COSENZA , Calabria's first town of any size if you're travelling from the north, is also the region's most interesting, and makes a useful base to explore the surrounding area, particularly the Sila mountains. Historically it has always played an important role in the commercial and intellectual life of Calabria (Norman Douglas wrote, with characteristic hyperbole, "for acute and original thought this town can hardly be surpassed by any other of its size on ea... [More]