Hotel Chiusa Di Chietri Alberobello

As it turns out, filling that day wasn't so much of a problem.... we tootled out of town, found a beach, wandered about & looked at the boats; tootled back, found somewhere to eat, had a chat with a few Brits and - hey presto! - before you knew it, time for bed! But the one on board was a bit more of a challenge... all 13 hours of it! BIG ...

... especially by kids - it just sounds so BOUNCY. But holy **** it makes every whine sound that much more insufferable


The Complete Pollysyllabic Spree
Nick Hornby
purchased and completed a few years ago
===============================< br>OK this is a slight cheat in that I read this book shortly after it first came out. But it's salient because it's a book of book reviews from which I'm ...

... was another accident, and guess who it was... yep the hatchback with the kid lying across the back window!!

These people are lunitics on the road, plain and simple!! Or then of course there were the enormous piles of rubbish on the side of the road, one of which self combusted in the heat and was smoking with flames!!! A totally different part of Italy to what we had seen days earlier!

Anyway we make it to Bari in time to board the overnight ferry ...

... a taxi that you haven't called. Jyles insisted though.
I checked the locks on the doors before I got in, and made sure I could escape. It was legitimate, but in a normal situation I would have said no.

We got to the ferry terminal just on time. Since it was an overnight ferry, we got bunk beds and had an awesome sleep.

So we get up, get ready, have the usual buffet breakfast that has ceased to be a wonder and a pig out fest. We loaded towards Pompeii and settled in for what we thought would be a 45min drive, try more like 20mins later! Suddenly we were at Pompeii, meeting Enzo again and getting wired for sound so we could hear him. It was pretty hot, but still early..and we went into Pompeii via the Gladiator training ground..past there we went to ...

... Italian, it was little surprise to find that this was once part of ancient Magna Graecia; in fact you are more likely to stumble upon Greek temples than you are Roman ruins. Known in Italy as a land of myth and fable, this little region was clearly full of surprises.

Whenever I think back to the first day in Basilicata, images of mountains, beautiful scenery and sunny skies fill my thoughts - a lovely start to the holiday!

... cafe, we couldn't get any service. We kept getting cut in line and the register people would help us. Apparently they don't like tourists here...so, no coffee.

Took a train from Napoli to Caserta. In caserta I finally got a coffee, and all it was was this tiny little shot glass with the most potent coffee I've ever had...pretty tasty though. We met some people here who ...

My friends and I stayed at this bed and breakfast in Mola just south of Bari. It was the best yet. Large old English style accomodations, we stayed in an apartment with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, large veranda overlooking the main street. It even had a full kitchen. The breakfast was the best we have experienced. It is worth the trip just for the accomodations. A nice beach area with breath taking views is just 10 minutes south in Polignano.

A must see for those off the tourist path.

This is where Pietro, an old Italian guy, jumped into Bruce and navigated us to the trulli. He saved us from a traffic jam in the narrow streets of Puglia.

Pete was also called Pietro while in Italy. :-)

Trullo comes from the Greek word, "tholos" – meaning “dome”. See the pictures of the wee houses.

We found the Belvedere pub here too - also the name of our local in Aus – meaning “beautiful view”. It was beautiful.

... And what better way to experience them than actually staying in one! A trulli is a small round, or group of round, structure that is made completely from stone. It appears that they came about, hundreds of years ago, when farmers were clearing their land. They utilised the stones to build trulli. My understanding is that the original trulli were built without any type of mortar. The roofs ...