Update from the Amalfi Coast #3

Wednesday, May 18 – Again, we enjoy the day hanging out around the deck / pool.  We go for a walk in the opposite direction toward Altrani and Amalfi to buy bus tickets to go into Maiori tomorrow.  Oliver is going to take us out on his boat to tour the coastline – a price of $350 Euro which Mark does the double take, but I agree with Oliver that we’ll do it.   Might as well spurge a little. Jeffrey chimes in with “Dad, if we can afford to stay in this apartment we can afford to do the cruise with Oliver”.

Thursday, May 19 – We are up early and organized to catch the bus down the road a couple hundred meters from our place.  While we are waiting for the bus, we greet a local who lives across the road from the stop.  A few minutes later he crosses the road and hands us a couple of lemons he has grown and says ” they’re good to eat” we thank him and put them in our pack for later use.  The bus arrives on time – we flag it down on get on to a standing room only ride.  We arrive in Maiori in time to walk over to the pier and meet Oliver who is waiting with the boat.  It is a 40 ft. 16 ton wood hulled boat – in Oliver’s words “a classic”.  We are the only ones on board for the cruise that will take along the entire Amalfi coast.  It is a beautiful hot sunny day and the breeze on the water feels wonderful.  We leave the pier to travel south first, seeing the view of the coast from the water gives a much better understanding of the sheerness of the rock cliffs.  Our first stop is Pandora’s grotto which is a large enough for him to bring the boat inside.  Lots of natural light from outside illuminates the inside which we can see stalagmites and stalactites as well as some cool colors within this cave.

 

He backs out and we’re on our way further south.  We see a number of towers along the coastline as well as up on the ridges which were used for communication purposes hundreds of years ago watching for enemies.  They would signal to other towers that the enemy was coming!  Today some are inhabited by people as homes, some are restaurants (with awesome sea views!!) and some are abandoned and in disrepair.  There are some amazing places where people have built as well as great lengths people have gone toward building steps down to the water! 

We have a wonderful time boating south until we reach the tuna fishing port of Cenaro – southern point of Amalfi, where we turn around and head north as far as the resort town of Positano.  All along the way we see homes and estates perched on the terraced hillsides.  This area is best known for growing so many lemons, but there is also a thriving cheese, pasta and wine industry.  We have been enjoying all of these immensely.  We even have J eating buffala mozzarella!  We pass various towns nestled within the close hills making them appear as if the buildings are stacked one atop of another.  Within each town there is a beautiful church with magnificent domes and cloisters of bells, which tower over the other buildings.  We pass Minori, Maiori, Altrani, Amalfi, Furore, Praiano and finally Positano.  We enjoy conversing with Oliver, asking questions and enjoy his wonderful on board hospitality with lots of different beverages to choose from.  He gives J the opportunity to pilot the boat for about 25 minutes, a highlight for J!  Now he wants M to get us a boat!! 

We anchor in a bay close to Positano for lunch.  J and T go in for a very refreshing dip – neither stay long, but it does feel great!  Oliver prepares a wonderful lunch for us – fresh buns, buffala mozzarella with a tomato, cucumber, gerkin, onion and corn niblet salad – absolutely wonderful as we sit at a set table with chilled white wine and a coke for J.  Dessert is fresh pineapple and strawberries.  What a great way to spend the day we say to one another!!  We are now fully fortified and quite warm, M decides its time for a feet dangling in the water cool down.  Once out of the harbour, J takes over the helm for about 30 minutes as we make our way back to Maiori.  We pass 5 star resorts which play host to big name people, giant caves, Sophia Loren’s villa, and some great views of the roadway which at some points is built on the outer ridge of the cliffs!  We arrive back at the Maiori pier around 4pm, fully enthralled by the day.  We attempt to take the bus back to our place, but finding a tobacchi with bus tickets to where we want to go is elusive.  Meanwhile, J and M snag a gelato while mom searches for the bus tickets. We confer and decide to walk the distance.  It really wasn’t much further than the walk from Minori, maybe an additional one km. 

Friday, May 20 – We decide to use the bus tickets purchased earlier in the week to take the bus up to Positano – a place recommended to visit.  We must wait for our laundry to finish in Oliver’s machine.  The machines here seem to take longer to perform the wash cycle… today it seemed like it was never going to end!  It finally does and we rush down to the street below to catch the bus.  We are waiting along the oceanside of the road when a bus approaches – the driver sticks his head out and shouts he’s full there is another coming behind him soon.  Well, another arrives about 10 min. later, only to drive by as well!!  We are not impressed!!  Anyways, another family consult –“ What do you want to do mom?” Reply “Let’s walk into Amalfi and if we come across a bus to go to Positano, we can catch it there.”  We walk along the road for approx. 3.5 km and actually find a bus leaving within 5 minutes.  It is again standing room only, J managed to snag a seat for the 35 min. ride but M and T hang on doing their best to stay upright for the journey with its many curves.   

It was neat traveling on the bus.  Looking down to the water, there is plenty of opportunity to do so along the route, we were able to see where we had been the previous day.  The bus toots its horn as it approaches corners, and at times, come to a stand still when the roadway narrows.  There are times when cars nearly scale the rock walls to provide room for the busses.  Even though there are these times of slow progress, we note that the busses remain fairly true to the published schedule. Having never been to Positano, we do not know that you can not get down to the lower townsite and beach by bus, the lanes are too narrow.  We miss the first stop, but T pronounces, let’s get off at the next place.  We manage with the help of someone across the roadway, who hears us discussing where to find a staircase which will lead us down, we are able to find our way toward the water.  We arrive to narrow roadways, basically a bit wider than a car width lined with shops.  We quickly realize that this is far too crowded for what we want to experience.  For those who have gone on a cruise and shopped at a port, you will know the scene.  Lots of tiny shops, fairly narrow roadways with lots of people to dodge.  The town itself is very picturesque with its colorful buildings perched along the hillsides, but just too crowded for what we have been experiencing in the other towns along the coast.    We have come to realize that we much prefer the slower pace and atmosphere of the smaller towns.   M and J decide to find a pasticerria (a pastry shop) and T goes about for a quick shop in search of a bathing suit top.  Mission accomplished on both parties, we decide to search for the bus stop and catch the next bus back to Amalfi.  While waiting we converse with 4 young adults from Sask. Canada.  We often strike up conversations with people and really enjoy the chats and hear about their experiences along the way.  The bus arrives, we decide to get on the rear of the bus and avoid some of the crowd attempting to get on the front and find seats this time! YES!!  During the bus ride we have a chat with some folks from Portland Oregon. We arrive back in Amalfi and decide to not wait for the bus headed to Minori, and walk home.  By the time we are home, we all want a refreshment!!  Tonight, Oliver and his wife have invited us for dinner.  M agrees to and 8 pm date as 9 is pretty late for J.  We arrive upstairs from our apartment to their part of the villa, the view is even more spectacular. We are greeted with the traditional double cheek hugs and welcomes.   Candles are lit on the patio and we will dine al fresco.  Oliver likes to cook, he has prepared two Amalfi dishes – pasta with pepperocini (red chili peppers) and squid in olive oil as well as a local fish topped with a thin layer of mashed potato baked in the oven.  Both dishes are outstanding.  Piero also joins us and we have a delightful evening of laughter and conversation, great wine and great food.  What more could we ask for!  They have made us feel very comfortable and have truly added to a wonderful Amalfi experience.

Oliver even pulls out his acoustic guitar and performs a few songs for us.  It brought back memories of being a child at family picnics and the uncles would sing Italian songs with gusto and enjoyment – very nice!  It was just another one of those experiences of living in the culture of the locals – which we want to do on this trip. 

Saturday, May 21 Our last full day on the Amalfi Coast.  We decide to walk into Amalfi today to see if there are any art galleries.  As we walk along the road we notice a cruise-ship in the bay at Amalfi – could be busy….  Once we arrive in the main courtyard of the town the crowds are evident.  It is less crowded than yesterday at Positano, and we are on a mission.  Amalfi coast is also known for its ceramics – dishes, vases, as well as decorative tiles.  There are many shops with wares for sale, however we are not interested in that stuff today.  The clothing stores are cruise-ship wear which we are also not interested in, and the gallery we find does not have paintings that catch our eye, so we leave the shop area empty handed.  We have a gelato each – at a whopping price of 19 Euro – an extra $2 to have it in a bowl rather than a cone – perhaps the serving size was bigger – not clear….  Obviously we are experiencing the tourist prices.  The cathedral in Amalfi is very beautiful and up a steep set of stairs in the main courtyard.  The streets are again very narrow and lined with shops but as the roads ascend the number of shops decrease and apartments increase.

We return to our place to enjoy the view and pool.  Out in the bay is an ultra sleek yacht. Clearly news of the Shaw Adventure is getting out, as we learn from Oliver/Piero, that Naomi Campbell is on the yacht – obviously aiming to hob-nob with the Shaw’s now that we are back in Minori. As it happens, Brad Pitt, Angelina Joli, and Leonardo Di Caprio are also in the area (Oliver’s wife works at the 5 star resort in Ravello where they are staying), again likely seeking to be seen with the Shaws – but luck is not on their side today as we decide to just hang at the villa and enjoy the view. Oliver arrives from visiting his zio and zia and tells us he has some crepes for us.  He goes upstairs and bakes them and returns about 30 minutes with a container of piping hot crepes filled with soft cheese and prosciutto (chunks of ham) absolutely divine!!!  Tonight M is cooking carbonara pasta, with J as the sous-chef, and T has prepared veal cutlets, as we aim to finish off the groceries bought earlier in the week before we leave for Hamburg, via Napoli and Geneve tomorrow.

We are likely without good Internet for the next weeks - so posts may be seldom.

Update from the Amalfi Coast #2 Pompeii

Tuesday, May 17. We want to go see Herculaneum (Ercolano as its known today) and Pompeii.  Both of these UNESCO sites were close to Naples.  While M was researching Pompeii he came across an article that talked about Herc. a Roman town which had been covered by the same eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD as Pompeii. Someone came across this town in about 1750 (give or take a decade or two) while digging a well for their home.  It is an amazing site, located below grade of the actual modern day Ercolano.  The volcanic debris that landed on this town was such that it sealed the town preserving wood, cloth and other organic material.

             When we came upon it through the gates – it’s incredible how so much/many of the buildings survived.  One can see mosaics clearly visible on the floors, walls covered in marble with vivid color to provide décor.  Roadways laid with large stones and parts of temples still standing.  It really was like stepping back in time 2000 years (except for all the school tours and other tourists like us)!

 Pompeii is a much larger site with most people visiting there.  The busloads of tourists, and their guides were evident as we maneuvered through the crowds.  If we thought it was busy today – it must be just wild in the summer.  The area around Pompeii is much more commercialized with shops, snack bars, tourist bus parking lots, campgrounds etc.  It’s hard to believe that in a few hundred metres, you step back in time by two millennia!  The town-site of Pompeii was much bigger – with something like only a third of it open to public viewing.   Some places are still being excavated.  Here you get the sense of grandeur as we step through the basilica area (which was a word first used for judicial buildings and then later used to describe large cathedrals).   Into the forum area, basically the main square of the town, we see pillars still standing as well as parts of temples, shops, platforms for orating as well as for statues for the nobility.  The site itself is very big and one would be pressed to see all of it in a day.
We rented audio guides and learned much about the town and life of long ago.   As it is today, we learned about the importance of the water systems within the buildings and town, large stones elevated in the streets were crosswalks for when water was running in the streets.  We also had a chance to see a couple of preserved corpses complete with teeth, which had been discovered – with the body showing that the person had been running when covered with ash - amazing!

Update from the Amalfi Coast

May 13 – Friday We’re leaving Vieste, Puglia this morning to drive from the east coast slightly southwest to the Amalfi Coast.  Leaving Vieste, the road doesn’t quite seem so bad as coming in and not quite so long!  We admire the views when we can and Mark concentrates on the curves.  Once we get to the next town we have left the mountains and are now on the flat lands – reminds me of the flat of the prairies except very green.  Here the agriculture is grains, some row crops, and grazing land, and the first haying we seen so far on the trip.  We drive through the flat agri-land, next through verdant green foothills, and then to full out mountains (although not high like the Rockies.  As we approach Naples to head south, we are in mountain territory.  The Amalfi Coast is on the west side of these mountains.  The drive into the area of Minori where we are staying is along a coast road built in 1840.  It is built along the contours of the coast – thus twisty and winding and Narrow!!  Jeffrey is none too pleased about all the twists in the road as his stomach starts to protest. The mountains drop off directly into the sea, the only beach areas are in the few bays that have towns. Here are a couple of views from our deck...

We are met on the side of the road by Piero, and then directs us to a parking spot where we can unload for our accommodation, Oliver House.  Oliver, his uncle, who owns the place is also here to meet us.  Our house is perched on the hillside like most places in this area. Some seem really perched on the side of a mountain.

 Actually, it is built into the hillside!  We walk up a number of narrow concrete steps along a narrow concrete path, up more stairs, more path and more stairs to arrive at the house.  Turning around we now see the awesome view of the bay and the towns of Miori and Maiori.  We have a very private little area with the main road to the rest of the Amalfi coast right below us!  It is well outfitted with 2 large bedrooms and 2 large baths.  J is impressed that he has a flat screen in his room!  Oliver shows us around the place and wants to be sure we are pleased!

Outside there are olive and lemon trees, flowers in urns, loungers, and a roman-style bath/jacuzzi which I’m sure in the morning will be in full light- J was eyeing this with glee.  This place didn’t have a blue pool overlooking the sea like the ad on the net did.   When I questioned Piero, he tells me that that location is booked solid and he assured me I would much rather be here… we’ll see.  Oliver tells us where he buys his groceries.  The internet is down because of a storm last week, but he tells us we can use his internet key while we are here (which is for 10 nights)

We decide to drive into Maiori to buy groceries. We’ve already decided we won’t be driving everyday as the roads are narrow and there is lots of traffic with many busses and little parking.  It’s just not worth the hassle!  Anyways, we go into town, it’s still siesta time at 3:45, so we decide to go for a snack.  A couple of beer, a soda and a few snacks and we dish out $35 Euro!  Ouch!  We’re in tourist territory!!

Fortified by food, we were off to the grocery store to buy things for the week.  We are unable to buy fresh veggies and fruit that’ll wait until tomorrow to go to a vedure/fruitti stand. Back at Oliver House Teresa makes another wonderful dinner, add some wine, and we enjoy the evening on the deck at this wonderful spot.

Saturday, May 14 – We wake up to beautiful blue sky and the sun’s shining on the Jacuzzi pool.  J wants to go in first thing.  The water is cold – but he perseveres and goes in.  It takes T a good 20 min to get in up to her thighs, and M has no interest in getting in!!  Piero comes by and he asks if it’s warm enough – or would we like it warmer – warmer please!  And he goes down below to increase the temperature.  The pool is about twice the size of our hot tub made out of what else…. concrete!  The Italians LOVE their concrete!!!  From the pool we have a view of the bay below – ah lovely! 

Piero helps Mark get the internet key to work as well as brings a couple of bottles of wine, and a big pot to cook pasta (he has lent us his for the week).   He is a wonderful guy who is very welcoming and wants to ensure we do not want for anything.  He happens to live on the other side of this villa.

We enjoy the day just hanging out, J in the hot tube, M and T on the deck, all soaking in the views. Later in the afternoon we decide to walk to town to go to pick up produce.  We are told to walk on the ocean side of the road.  J is in the lead and M is in the rear.  It does get a bit hair-raising when busses are passing within a foot of where we are walking.  We virtually cling to the concrete walks as we walk along.  We have been watching the traffic from our deck where at times traffic comes to a stand still as two busses meet each other along the road.  As we are walking – this happens.  In front of us we see cars parked as close to the rock/concrete wall as they can and a bus inching its way along in the opposite direction with inches to spare between the cars and the rock wall on the other side, a tour guide is walking in front of the bus – telling people to move their cars over giving directions to the bus driver.  We inch our way past the traffic jam and carry on into town. We find a flight of steps, allowing us to get off the roadway and make our way into town.  We walk around and explore, a truly fun pastime. We stop for a cappuccino and some excellent desserts. T tells us that she really wants to get some lemoncelo (liqueur) here as this is one thing the area is known for. M and J walk around a couple of corners and find a lemoncello factory!  We buy a little bottle and ask how long it takes to make.  The owner tells T it takes two days and makes it by hand.  Using something similar to a potato peeler, he peels the zest off, then adds it to his vat of alcohol and sugar and lets it ferment.  Apparently the Amalfi coast is noted for sfugato lemons – which are lemons much larger than what we find in N. Am. They use lemons in lots of cooking and baking.  

We stop at a vegetable shop where we pick up a number of things to round off the array of groceries we have picked up.  We are really enjoying the fresh produce – tomatoes that are wonderfully sweet, lemons and oranges just picked from the trees, fennel and fava beans (which we had before in Greece) and are learning to cook with.  Loaded down with fresh produce we head back to the villa.  This time T leads, and M in the rear.  Again there are places where we wait for traffic to go by as it makes us nervous where the road gets narrow especially on blind corners. We turn around as noise increases behind us to see a rally of Harley Davidson riders – we decide to count – 94 in all! WOW!

Sunday, May 15 - Another beautiful day – we’ve decided to hang here enjoying the pool, view and warmth, as well as get caught up on loading photos and editing stuff.  It is a very relaxing day admiring the beauty around us.  One thing we really notice is the use of terraces to create small portions of flat ground to grow fruit trees and gardens - you folks from Trail should really appreciate these shots.

  From our vantage we first see likely another 100 motorbikes (not Harleys this time) and then see another 150  or so scooter riders pass by our place- this time they are being escorted by a sirened vehicle.  We know when busses are approaching the corners as they toot their horns to warn oncoming motorists.  They don’t exactly go slow as they drive these roads!  Oliver stops by this evening on his way out with 2 bottles of white wine and we chat while he waits to go out with his friends.  We get a bit of his life story, born and raised in the area, his livelihood if off of tourists who come and rent rooms at one of three villas which he owns. We have found by chatting with people, we have been treated differently as time goes on.  For example, when I asked about laundry upon our arrival, Oliver said we could have it sent out .  By Sunday – he was offering the use of his personal washer for us to use.   The Italians do love kids, J was offered extra helpings of pasta on a couple of occasions as well as free dessert.  They are impressed that he tries to converse in Italian with them – this makes them smile and show appreciation.  

Monday, May 16 – Today is overcast – well partially overcast – which makes a perfect day to go explore.  We decide that we will go to the town of Ravello located up in the hills above the villa.  Piero offers us a ride up and we gladly accept.  Up into the hills we go along more twising roads to a beautiful town nestled on the top of the mountain. It has a couple of areas where it is flat, which is not usual for towns not located down at water level.  Both Minori and Maiori have beaches.  Maiori has the largest one on the Amalfi Coast and it might be1 km long.  Ravello is known for its lush green gardens and it lives up to its name.  There are two villas here occupying some of the flat area with gardens for people to go through and enjoy  (for a price of course). The town site of Ravello has restricted vehicle access (permit only), Piero has one, so we get further into the townsite along one-vehicle-wide streets to a park.

We enjoy walking along the walkways which have many beautiful courtyards and vines climbing along the walls as well as urns filled with flowers.

One of Ravello’s claim to fame is having the beauty that influenced the famous composer Richard Wagner in composing Parsifal.  Piero tells us many people come to Ravello to get married.  They also host a number of music festivals during the summer months with renowned conductors and artists. We viewed the gardens at Villa Cimbrone, which had some statues that were so lifelike...

 re-designed in early 1900’s to replicate rose gardens from the UK and get a wonderful panoramic view of the coastline from the town of Amalfi down to Salerno. 

Of course, J is hungry – couldn’t eat while we were at the villa – no sir!  So, off we go to find a restaurant to enjoy.  The owner comes around and waits on our table and she’s pleased J finished his ravioli – which was delicious of course, and offers him a second helping.  He turned her down – even though she came back a second time to be sure.  A little while later, she came by and brought him a free dessert.  I don’t think they get many young kids coming here as I think it’s more of a tourist place.  Or maybe it’s just because he sounds so sweet and innocent when he tries out his Italian. 

We had read that one could walk down from Ravello to Minori through a series of staircases., the word is there are 1100 steps!  With some help for directions from a gentleman, we locate the beginning of our trek.  Now, yesterday we did a leg workout so the legs had been tried.  By the time we got near step 800 or so, we were feeling the effect of all the walking.  We stopped a few times to give the shaky leg muscles some much needed rest.  It was wonderful walking down amongst houses and gardens.  We did meet an older gentleman taking his time going up.  J commented on how he’s glad he doesn’t have to do this everyday.  It would certainly be all quite the exercise regime!!  We were very happy to arrive home and have some much needed refreshments!

Jeffrey's Italy Videos Post #3 - Vieste

Here is another one of Jeffrey's videos.

For those of you wondering why I posted the video of the car in the narrow street - it was not because it was Jeffrey's first video, it was not because we have so amazed by the narrow streets (although we have been) - no it was because when I checked out the post myself I could not get that video to play - so then I uploaded it again and THEN I found out what I had been doing wrong and it worked - so there you have it and you can enjoy more J's Video Productions now.

Update from Puglia #2 - Vieste

Tuesday, May 10 – It’s time to leave Francovilla Fontana and drive to Vieste, Puglia which is basically on the “spur of the Italian Heel” as described in one of the tourist books.  We left around noon after having breakfast, our workout, packing up and paying the bill .  Before leaving I went looking for Luigi to purchase some of the products that they make. Purchased an eggplant tapenade, olive tapenade, a fruit vinegar (like hi octane balsamic vinegar), lemon olive oil, and fruit chutney good with meat or cheese.  Luigi gave me a discount on what was chosen and then added for free a couple of small cans of organic olive oil, a couple of jars of different olives as well as some marinated figs.  We will certainly enjoy these things when we head to the Amalfi Coast at the end of the week. 

            Leaving the area we head toward Bari, on the coast, with a large central train station.  We want to see if we can arrange our train trip from Geneve to Hamburg, and our sleeper car for the overnight trip back from Hamburg.  Along the way we want to see if we can locate these cool caves we saw in a brochure.  We travel north and locate the exit and drive up into rolling hills planted with fruit, crops and olives.  It is very picturesque.  We see many trulli homes – lots are restored, but some are not – which gives a sense of what they must have looked like in years gone by. We arrive at the caves only to find that we must take a guided 1 hour tour which would leave in 45 min. Well, it was already 2:45 so we had a “Shaw family” discussion and decided to forgo the tour as we weren’t sure how long we’d be in Bari and how long it would be to reach our destination.

            We drove into Bari and for a large city – it was quite tame in the traffic department!!  We located the station with Navi’s help of course, and after standing in line for about 20 min. found out we couldn’t make the bookings we wanted to while in Italy… Oh well, we get on our way out of the city to head north and then east to Vieste, Puglia.

            Vieste is a town of 13,500 people surrounded by Gargano National Park.  As we get near the park we drove along the coast for about 40 km on twisting, winding roads with many sharp turns resulting in a thought “Where have I booked and what have I gotten us into for the next few days!!!”  When we finally reach the area on the eastern coast, it is beautiful with many beaches.  It certainly wasn’t appearing that way when we were driving along the cliffs!  I can see why it is an Italian summer destination spot.  We locate our residence, perched on the hill overlooking the town and harbor.  It is a beautiful day and the color of the sea is two toned – green near the shore and dark blue out on the horizon.  The place is only 2 years old and has WI-FI  !!!! at a much quicker speed than we have been finding, as well as pool and games room.  We are all very pleased with the place.

            According to Gaetano – the caretaker of our facility, today is the last day of a four-day religious celebration of Santa Maria and there are festivities in the town center and fireworks at midnight.  We decide to go out for dinner as we have arrived at 6:30 and we don’t feel like going to buy groceries to cook.  The town is hopping at 7:30 when arrive and locate a parking spot.  We amble up one of the streets and decide to stop at a couple of markets to pick up a few things for breakfast.  After dropping things off in the car, we follow the various signs posted for centro and go in search of a restaurant.  Along some of the main thoroughfares there are lit decorations that appeared to be along the lines of what we would see for streetlight Christmas decorations.  We had seen these in a couple of towns prior to here, I had thought they must be in conjunction with May the month of Mary.

            We walked around and listened to a local band performing dressed in their customary outfits entertaining the crowd.  We found a restaurant serving seafood dishes and locally caught fish.  A  little pricey for the secondi piatti of a grilled fish which Mark had.  They charged him $20 Euro ($28 Can) for a whole grilled fish with nothing else on the plate except a couple of slices of lemon….  Good thing it was tasty! 

            We did have to do a bit of backtracking once we finished our dinner to locate our car.  We got a bit turned around with all the side streets etc.  So, we followed the “leader’s” advice of “let’s retrace our steps and go back to the restaurant and start all over again. “ Lo and behold we were able to locate the familiar streets and head for home – what a good leader we have!!!

            Once back at the apartment J wanted to stay up for the fireworks, so we waited around for midnight to arrive.  T was tired, and told the boys to wake her when the fireworks started.  12:15 arrives and there still are no fireworks.  We decide to give them to 12:30 and sure enough at 12”25 they start.  For a little town, the display was wonderful – lasting about 25 minutes.  Our accommodation overlooks the city and harbor – so we had a wonderful vantage to view the magical colors!  What a nice unexpected treat!!!

Wednesday, May 11 – After working out and breakfast, we needed to go down into town to find some groceries for the next couple of days.  We find a small supermarket where we pick up almost everything we need – including wine of course, and beer for sitting in the hot sun.  We are in a shop which has 1 person working – she’s cashier, deli attendant and grocery bagger all in one.  As consequence, when we are ready to purchase all our items, we must wait for almost 10 minutes while she finishes serving people at the deli counter before coming up front to put through our order.  We still do not have everything, so we split up. M goes for fresh produce and J and T go pickup a couple of other items. 

Our complex has a wonderful pool area where we spend the afternoon enjoying the warmth of the sun, the view of the town and splendor of the area.  J has a great time swimming even though the water is a bit chilly. We also get caught up on our laundry situation as the laundry bag was getting quite full. 

Thursday, May 12 – Usual morning routine completed, we go down into Vieste to look around.  We can see a fortress structure atop the hill in the town we want to check out as well as wander around the streets.  A good deal of this town is relatively young – with many apartment complexes that appear new.  This likely has something to do with the promotion of tourism in this area of many fine beaches.

We come across marble tiled streets and staircases.  It’s siesta time while we are walking around – so you can hear people in the neighborhoods having lunch and hanging.  We enjoyed walking along the sea wall – saw the remains of a hull of a ship, which had beached itself.  We walked up to the fortress which we were not able to walk around in as the Italian military are still using it as posted by signage and the radar turning on the roof of the structure.

We happened along a walkway which took us down near the water where there were a couple of sea caves – there are quite a few in this area as stated in the tourist brochure. We could see how a portion of the town was built on a cliff adding a vantage point for overlooking the harbor to protect the coast.  We took some photos and J made a video and then we were off to the apartment for the rest of the afternoon spent around the pool.  Today it is warmer than yesterday and the pool is already beginning to warm up.  Another wonderful afternoon spent here and its our last before we are off the Amalfi Coast. 

 

Jeffrey's Italy Videos - Mark trying again

Jeffrey's Italy Videos Post #1

Update from Puglia

May 6 Friday – Today we’re leaving Calabria for the region of Puglia -  “the heel of the Italian boot”.  Our route takes us north through some hilly country for about an hour, then we head east which takes us along the “instep of the boot”. As we travel along the turquoise blue Ionian Sea we pass some tourist spots and towns, yet we can clearly see this area is based on the agricultural industry, and the landscape had flattened out, no sign of mountains now, just the odd small hill.  We are amazed yet again at the enormous amount of fruit trees, vegetables and olive groves.  Again we saw kms and kms of covered crops and trees – sometimes as far as the eye could take in!  Our trip over to our next accommodation is completed in about 4 hours under beautiful blue sky, with a stop on a beach for a picnic lunch.

            We arrive in Francavilla Fontana with ease.  However, once we get into the town, we do manage to get a bit turned around trying to get out to the specific road.  So, we pull over, backtrack and come across the route Yeah!  We are told that the accommodation is “exactly” 4 km from town. We travel 4 km and we don’t come across it – UGH!  We pulled in to a place and I ask a woman where Masseria Palmo is – who tells me in Italian it is another couple of km down the road.  Finally we arrive to the “grand entrance” we were told to watch out for, and conclude the end of town must not be where we thought it was !  Masseria Palmo is designated agriturismo, which is an actual working farm also offering accommodation for tourists.

                        We are absolutely delighted by the place.  It is an active olive plantation producing olive oil – both organic as well as extra virgin olive oil - which sits on 250 acres.  As well as olives while M and I walk around we come across fig trees, apricots, peaches, lemon, orange and almond trees. The rooms are actually located in a building, at one time was part of the storage and working areas for the oil making facility as well as canning of other produce grown here.  We have a 2 bedroom suite beautifully appointed and in the typical architecture.  The buildings have stone interior as well as white plaster and the ceilings are curved and arched.

            This is a bed and breakfast, so we need to go in search of a restaurant for dinner.  We trace our steps back to the town of Francavilla Fontana and park in an area busy with people.  We go in search of a restaurant, other than a pizzeria or a coffee/gelato shop.  The coffee shops are very popular in this city, however, we have great difficulty locating an actual restaurant.  This surprises us as we have not encountered this anywhere else we have been.   J is complaining about all the walking we’ve been doing with no luck and he’s getting hungry.  So, after walking around for about 30 minutes, we decide to go back to the car and drive around some, thinking, maybe we’re in the wrong part of the city for restaurants…..  Anyways we come across another area busy with people and park and finally find a restaurant, although it was primarily a pizzeria.  Now at this restaurant we order fried mozzarella.  We think – “ah, we know what that is.  We enjoyed it in Taormina, let’s order 2 orders this time.”  Well…. When the orders arrive we stare in amazement because what we thought would be deep fried crusted mozza pieces are actually two ½ inch slabs of mozzarella quickly fried so they are slightly melted plunked on each plate!!  We didn’t think we’d be having a half pound of cheese for a starter!!  Oh well, we did manage to eat most of it, before getting tired of it!

           

Saturday, May 7 – It’s a beautiful day with sunny blue skies!  We went over to the main house for a delightful breakfast which was laid out for us by Jenny, the owner.  We have all the delights of a continental breakfast along with some products prepared here – such as jams and baking.  We are seated in beautiful surroundings and enjoy a big breakfast.  Now we’re ready to explore!

            Today we are off to travel to the tip of the “heel of the boot”.  We’ve already done the toe, drove across the instep, now it’s the heel.  It will take about 2 hours to get to Leuca, Castrignano Del Capo.  Our first order of business before our adventure is to go to a train station so we can book our first class tickets on the train for our upcoming trip to Northern Germany on May 23.   We have learned that in order to be sure of a seat in 1^st class, it is advantageous to pay the extra 10 Euro each to reserve seats.  We found this out when we wanted to get on the train from Paris to Milan and there weren’t any seats available on the preferred departure time train.  We ended up having to book a longer train route.  We had first tried the station in Pizzo but it was very small and had no one there, now we try the Francavilla station, but it is also not a big enough centre to have a full time ticket person, so we had to engage plan B.  Drive to Brindisi – a large centre about 40 km away, which we have to go past anyway.  Plugged in Navi – and away we went in search of the station.  We’ve learned the Navi sometimes takes us on some weird routes but he did get us to our destination within this larger city.  Here the train station is larger and busy and we are in luck with a ticket agent.  Armed with information already plugged into our translator program I was able to get the tickets we wanted.  A good thing M had spent the time the night before researching and typing everything in, because the ticket lady hardly spoke any English!  It made the ticket processing much much easier.  Now M could relax about us having our most critical tickets secured, the leg from Napoli to Geneve. 

            To the tip of the boot we are headed now!   We drive through flat landscape with millions of olive trees – and a couple days later M spent time calculating as only an engineer would do, to estimate how many we drove past today (about 5 million or so).  As we head south toward the tip, the architecture changes as well, definitely influenced and similar to Greece.  We arrive in Leuca and it is beautiful – the sea is calm.  We drive to and park on the promenade along the beach.  Here there isn’t much for sandy beach, there are a few of smaller areas where sand exists, otherwise it is serious rock.  We take off our shoes and socks, sit along a concrete dock and put our heels in the water at :the tip of the heel” and do the photo shoot!  The water was brisk, but the longer in the water, the more acclimatized our feet became.  We decide to walk around and enjoy the warmth of the sun.  I wandered along the long promenade and noticed installed metal staging along the rocks in front of hotels.  They will put decking on these for the summer months for sunbathing.   No long sandy beaches here!  It is a beautiful spot though.  It’s understandable why people would spend time here for vacation!

            After refreshments at a bar – which is an actual outdoor café, we decide on a different route to return back.  We travel north through more olive groves and as we near Francavilla area, about 60 km south we come across some serious grape growing area.  Here the soil is a different, darker colour than the red earth that is under the olive trees where we are staying. 

We decide to head to Ostuni for dinner tonight – it is about 16 km northeast of where we are staying.  This is a more popular spot with tourists due to its architecture and historic city centre.  I have searched Tripadvisor for restaurants and reviews and have chosen Ristorante Odissea for dinner located near the historic centre.   With the help of Navi we locate the restaurant.  We arrive at the door to find that it doesn’t open until 7pm – it’s 6:40.  We wander around the town a little and conclude we must come back another day so we can explore.  From the vantage point on a walkway along the edge of the old city, we can see the valley below and the green of the groves below us.  Definitely the green is more prominent than buildings! 

We arrive at the restaurant at 7:15 and walk in just behind our waiter – as he appears moments later dressed in garb which he didn’t have on as we came in….  The place is empty of course - only the English come out to eat early.  The restaurant is an old olive oil plant which has been totally renovated to be a restaurant yet maintaining and restoring some of the area where they pressed the olives…  The place is enchanting with the heavy wooden tables and wood and wrought iron chairs.  Again the ceiling is arched in many places with stone and plastered walls and ceilings – very cool!

Tonight we enjoy a first class dinner with everything being top-notch.  We talked to the waiter, with T doing a great job in Italian thus learned, and find out that most people don’t arrive for dinner in this area until around 9 – 10 at night, sometimes even as late as 11.  We asked what do the people do with kids and he said often the kids fall asleep at the table!  He said he appreciated us English coming in early.  We spent 1 ¾ hours here and we were the only ones in the place.  While we were waiting for our incredible desserts to be prepared, our waiter took us down to the cellar which was below where we sat for dinner and showed us where they used to press the olives and store things.  It was very old – large stone block patched floors – cool!!  A wonderful night spent together!

Sunday May 8 – Today is Mother’s Day and Jeffrey’s 10^th birthday.  He’s been counting down the days until he could open his presents.  He wanted heelys (a sneaker that was wheels in the heel so you can glide along), and an Italian national team soccer jersey.  We also surprised him with a pair of Italian national team shorts as well as a Air Italia plane to add to his collection and a couple of DVD’s for our TV less nights.  He was super excited to get his gifts.  As well, we thought of checking whether we could get to see a pro soccer game while we were in Italy.  With 3 weeks left in the regular season we were fortunate to find a game in Lecce, a city only about 1 ¼ hour from here.  M researched where we could buy game day tickets and we were successful with the help of Navi to locate the shop.  We had to wait in line for a while, but we were successful in getting 3 tickets to today’s match Lecce vs Napoli.    With several hours before game time we decided to go to the beach outside of Lecce on the Adriatic Coast to spend some time in the sun. 

We had a nice time at the beach for a couple of hours and then drove back in to find a spot to park.  Lots of the locals parked along the highway exits close to the stadium having us wonder if there was any parking left at the stadium – perhaps they didn’t want to pay for parking like at home.  We arrived at the stadium grounds to find that there were indeed lots of spaces – hmm, maybe it was for after the game so they could get away quicker….

We wore our Canada shirts and J his new Italian soccer suit and Canada hat to the game.  A number of people commented on “Canada”.  Once in the stadium, we found our seats to be in a great spot on the home team side in the shaded area.  35 Euro for an adult and 5 Euro for a child.  We had a great view of the entire field.  The stadium was alive with chants as soon as we arrived.  The Napoli fans were situated in one section of the stadium – separated from the rest of the home fans by high fences.  As an extra precaution there were security guards lined up near the home Lecce fans to ensure nothing was thrown or occurred between the two groups.  The noise in the stadium was very loud – such that we almost had to shout to hear each other talk.  We had a great time watching the passionate fans cheer and jeer!   The bonus of the afternoon was that Lecce (a team much further down in the standings than Napoli) actually won the game 2 – 1 and the crowd was jubilant!   A great way to spend a sunny afternoon!!  J was pleased we were able to get tickets.

We drove back to Ostuni (past another 2 million olive trees – by M’s calcs)

 and found a place in an outdoor café to have dinner and then we returned to Ristorante Odissea for dessert.  T had a plate of local cheeses with a glass of red wine and the boys each enjoyed a dessert.  A great way to cap off Mother’s Day and J’s 10^th birthday!

Monday, May 9^th  While having breakfast, Jenny the owner came in and asked us if we wanted to have a tour of the main house and facilities.  Of course we readily agreed.  First she took us to show the remainder of the restaurant rooms as well as the huge industrial sized kitchen.  J was impressed “Boy dad, this kitchen is just like in Food Networks “Top Chef”!”  It was impressive and gleaming. Next she lead us down to a tasting room where it was rock walls with wine barrels.  She also showed us old pottery casks/jugs which were used to store wine prior to oak barrels.  Now this room is a wine cellar with the testing tables and all – a wonderful atmosphere!

She explained that the restaurant used to be where the animals were kept – high ceilinged area was where the tall animals were kept and the lower ceiling sections were where the chickens, sheep etc were kept.  Now it’s been totally renovated to look palatial and grand.  A great deal of sweat equity went into this loving restoration.

Next, Luigi, her husband and whose family restored the buildings and run the plantation, took us to the area where they process the olives to make oil.  The press is enormous with large very heavy rock wheels, which turn in a vat and crush the olives.  He told us that they have 20 000 olives trees and made 1 Million L of olive oil last year (a year with uncharacteristicly low sunshine) and this year they hope to make 2 Mil.  Some is organic and some is processed into Extra Virgin.  The place gleams with huge stainless steel storage containers.  As well, there were stacks of 10 L metal tins ready to be shipped throughout Europe.  They do not yet ship to N. Am.  They also make a lemon olive oil (a mixture of 50% olive 50% lemon) we sampled and plan to buy a bottle to take along with us.  His mother preserves a number of other products which they sell – figs, vinegars, jams, and condiments to accompany meats which are recipes passed down from generation to generation.  We had a great time sampling the various products and Luigi was so pleased to share his love of the place and products with us.  They are definitely proud of their business and they should be!!

Today was our day to get caught up on blog writing and other paperwork which we needed Wi-Fi for – as we don’t always have access to it.  It’s amazing how we miss not having the net – especially when we want to do research for another part of the trip…

Later in the afternoon, we decided to go explore Ostuni – “La citta biancha” the white city.  Along the way we see a trulli, which are circular stone huts with cone shape roofs where peasant families used to dwell, a number of them have been restored for homes and tourists.   As with all the Italian cities, there is an old centro (centre), which overlooks the valley and sea below in the distance where we wander along narrow passageways and staircases within 90% old white buildings, the other color is beige/stone.

 We meander through and come across various shops and restaurants off the main pathways.  We decide to stop off at a little shop we had passed the day before, where an older Italian gentleman who we think is in his mid-late 70’s carves spoons and cooking utensils from olive wood.  He didn’t speak English, but with my Italian and he speaking fairly slowly, he lovingly explained and demonstrated each implement.  He had a small orange box filled with his completed wares.  He so enjoyed chatting away – eventually I began getting only about 60% of what he was saying, but here’s the jest…. He does everything by hand using no machines.  He has lots of tourists come but sometimes they don’t want to pay the price for what he does.   His place is not like the other tourist shops.   We purchase 3 beautifully handcrafted spoons to stir the sugo once we return to Canada and bid him Ciao and go on own way.

On the advice of Luigi, we go to another town nearby for what he said in Italian – the best local cuisine around.  We locate this restaurant, not accessible by road, we meander up staircases to find this former convent turned restaurant.  It is just after 8 pm and we are still the first to arrive!  Shortly, a group of Italians come in as well.  We are treated to an even better tasting meal than at Odissea from the other night.  We choose pureed fava beans with local vegetables, rabbit stew, pork shank and homemade osceilli (flat disc) pasta with pomodoro (tomato) and hard ricotta – we didn’t even know you could get any form but soft…

To cap it off, M and I have a cheese platter served with honey and a sweet wine and are instructed to eat the cheeses in sequence.  What an array of flavor, the honey and sweet wine enhanced the cheese.  What a wonderful way to end the evening.  J of course had ciocolatto gelato.