Believe it or not I'm still having a great time!! Feet are getting much better. Weight is questionable, although my pants still fit. Every night I have pasta, salad & a main course plus wine. Food has been wonderful throughout. Fish, meat, pasta, wine - Buonissimo!!! So far there isn't too much chicken in this part of Italy.
Here is my adventures since my last email...
5/29/10 - I took a short local train from Lecce to my next destination - the hillside town of Ostuni. I booked a B&B on the phone that I found in my guidebook. There is a bus that meets the train & takes you the 6km up to town. The train was late so no bus. I called Georgio (mgr of B&B) who picked me up from the station with his Smart car (tiny, just enough room for me & bags). The B&B was located up the hill from the old town & on top floor of the bldg (whew! Did I get my exercise here). Stayed here 4 nts. & thanks to Georgio's help was able to rent a car for 2 days @ 30Euros/day. Had lots of places I wanted to visit & car is only practical way.
1st afternoon took a bus to small town of Martina Franca. All the towns in this region have an old "centro storico" or old city. Their streets are narrow & meander around. Very quaint & charming. spent a few hours here.
5/30/10 - Spent morning exploring old town of Ostuni. Most of building are whitewashed & of course there is a Cathedrale. Very lovely but was able to see everything in a few hours.
Decided to take a train to Bari in the afternoon to scout for hotel later in the week. Bari is one of bigest cities in area & the guidbooks don't give it much attention. I was there on a Sunday so streets were really empty but I really liked this city. Found a place for 1 nt when I leave Puglia. Visited some of centro storico & Castello Normanno-Svevo which was the site of an earlier Roman fort built by Frederick II. It is huge. Headed back to Ostuni & had one of best dinners in old town there.
5/31/10 - Was picked up at my B&B with my Fiat Panda rental car arranged by Georgio. A father & son have a repair garage in nearby town & rent some cars. I filled out paper work & was on my way. No credit card needed, just pay them when I return the car.
Had a busy & great day! Visited the small towns of Cisternino & Locototondo before heading to Alberobello. This town is noted for it's collection of trulli's which are cylindrical, whitewashed buildings with grey conical roofs & are used mainly as dwellings. Spent a few hours here wandering around. Stumbled on a trulli where owner invited me in along with few other people. Very interesting. Left a small donation. He was real nice but only spoke Italian. There was a couple from France & young couple from Rimini. They spoke great English & translated for me.
Decided to make a trip to Matera & secure my B&B there. Got another one from my guide book that is located next to Piazza Duomo which is highest point in the Sassi (I'll explain latter). What a fabulous city situated on two hills with a revene in between. Made my reservation & headed back to Ostuni. Had dinner at small place in Cisternino. Got back about 10pm. All in all had a super day.
6/1/10 - Had an event packed day planned that also turned out great. Left from Ostuni & headed along the beaches of the Adriatic Sea. Lots of small villages with resorts & fish restaurants. Heard about the ancient city of Egnazia. It was first settled in 5th century BC. Was later colonized by the Greeks & Romans in 244 BC. It was finally abandoned in 10th Century AD after much turmoil. It was very interesting site & ruins were easy to view.
From there I went to Calstellana Grotte which is caverns that are suppose to be some of the best in Europe. Unfortunately due to "siesta mode" was not able to visit so I went on to Castel del Monte. A hugh fortification built by Frederick II (remember him from the Bari fort) which is considered the finest surviving examples of Swabian architecture. He really got around. This castle/fort is situated on top of a hill overlooking the entire countryside. It is kind of a ripoff to see this castle. They will not let any cars up the hill so they charge 4 euros for parking & the shuttle. It was free since I'm over 65.
After this I decided to visit Altamura which is another medieval town that is considered the bread capital of the region. Tried to find the tourist office & got a bit lost. Talked with this older gentleman who owned a carpet store & he walked me to the tourist office which was about 5 minutes from his store. He only spoke Italian but was so nice & when we got to the office it was closed so he took me to another. That is the kind of people in these small towns. Found an antica forno (old bread oven) & bought my loaf of super bread for 1 euro.
Headed back to Ostuni & had dinner in Alberobello at another lovely restaurant on the main street going out of town. Another wonderful day. I'm so glad I had the car. My GPS got me lost a few times & even took me on dirt roads but I got home safely.
6/2/10 - Today was a National Holiday in Italy so everything was closed & running on Festivi schedule. Took my car back to turn it in & when I got there it was all closed up. Kind of got worried & tried to call them but had no service on my phone. About 10 minutes later the father came out of a house across from the garage. He called his son & we settled up and the father drove me to Ostuni station. He took the scenic route & pointed out friends houses along the way. What a great experience from this family.
It still amazes me how the Italians can function here with the policies on midday breaks & weekends. There is a separate train line that covers this part of Italy & it is not part of Trenitalia. Ferrovia Apulano Lucane does not operate trains on Sunday or holidays but they do have a bus.
I had to take the train to Bari & then catch a bus to Matera since the local train line didn't run on Sundays or Holidays. I found out where to catch the bus (4 euros) & off I went. The bus stopped in several small towns before arriving in Matera. I was counting on my GPS to take me to my B&B and it let me down a bit. It tried to take me all over town but luckily I visited the place when I made reservations so I figured out how to get there. It took about 35 minutes to walk with all my bags but I made it. The place was amazing. I had a room that was in the mountain overlooking a whole section of the city. I had a refrigerator, hot plate & utensils so that I could make eggs the next morning. These are the first eggs I've had for breakfast since I've been in Italy. There were 3 steps up to the bedroom. Rate was highest I've paid so far (55 euros/nt) but I loved it. The owners were nice but not very helpful & they never cleaned, made up or changed linens during my 3 night stay. Se la vie!
6/3/10-6/4/10 - The old town of Matera dates from the Middle Ages is built on the Sassi - literally stones - an intricate series of terraced caves. There are 3 main areas - Civita or the old city; Sasso Caveroso; & Sasso Barisano. Both of the Sasso's are divided by a ravene. You walk in a big arc to all area & then head down into the ravene. I wandered around for 2 days & saw most of it. The churches are also amazing here. Unfortunately it rained 1 day very hard so it somewhat stopped me but got to see most of it. Ran into a travel agent in town that spoke perfect English & she was great help to me. Matera is amazing & my favorite city so far! even though I did like Lecce a lot!
6/5/10 - Left Matera in the morning. B&B said I had to be out by 10am. Was able to find a bus part of way up hill back to train station. Was able to take the train to Bari instead of the bus. Much better trip. Arrived in Bari & wandered around through the old town & visited the churches here. This time it was during the week & the city was bustling. Had a great dinner at a fish restaurant near the Statione Maritima. Fish was wonderful. There was a rock concert in the main plaza for the old city and I stopped for short time to listen to the music. Went back to the B&B I booked which was not my favorite but conveniently located 2 blocks from the train station for my early morning train to Bologna. I'll cover Bologna & rest of journey in my next email.
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