Page 7 of Miltonrabbit Travel Blog Posts


Europe » Italy » Apulia » Gallipoli June 8th 2017

It’s a quiet start today. We can do this because we are on holiday. On the suggestion of our hostess we decide to take a short drive to the beach at Gallipoli on the west coast of the Puglia peninsula. It is quite windy but fine and hot. Jane has packed her beach gear and sounds ready to head off. Better not keep her waiting. A short drive from the apartment and we are on a four lane highway, not an autostrada. Maximum speed is 90 kph but some cars must be going nearly twice that speed. We won’t risk it because of the uncertainty of the road surface. Gallipoli was settled by the Greeks and has many historic buildings. It seems there is a similarity to Siracusa, a city we visited in Sicily. Both cities ... read more
Near Gallipoli

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Lecce June 7th 2017

Time to pack the bags, load the car, and say our farewells to our hostess, our apartment and Matera. What memories we’ll take away with us. It has been a wonderful experience walking through this historic town and meeting people, especially in the two restaurants where we had such delicious food. We hope people reading our blog are inspired enough to visit Matera if they have not already done so. We move the car closer to the apartment to make loading easier. Within minutes two cars have filled the space left by one. Perhaps we parked in such a way we had a generous amount of space front and rear. Soon we were leaving Matera and heading for Taranto. We have one last visit to make. On the recommendation of our hostess we turn off into ... read more
Matera
Matera
Lecce

Europe » Italy » Basilicata » Matera June 6th 2017

Today is our last day in Matera. Our stay here has been everything we would have wanted. Our apartment is wonderful. When traveling through cities in Europe have you ever wondered what is behind that locked door in an apartment building. The exterior of our apartment looks like any other. Sometimes in need of fresh paint, shutters always closed to protect the inhabitants from the heat of the day or security, footpaths and roads in need of a fresh layer of tar seal. Behind our new door is a wonderful example of what can be done after a visit to Ikea. Our pensioner holiday pad is perfect for our needs. A great place to return to each night. The plan today is to retrace our steps to the Duomo and start our walking tour through the ... read more
Matera
Matera
Matera

Europe » Italy » Basilicata » Matera June 5th 2017

We have decided to make an early start today. We want to beat the heat and the crowds. We have plotted an itinerary that will take us through the Barisano district of the old town, an area that was developed by the more affluent residents of Matera. We are set up for the rigors of the terrain. There will be plenty of cobbles, steps, steep climbs and heat. Fitted out with good walking shoes, sun glasses, lashings of sun screen, our Italian sun hats, we look every part the Kiwi tourist. We take a short cut from our apartment to the first stop of the day, Convent of St. Agostino. Men are delivering flowers for what must be a wedding. The view of the town from here is quite special. The sun casts shadows from the ... read more
Matera
Matera
Matera

Europe » Italy » Basilicata » Matera June 4th 2017

What a feeling it is to wake up in Matera and know you have the time to explore this UNESCO Heritage city at leisure. We are here for four nights. Time to relax, explore and experience this city. But first the washing. Up stairs we have a fancy new electronic washing machine. We flick through the controls and discover a twenty minute wash that suits our needs. We press some more buttons, head back downstairs, start breakfast, and before long we hear the beeping sound telling us the first load is finished. In goes the next load. The conditions for clothes drying are brilliant. Soon we have the second load ready for hanging out and some of the first load is ready to bring in. Our roof top clothes line is brilliant. With the chores done ... read more
Matera
Matera
Matera

Europe June 3rd 2017

Our quiet B & B at Botricello ensured a good night sleep. We believed we were the only people in the building, until we went downstairs for breakfast and discovered our host slept over. Just as well we cancelled last night’s party. Our buffet breakfast was enough for all our party guests but today there are just two of us left to make a very small dent in this lavish array of food. During the planning stages of this trip our journey to Southern Italy had to include Matera. No matter where else we went this was going to be a highlight. As we packed the car you could feel an air of excitement among the touring party. We thought we could hear Jane bubble with excitement as well. After leaving Botricello we called into the ... read more
La Castella
La Castella
Rain in the mountains to the west.

Europe » Italy » Calabria » Botricello June 2nd 2017

We need an early start today because we have some driving to do to get to our destination. First we have to cross from Sicily to the mainland of Italy. Today we take the toll road to Messina. It is fast and cuts through lush bush country. We quickly get to the exit, insert our ticket, to be informed payment is two euros. This was far less than we expected and saved us time and diesel. We arrive in Messina towards the start of a busy working Friday. Jane has plotted our way to the ferry terminal. As we approach the ticket office we follow others before us, leave the car in its lane and purchase our ticket. That’s how it is done. No one toots, drivers negotiate parked cars and move on. We join the ... read more
A beach scene south of Botricello
It's a lonely life
Big city, siesta time

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Cefalù June 1st 2017

Today we have to farewell our wonderful hostess. It has been a delight staying here at Rustico San Leonardo, the name of our apartment. It has been well designed with great outdoor seating where we have breakfast each morning or drinks and nibbles late afternoon. Our hostess has been more than generous. With her lack of English and our lack of Italian we had a very happy relationship. The daughter was a great help when she visited. Our three days were not enough but we felt sorry for those who arrived late afternoon and then prepared to leave on an early flight next morning from the nearby airport. We are sure they didn’t appreciate their stay as we have. We have a long drive across Northern Sicily to Milazzo. If we drive the toll road the ... read more
Cefalù
Cefalù
Cefalù

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Monreale May 31st 2017

We haven’t mentioned the weather a great deal on this trip. It can be a little bit tedious being told how wonderful it is with the sun shining brightly and the need to seek out shady places. Today is another of those days. We will have to remember where the raincoats are just in case a rare shower should appear. We have driven over river beds that are dried up. Our current hosts tell us it rains in the winter and is going to get even hotter in the summer. Being the last day of Spring we’d better enjoy the cool 27 degrees because tomorrow it will get hotter. Our planned adventure today is to the hill town of Monreale. We want to get there fairly quickly so we ask Jane to programme the shortest route. ... read more
Monreale
Monreale
Monreale

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Segesta May 30th 2017

When we arrived in Cinisi yesterday our plan was to “blob”, just take it easy. Perhaps wander down to the beach, or just lounge about. After a very happy chat with our hosts we were persuaded to make the short journey to Segesta. This was one tourist site we had not even thought about when planning our Sicilian Adventure. So after a slow start we set off for Segesta. It was a relatively short trip by autostrada. Arriving at the archeological site we expected to find a reasonable sized carpark. Not today. Local police were on hand blowing whistles and frantically waving their arms to anyone trying to park in the wrong place. The carpark was being refurbished for the summer influx of tourists so the only park was anywhere on the side of the road. ... read more
Segesta
Segesta
Segesta




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