Hotel Residence Riviera Rodi Garganico

The voyage to get here was long, and out of my way in the sense that Vieste is not a typical destination for first time solo travelers to Italy. My reason to come was simple: this is the town where my Grandma Rosetta Moretti-Amendola was born and lived until she was 15 and I just had to see it. Most people know of Vieste as being part of the Gargano coast and national park. Vieste, on the eastern side of ...

... 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!

After 6 weeks of working and teaching English, Serena and I are finally off to do some traveling of our own... Yesterday we left Cortina at 5:30 in the morning and after a bus, a train, and an 11 hour bus ride later, we arrived in Vieste! Right now we're heading out to the beach! WWWWWWOoooooooooooooooo I love Italy. Our days in Vieste were splendid. Serena and I were able to get in touch with one of the families that we stayed ...

... 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 ...

... to be going. At first I thought it was a family party. On closer inspection, I realised that they had the Coppa del Monde on display - the soccer World Cup! I rushed out to get Jonathan, knowing how excited he would be. It was a great atmosphere - although an Australian win would have been better! From there we headed further up the coast to see the salt pans of Margherita di Savoia. As it had been raining (we're getting ...

... 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 ...

... Nope - it's industrial pollution! I have never seen pollution like this before ... compared to this, even Los Angeles air is like refreshing alpine. Naples is a dump. The hostel is in a terrible area near the train station. But I must admit that I knew this beforehand - I thought it would be convenient as a base for day trips. The area is like a war zone - trash everywhere and it's pretty scary crossing the streets. Total culture shock! My lungs hurt ...

... a visit to the cave sanctuary of St Michael on Mont Sant Michel in Italy. Being a discening fellow attracted to the very pleasant climate here, St Michael took up residence in the cave after serving the faith to the best of his abilities, probably by slaying evil whenever confronted by it, as illustrated by the statue on the facade of the church (that ...

... of hours on the dock. Thanks goodness for the cricket bat and the hackey sac (not at the same time). We had a competition to see who could guess the time the ferry would depart as Katie and Nev assured it us it would not be on time. I guessed 7.27pm and Charmara guessed 7.21pm - the darn thing left at 7.12pm. I don't think he ever got his prize. The boat vibrated the whole time, it was very nice being rocked to sleep like a baby.