We landed in Rome on Thursday at noon local time.  We breezed through passport control and customs, and we were loading our luggage into our car within 45 minutes.  I was surprised at how quickly we got out of the airport.

The trains and buses in the Molise region are not very frequent or convenient, so we decided to get a car for our time in Italy.  Chad found a company that does short-term automobile leases, kind of like leasing a car in the US only instead of a 3-year lease, we have a 2-1/2 month lease.  It’s much cheaper than renting a car through Hertz/Avis/etc, and it’s a brand-new car, and it’s “ours” while we have it.

Our new car!

We leased our car from a company in Paris, so it has French license plates

We spent the afternoon driving east to Campobasso.  We were on a toll highway, and there were limited food options.  We had a gas-station sandwich for lunch, but never fear!  It was mortadella, with butter and chopped pistachios on focaccia, and it was delicious!  Best gas-station sandwich I’ve ever had…

We arrived in Campobasso at 5 pm, checked into our apartment, and then went out to explore the town.  Our apartment is in the old city center with narrow streets, cobblestones, and old buildings/houses/apartments.  It’s very quaint. 

A piazza in our neighborhood

A pedestrian street

Many buildings have the street address just painted onto the building

It was also very cold on Thursday evening.  You might think, “March in Italy must be lovely,” but Campobasso is up in the mountains.  It was 4 degrees C on Thursday evening (40 degrees F) and windy.  I was bundled up in my ski jacket, ski hat, and gloves. 

The mountains nearby are still covered in snow

The weather didn’t deter us from our explorations.  After wandering about the old town, we stopped in a bar for an aperitivo (cocktail) and a snack (which came free with the drinks) at Kudeta.  

happy hour cocktails with snacks

We then went to nearby Osteria Cannavina for dinner.  There were only two other tables of patrons in the restaurant (perhaps due to the weather), but the food was delicious.  Appetizers were cured meats and squash flan.  Then I had pork-stuffed tortellini and Chad has pasta with bunny rabbit.

Osteria Cannavina

The dining area is down in the basement among the old building structure

A few introductory notes about Campobasso:

The city of Campobasso is the regional capital of the Molise region.  (“Regions” in Italy are similar to “states” in the US.)  The city has about 50,000 people, and Molise has about 310,000 people.  The city has been damaged by earthquakes over the years, so there is a lot of new construction and sprawl.  The old town center, however, is still very charming. 

I’m glad I don’t live at the top of these stairs…it’s a long way down to the grocery store

A lighting installation on a street near our apartment

I’ll follow up with another post discussing some of the highlights of the old town.  As crazy as it sounds to us right now, it’s time for us to start preparing for our evening out – a passagiata (evening stroll), then an aperitivo, and then dinner at 8 pm.  It seems that all we do in Italy is walk, eat, and drink.  But I’m not complaining!