So we travelled by car to Puglia, which is the longest region in Italy, down the south. It takes about 8 hours from Bologna to reach Lecce, which lies in the southern end of Puglia. So we stopped over half way at Vasto in Abruzzo, it is one of the last towns along the coast before it becomes rather flat into Puglia. We stayed at the Sporting Hotel, which was an odd name, and as it happened an odd hotel, Antonio suggested it to us, and it was very comfortable and in a good location, surrounded by paddocks only a few hundred metres from the beach. But its what lay inside that amused me. We arrived around 6 pm, after shocking traffic, and lots of roadhouse stops, everyone needs to go to the toilet at different times. So the boys had a swim in the pool while Jayne and l had a drink, a young girl took a liking to the boys and kept looking at them, l suggested to Ewan to ask if she wanted to play with them, and when he asked her, she said NO, he looked back at me, as if to say well l tried.
So then we came down to the dining room for dinner, as we thought it would be easier to eat there and get an early night. And this is where it begins, we sat down in a Faulty Towers dining area, to be served by Manuele style characters, waiter one had come up with the strong belief , that to be a good waiter you must keep one hand behind your back as long as possible, waiter two who did not serve us, was rather uncertain of if he needed to be there and if he was infact there.
So allow me to introduce the other tables, and this was also odd, as each table had a number like 44, but there were only 12 tables. So lets just say table 1 had a German family, this we knew by the socks and sandals, the wife had been badly beaten with an ugly stick, as had her eldest daughter, in fact the same stick. The father drank his beer, and they had their bottle of white wine, that they had for the week they were there, and drank accordingly so it would last the week. I felt that all these people came here each year for a week or two. Table 2 had two elderly ladies , one who reminded me of Jaynes mother, table 3, another elderly couple with their son who was about 35, the question was why was he there with his parents at 35. Table 4, the young girl at the pool with her grand parents, table 5, where parents with a single young son about 14, who had his large bottle of fanta, unlike the Germans we found out, had no desire to make it last the week, and a large bottle of coke soon appeared on the table. But it was this table that concerned me the most, as the boy ate with a unique style. Now l will admit some kids eat badly, and only use a fork, and that in some way can be forgiven, but this child only ate with a knife. He stabbed at the food picking it up with a knife and eating it as if some medieval movie of a king and a chicken. Even Hunter commented in shock when he saw. So as the night went by and our seemingly one handed waiter took firstly our primo orders, then went back around the table to take the secondo. He then brought the meals back to the wrong people, so the painstaking ordering seemed to be a waste of time, but he did keep his hand behind his back, when he went to take the plates away we all hoped he would then put his hand with the plates behind his back, and that would have made the night, but no.
So we finished up being the last to leave, and though l felt the meal was rather expensive the entertainment was priceless.
We slept well, and left after a simple breakfast, driving on to meet Mike and Kate Frayne and their family at San Cesario di Lecce.
We arrived about 2 pm, after more traffic, and an accident on the motorway, we were stationary, and the car behind was hit by the car behind it and it then hit us, not much real damage, but we had to stop, chat and decide what to do, the person who caused the accident, decided to drive off after a few minutes and we then decided it was not worth the insurance and so left the poor people with damage to the front and back of their car. Thankfully l had taken photos of the cars and of the plate and insurance details of the car that caused it, and l sent them by email to the damaged car owners. There was another traffic jam the day before, so bad we were stuck for over an hour, so everyone got out of the cars, chatted, smoked, and our boys decided to play soccer on the highway, much to the joy of everyone else.
So we arrived in San Cesario, a shitty looking town, and l must say l was rather concerned, thinking the photos they sent us of the house may have been doctored, but as we drove through the gates from the Beruit style town, we were happily relieved. We stayed at a wonderful villa with over an acre of perfect garden, a 20x8 metre pool, and the house was a perfect example of stylish villa design in the region. It was a horizontally stripped in ochre and red, and the inside was very elaborate and stately .
Mike and Kate arrived a couple of hours later, with Charlie 4, Lulu 6, Mimi 8, Madelaine 9, and Myrna their housekeeper, who is from the Phillipines. And so started a great 2 week holiday in Puglia.
During the next two weeks we spent days, or half days at the beaches, you have two options, either the east (Adriatic Sea) or the west (Bay of Taranto) On the east is the town of Ortanto which is a beautiful seaside town with a wonderful church with a whole floor of mosaics, and underneath in a small chapel, crypt space are some great frescoes, both reminding me of Offida, and Ravenna. So well worth seeing that, otherwise it is a town to walk through the thin streets in the walled section, and eat at one of the many restaurants. Outside the wall are more modern restaurants and activities for families, like volleyball, beach, swimming, amusement section. You could easily spend a few days at this town, we went to beaches near by which were great , though most were very crowded in July, August.
On the west coast is the town of Gallipoli, which is also very beautiful, you reach the old part by a 14th century bridge, and then walk around the town, which is very seafood based, there are great restaurants here, we ate at one called Il Bastiogne. The town is more to visit for food, and the views from the small island are great at sunset, outside the island is rather average and not worth worrying about. Around Gallipoli we also went to some beaches, and a water fun park.
Then there is the town of Lecce, which lies in the middle, it is also walled, and typically is wonderful inside, but also not to bad outside, though it has spilled out and is surrounded by a hugh ring road, which makes it annoying sometimes getting of and on at the right place. Lecce is great at night, and also has probably more substantial and high standard restaurants, it has a main piazza, which has an old amphitheatre in it, there is also an older one just around from the piazza as well, both hold events and performances in them. Lecce is a great place to have a late evening walk around.
Puglia is a place of two sides, there are the wonderful towns of Lecce, Gallioploi, Ortanto, Ostuni, Alberobello, and in between are car drives of 30-45 minutes, and what lies in between can be worn down and neglected or failed buildings, and towns that seem closed. There are of course wonderful little towns but you need to spend the time in them to see that, Cavallino was an example just near us in San Cesario, and even Jayne said after walking around San Cesario , it grew on her and was quite nice. But you can't help feel that the place is in disrepair, something you don't see as much up North. They have a habit of dropping rubbish along the roads or in abandoned blocks, but the people are very nice and the food is of course very good, though you need to be slightly selective.
I had a feeling of Australia there, as there are many gum trees, but also the local italians remind me more of the Australian ones, they carry their eskies to the beach, use towels and small chairs instead of the lidos you see more up north, they have them but they are more for the tourists.
I would also say that down in the deeper south of Puglia where we were it is drier, flatter, and an hour north towards and past Ostuni it becomes hillier and greener. There are olive groves everywhere, with a stone trulli amongst them, often collapsed, and along the road a well made stone walls, that l felt may be there to keep stock in in the non olive months, the soil in the deep south looks average but it works and further north it becomes redder.
Most of the beaches are sand, but there are plenty that are rock coves. All the beaches are thin strips of sand with small lidos on them, along with the occasional bar setup, which is something l really like, as it makes going to the beach comfortable, you can get a lunch, coffee, beer, ice-cream, and usually a toilet and shower.
What Puglia is , is another region with its own foods and wine, and cultural experiences, and this is what makes Italy so terrific, the opportunity to travel in a reasonably short distance and explore a new world.
So the two weeks went well, all the kids got along well, and l guess Mimi and Ewan bonded, as they are both the quieter and softer in the families, and Hunter and Maddy sort of bonded as they are more individual and self interested. The boys loved Charlie who was a lot of fun and never complained, and l think liked being around the boys. Mike has a strong sense of food, and so often when arriving somewhere he would suggest we find somewhere to eat straight away, which became a bit of a joke sometimes, Kate and Jayne found time to relax and read, and l did a few things but not much.
We all left together and drove via Alberobello, where we saw a whole village of trulli stone buildings, infact so many it was a bit like a fairy town, especially with so many tourists, nearly every building sold tourist objects, but it is well worth seeing, as they are obviously very unique to Puglia.
We continued on and stayed the night at Chieti, in Abruzzo, which is a very old city set up on a hill. We stayed down below in a handy apartment and had dinner in a spanish restaurant in Chieti that night, we were the only customers, everyone had gone away to the beach. Chieti lies near Ortana and Pescara. From there we drove to Ripatransone, where Wendy Watson and Ted are staying for 6 weeks soon. It was a beautiful small town in the hills not far from the beaches, and close to Offida which is a place l love for its church and frescoes. It is also close to Ascoli Piceno where we stayed for a few days last year, and is famous for its towers, though like most places now its hard to find them. Ripatransone has the two thinnest lanes in Italy, 60 and 80 cm wide, and an interesting if not small archaeological museum, and some lovely small piazzas, with also great views over the countryside.
We arrived home safely, did our washing, and got ready to leave to Alicante, Spain in 2 days, but first we had to pick up our permessos, finally after 3 months.
