Elmar Hotel Rodi Garganico

... located on the heel of "the boot" is a beach town but also has a historical area full of homes built on a continuous structure. It is so very special! The beach is so white and clean, the sand so fine and soft, the surrounding mountains filled with olive trees and orchids! The smell so simply incredible! The historical center was built on a small mountain where the town homes were nestled together ...

... near the sea at this point we ate some really nice seafood and dad helped me better understand my wine preferences - I'm learning slowly but am definitely developing an appreciation of the different trypes of wine available. I must admit I much prefer the Italian c******nay that I tried than any of the ones I've tried in Australia which I think (though I don't know not having tried it) all taste like cat's pee. Ok where was I? Oh yes, enjoying myself alot!

... during the camp. The father of the family is from Vieste and arranged for his restauranteur friends to hook us up! And hook us up they did. Yesterday was spent feasting on clams, mussles, octopus, sole, shrimp and other delicious fish. Also, Vieste is home to some of the best olives and sun dried tomatoes in the world..... We ate WELL. Which is nice considering the next three weeks we'll be in hostels eating out of cans....

... Luckily our apartment was upgraded (for free!) and we ended up with 2-bedrooms and a large balcony. (The first apartment was tiny and would have been a real struggle with all our luggage). We spent every morning enjoying a large breakfast supplied by our host who was fabulous company. The old town of Vieste was relatively small but had a large terrace overlooking the ocean which Ethan loved. It was full of ...

... we met a lovely family from Seattle who were staying in the apartment next to ours. We spent a lot of time with them and Ethan loved playing with his new friend, Jack. We hope to meet up again sometime in the future. We visited the town of Monte Sant'Angelo that is set up high in the mountains with views way down to the ocean. It is a pretty, old town but our highlight, unexpectedly, was the cathedral. It was ...

... up on Italian bread, cheese and olives. So we find a supermarket, opens again at 4pm. At five oclock the door was half open, no entry allowed, as they tried without success to get their s·$% together. You canīt rely on the Italians to do anything on time or with precision. Sorry Pierre. The ferry. Our Eurail ticket allowed us a cheap "deck pass". How lovely, we thought, and when we found the area, it was great. Best view on the boat, fresh air... Couldnt ...

... our consumption of copious amounts of pasta, so we did a couple of runs and a few exercises, so we could continue to indulge a little. We ventured into town one afternoon to check out the quaint little old town and pick up some supplies. We met a hilarious little old Italian man in a little corner shop who was so excited to meet some Australians but didn't speak a word of English. With the little ...

Breakfast on the ferry wasn't too bad. Cold cuts, cheese, bread, jam, and the other usual stuff. Guiseppe gave me more tips - he's a really good guy. We went to the train station to store our things, then he bought me a coffee. We sat for awhile - I planned the next phase of my trip. I possibly could fit in Malta and Tunisia, but would it be worthwhile? I need to do some more research and decide later. Guiseppe gave me a bit of a tour of Bari. The castle - looked ...

... look very familiar to anyone who read the Rila Monastery entry). This seems to be a favoured image of St Michael for hundreds of kilometres around and I was surprised to find out that it was actually him. After descending past crosses and icons, down marbled staircases worn smooth over the ages by pilgrims - many of whom have inscribed their names and initials in ...

Day 19 - Overnight ferry to Greece Tonight I screwed my neighbour. That's a card game by the way. Similar to 500 as you have to nominate how many tricks you think you can win, but the number of cards and the number of tricks nominated can't match - so someone always gets screwed. A lot of fun. We had another schedule change at the last minute and instead of being on the 5pm ferry we were placed on the 7pm ferry... so we had to kill a ...