During the tour there were excursions from the hotels and “stopovers”, en route between hotels.
They were a mixed bag, caused by some poor weather, some badly chosen locations and, in many parts of Puglia, it was “out-of-season” and places were closed. Some locations were, however, delightful places to spend time, with surprising sights to see and interesting shops, cafés & restaurants to visit.
Photos are in the Photo Album (link above).
We arrived around midday, just in time for lunch. We’d never heard of Trani and were delighted to have discovered it.
It had a charming “old town” and a working harbour. We had a panini lunch overlooking the fishing fleet docked around the harbour.
A bright sunny day enhanced the visit.
The first of 3 visits today. We had a local guide on board and were told she’d be with us for our entire time in Puglia. Not impressed (neither were the coach crew). Lots of irrelevant information, mostly about Saints and churches. She offered no timings, meeting points etc. The coach crew had to fill in the blanks!
Having walked us to the caves entrance, our guide went to buy tickets and then separated us into steps or lift groups. We hung around for about 20 minutes until she handed us over to the cave staff who were very organised, well informed and efficient.
These caves are undoubtedly the most spectacular we’ve ever visited (and we’ve seen a few!); well worth the “messing about”.
The guide was absent when we emerged. Fortunately, a few of us remembered the way back to the coach.
This is UNESCO-WHS, home to a vast number of the conical trulli homes typical of Puglia.
We decided to abandon the guide. We’ve visited here before and she was directing people up a steep street that, we knew, led to very little. We think she was headed to the church by a roundabout route. She was OCD about Christianity.
We strolled into the main square to look for a drink and a snack. The vultures were circling. The town was bustling so all the cafés would only serve a lunch and most were busy. We found a table and ordered a couple of very tasty panini and drinks. Now, admittedly, I ordered a “large” beer which was large enough to float the Titanic and Margaret has 3 small cups of tea. The vultures landed and handed us a bill for €51. Not impressed.
We took some time looking around. One side of the square is very commercial, the other residential. It is an almost unique environment and worth spending time looking around. The commercialisation is a little extreme but contributes to the economics of maintaining the town.
We strolled back to the coach (15 minutes away) ready for phase 3 of the excursion.
We’d been here before, it’s very hilly and the weather looked threatening, so we stayed on the coach with several others, chatting and drinking coffee (or stronger beverages)
A wise decision as after about 30 minutes the heavens opened and rain came down in bucket loads. Those who’d gone on the visit returned like drowned rats!
We set off at around 8:30am, arriving at 10:45am, about 10 minutes walk into town. And it was worth it.
Matera (the Sassi District) is home to cave dwellings where the settlement dates back to 10,000BCE, the oldest known continuously inhabited settlement on Earth. In the 1950s, as part of a policy to clear the extreme poverty of the Sassi, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to new public housing in the developing modern city.
In the late 1980’s, the dwellings began to be restored and is now a major World Heritage Site. The whole place is incredible… and incredibly hilly.
The guide led us to the Sassi area, but having already dealt with many slopes and steps we parted company part way down and took in the mind-blowing spectacle below. The area in which we had paused was fascinating in itself. We enjoyed exploring (and some pavement cafés).
Back at the hotel for 16:15, this had been time very well spent.
En route to Rodi Garganico, our first stop was in Bari, a place we’d visited briefly before and enjoyed.
Our guide told us of the several churches she’d be visiting. Even though, or may be because, it was a Sunday (churches… services) we abandoned her and made our own way around. We were quite surprised how busy it was for an out-of-season Sunday. There was an enormous cruise ship in port which probably explained it.
The old town is a maze of narrow streets with a castle, lots to see and enjoy. We watched pasta makers and other artisans plying their trade and had an enjoyable “explore”.
For lunch, we stumbled on a café/restaurant and had a platter of meats and mozzarella to share. In the warm sunshine, nothing could have been nicer.
Some of our group who’d stayed with the guide said they’d found Bari tedious. I wonder why?
Our second stopover was at Castel del Monte, a quite unusual structure, set on a hillside, made up of octagonal walls and ramparts. Viewed from a distance, it’s spectacular, dominating the surrounding countryside.
The coach park is quite a distance from the castle but a regular shuttle bus service is provided. “Regular” has an entirely different meaning in Italy. More: “when the driver feels in the mood”. Nonetheless, when completely packed to the ceiling with passengers, the shuttle moved off and did the job.
The castle is impressive up close, but feels too clean and tidy, almost a Disney reconstruction. Inside all the rooms are octagonal, but none have been fitted out to give them a presence and sense of history, although, in one, a very well made video was being shown. (It involved dragons… Disney?)
The sun was shining down and the castle is surrounded by a pathway with incredible views across the countryside. We took a gentle stroll before returning to board the “regular” shuttle back to the coach.
Today wasn’t an excursion but a “free day” with no tour options on offer. We’d been delighted before setting off to have our anniversary spent as we wished in a seaside marina town (as it was described on the internet).
Boy-o-boy-o-boy. What a let down!
Problem #1: The indifferent hotel was located near the top of the hillside with a roadway that resembled the famous San Francisco drive. The descent, based on my GPS tracker, was about 180 meters, and what goes down has to come up again!
Problem #2: It’s out of season so all the swish boutiquey shops were closed and most of the boats and yachts were ready to over-winter. There was one café open. The owner must have been shocked (and very pleased) as, over a period of about 30 minutes more and more of our fellow travellers appeared and stopped for a much needed drink.
Problem #3: The upper town had nothing to offer except a few local shops and young men standing in groups drinking beer from bottles. In Italy, most shops close between 12:30-16:30 so during the afternoon the few shops there were, were closed.
An excellent bacon & eggs breakfast had been, at least, some small compensation.
We took a 90 minute “scenic drive” to Vieste. Almost immediately on arrival, we strolled down the harbour side to join a sea cruise to view the sea caves for which the area is known.
The weather was a little blustery and we actually enjoyed being splashed by spray as we sailed around. Not a slow boat, by any definition! The sea caves and rock structures were fascinating and the boat managed to enter a few of them for a close up view.
It was a much longer trip than expected (90 minutes) and so much the better for it. An unusual and very enjoyable experience.
And then the wheels came off once again… small town, out-of-season… closed.
We’d been allocated a further hour for lunch. We were lucky and found the only place open that served food. It was to all intents and purposes a takeaway pizza place, but with a few tables opposite, across the road. We were brought delicious, perfectly cooked pizza and drinks.
We moved on to Peschici but heeded veiled warnings over the microphone… hilly and pointless was how we interpreted them. We and several others remained on the coach for just over an hour. Those returning confirmed our decision. Listen carefully… the clues are there!
Today the heavens opened as never before!
Ferrara is a very interesting place with more wide streets and piazzi than most medieval Italian towns. Fortunately, it also has many covered, arcaded streets, a blessing given the weather.
Today, it wasn’t the location but the weather that put a dampener on the day! In brighter conditions there is so much to see and explore, but on this day, not that practical.
We had lunch outside McDonalds mostly because it was under one of the covered walkways and had a laidback approach to the length of time one occupied a table.
This excursion took in three lakeside towns. Quite a lot of the time involved driving from place to place. It was a cool but sunny day and was scenic (apart from a few autostrada stretches)
Garda (60 minutes)
Our first stop and it was market day. All the stalls were set up along the lakeside making it difficult to see anything much worth seeing except merchandise.
Lazise (45 minutes)
An absolutely charming town with a harbour, bustling with visitors. Dozens of lakeside/harbour side cafés which, because of the stupidly short time allocated, had to be bypassed. It would have been an extraordinarily good place for lunch, but that’s been a theme on this tour - find a fly and drop it in the ointment.
Sirminione (3 hours)
We’ve been here before and, again, it was crowded. This was the lunch stop and everywhere was busy. We found a spot to enjoy very good but overpriced priced pizza (plus a cover charge of €7). If you’re taken to tourist-central, that’s what happens!
We all met up for a lake cruise, a tour around the peninsula to have a better view of the town and its fortifications. A fellow traveller who done this cruise before warned us that last time the boat driver had thought it good fun to run the boat at high speed to create spray. Margaret decided to opt out. I travelled alone!
The sights and views were good, but our friend was right. Obviously, as part of their routine, these boats choose to deliberately soak passengers. On a hot high season day it could be fun. With temperatures around 11ºC, not so much.
