evil spirits.

If you want to amaze with a truly precious gift, you cannot fail to be won over by Calabrian textile handicrafts, a world to be discovered. From the precious blankets of San Giovanni in Fiore (CS) to the elegant shawls of Tiriolo (CZ), known as "vancali" and made with silk, hemp and broom threads. If you want to give a gift that will leave you open-mouthed, plan a visit to a small town in the province of Vibo Valentia called Brognaturo that is famous for its marvellous carved pipes, unique collectors' items.

Let yourself be guided by the scent, every region has a unique place where bread is baked overnight and in the morning releases a fragrance that floods every street. In Calabria, you will be able to experience ever new fragrances, as many as there are different types of bread to discover through an ideal journey of excellence based on water and flour. Here are just a few.

Let's start with the much sought-after bread from Cerchiara di Calabria (CS) with its typical rounded shape, kneaded with the addition of wholemeal flour and bran, leavened for at least six hours and baked for a long time in a wooden oven. You can buy a small piece to eat right away or take it home and give it as a present, the loaves can weigh even more than 10 kg. 

A walk in Rogliano (CS) in the Savuto Valley is worth a stop in the Cuti district, famous for its bread with very special characteristics. It is baked with chestnut wood, which gives it an unmistakable amber colour, but it is the flavour - obtained thanks to fine flours, mother yeast and Sila water - that makes this product an excellence.

Are you ready to discover an unusual shape? In Catanzaro, the bread par excellence is the "pitta", a goodness with ancient origins that you can enjoy "stuffed" with the famous Catanzaro "morzello".

In Reggio Calabria, on the other hand, you can taste the bread with Giuggiulena, or sesame seeds on the surface. This bread is clearly of Arab derivation and in its simplicity - it is a soft loaf kneaded with basic ingredients - it represents a link between the past and the present of this wonderful land that you are also getting to know through its typical products.