Hotel Residence Clio Monopoli

Destination 399

[Arrival from Ferry]

After a night with more than just a fiew hours of sleep on the ferry from Greece, I arrived early in the morning around 7:00am scared facing the heavily industrialized City of Brindisi! The first sight of Italy was not the most charming - hopefully to be changed soon. Therefore, after arrival and one of the quickest Immigragtion check (1 Minute), immediate departure on motorbike to explore more charming places.

See next entry.

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.

After spending one more nite in Naples, we boarded the train and headed for Brindisi. There we would catch the overnite ferry to Corfu, Greece. I had been to Corfutown, a couple of times, but this, too, was Dennis' first time, and I was anxious to show him around.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the train ride. Intially, we were in a compartment with a young couple that made-out ...

... over 500 years old and ended up at the Adriatic sea! It was absolutely beautiful and i took a ton of pictures for you :) Tonight me and sam are taking a train trip to Rome!!!!!! the train leaves tonight at 9:30 pm and we dont' get there until 6 am tomorrow. We are meeting up with a teacher they had the first week, staying in a hotel and coming back on Sunday. I am so excited!! i will be sure to take lots and lots of pictures. love and miss you all!!

... and dancing in between, it was a lot of fun but took forever! they love to take time at meals. We danced with some really awesome people. Today we were supposed to go to the zoo to see PANDAS but it rained so it was closed, i was bummed but then pino, who owns the hotel, took us to the "White City". it was absolutely beautiful, i've never seen anything like it. i'm having sooo much fun with this group of people, and lovingg every minute of this trip!!

... awesome!! i love plane rides now :) and after the three flights in a row, i feel like an expert now! the third flight was from Rome to Brindisi, which is where the hotel is that we're staying in. We're actually staying in the hotel, which is really cool, except that its three of us in a room. We have Italian class every day for two hours, and the first ...

... we figured heŽd unlikely be going anywhere, so we could still see him if we came here another time!

We drove down the coast, stopping instead at a tiny little village by the sea, with a stall by the water selling fresh mussels. We bought a couple of kilos and cooked up chilli mussels overlooking the water watching the sun set. Another of our great spots!

Slightly inland were the villages of the ...

... was for 24th OCTOBER, not September! So I had to wait another couple of hours in the port, and once again found myself in Igoumenitsa at 1.00 a.m. for the 2.30 ferry across to Italy, but to Brindisi. I still havn't seen Igoumenitsa in daylight. 

... the rest of the year.   The Italians themselves are probably the most intensely passionate people on the planet.  There is no such thing as a 'minor disagreement' here.  An argument over who scored the winning goal in the last football match will quickly escalate to an international crisis.  Their dedication to family and food is inspiring.  Where else can you expect to see your forty your old soon every ...