Scandic By Hilton Bari

... shouldn't have taken the first agent's word for it. Seemed to be ships sailing at all hours - must surely have been one with space on it overnight? Definitely the only way to do this route.However, we get by: but I wouldn't recommend Ventourist line: cheap, for sure; but tacky -very, very tacky!Another night in an anonymous port.<br><br>

... page 560 of Homicide, Sergeant Terry McLarney recounts an anecdote about a gangster named Snotboogie, who had been shot for trying to run away with the cash during a game of dice. Snotboogie had already pulled this stunt on several occasions in the past, and when asked why Snotboogie was allowed to join the game in the first place, the reply is: "You gotta let him play - this is America!"<br><br>Veterans of The ...

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 ...

... hire a car! We had decided to travel around the region rather than staying in one place, so we could really get a feel for what it was like. The further we drove from Bari and the Puglia border, the higher we rose, the wilder and more beautiful the scenery became. Basilicata is the most mountainous as well as the least known region of southern Italy. We found out before we came that tourism is not big in Basilicata, although Italians ...

Woke up at the Hostel early to a catch our train.<br><br>Took an hour long train to Napoli. In Napoli we had about 45 minutes till our next train, so we decided to get coffee. Apparently here, you go the the register (before you can look at anything) and order what you want. Then you take it to the counter and they give you what you ordered...crazy. Well after 3 attempts each at a ...

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.<br><br>Pete was also called Pietro while in Italy. :-)<br><br>Trullo comes from the Greek word, "tholos" &#8211; meaning &#8220;dome&#8221;. See the pictures of the wee houses.<br><br>We found the Belvedere pub here too - also the name of our local in Aus &#8211; meaning &#8220;beautiful view&#8221;. It was beautiful.

... light and hazard warning lights, I couldn't quite work out what was wrong with the vehicle that would warrant this measure but hey ho! I finished my break shortly after and headed back to the motorway, much to my surprise some 5km along the road the very same car has it's nose buried in the barrier, the driver and two policemen are standing looking at the wreckage looking very puzzled. So there we have another day, and even driving life can be eventful.

... and like angels sent from above they were offering us a ride to Messina! Oh, words can not explain how pleased we were! They even had an unoccupied bike rack on the back. Talk about fate! Long story short, we decided to rudely overstay our welcome with our newfound friends, Catherine and Patrick (a father-daughter travelling duo) and we stuck with them until Alberobello, about 50 clicks out of Bari. Patrick had ...

... some Russian arts fair going on in town. Adding to the puzzle was the question of why the completely untouristed castle by the water was asking a &euro;12 admission fee. It's perhaps understandable in light of admission fees we've encountered elsewhere, but seriously - supply and demand? The whole labyrinthine historic quarter made for a pleasant surprise for me. For a city with such a rough-and-tumble reputation, it was pleasure to ...