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Gambarie
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GAMBARIE
, amid thick woods, is a fully fledged holiday town, used as a skiing resort in the winter and a cooling-off place for overheated
reggini
(from Reggio) in the summer. There is a
ski slope
from the top of
Monte Scirocco
(1660m), connected by a sporadically working chair lift, and a small choice of
hotels
, including the surprisingly good-value
Grande Albergo Gambarie
in Piazzale Miramare (tel 0965.743.012; L90,000-120,000/46.48-61.98). Ask here or at any of Gambarie's larger hotels about rental facilities for skiing equipment. When the mountain is not snowbound, Gambarie is also a good base for walks in the area: for Aspromonte's highest peak,
Montalto
(1955m), start down along the SS183 towards Melito, turning off left after three or four kilometres onto a broken road, after which it's another 16km to the top, marked by a bronze statue of Christ gazing steadily out over the Straits of Messina - a memorable view. If you still have any energy there is another track that descends steeply for another 10km to the
santuario
of
Madonna di Polsi
, inhabited only by the monks of the monastery there. A large
fair
takes place here every year on the first two days of September - an unashamedly pagan event that involves the slaughter and sale of large numbers of goats. The monastery can put you up, or else camp in the area. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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