Blogs from Apulia, Italy, Europe - page 5

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Europe » Italy » Apulia October 10th 2016

The Lecce visit continued with another road trip. Otranto revisited We had such a good time in Otranto with Bob and Rita that we decided to spend another day there. This time we had to take the train. They told us in the ticket office we had to change trains twice to go 43 kilometres. They aren’t big on announcing things on the regional trains but as we approached the town where the first change was to occur, the conductor came through, telling us to stay on the train right to the second city. Only change once. Whew. However, when we got to the Otranto station to come back, the sign said (we thought) there was no train but a bus would take us back to the transfer point. There were about 5 people on the ... read more
Gate at night
Street lights
San Pietro Basilica in Otranto

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Lecce October 8th 2016

I couldn’t believe Dianne had booked us into Lecce for eight days. Even allowing for trips to other towns in the heel of Italy, eight days, wow. As usual, her decision was a good one. Train woes We had to go back to Bari, change trains and head to Lecce. As experienced train travellers there should be no problem. At least not until the activation machine ate one of our tickets. There was no one in the station to talk to, even in Italian. So Dianne took a picture of the machine showing a red light flashing indicating it was jammed. We climbed on the train, hoping for the best. We were a bit disappointed the conductor didn’t even ask for our tickets. The rest of the trip was uneventful until we arrived in Lecce. Our ... read more
The terrace
City Gates
Architecture

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Trani October 5th 2016

By the sea After three consecutive stays in large cities (Copenhagen, Milan and Rome) it was nice to get back to a seaside city (OK, Copenhagen is by the sea but we didn't see much of it). Trani is also a lot smaller at only about 50,000. It is also the site of my first “epic failure” of “Google Maps”. I had mapped out the route from the train station to the B&B and it looked pretty weird. I should have been suspicious. After a few false starts we realized it had us coming out of the station on the wrong side and making a very roundabout walk to the B&B. The city map posted outside the station cleared up the difficulty and it was easy to find our destination. The B&B was on the second ... read more
Trani train station
B&B room
Half the terrace

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Ostuni April 26th 2016

We traveled eight hours by train from Padova to Ostuni on Saturday. The train ride was pleasant and not very crowded in first class, and you could get espresso in the next car from a surly baristo! We are staying in an apartment on a very busy piazza, not far from the historic area of the town. It's well-located for catching buses and trains, if a bit noisy. The first two nights were really active, since it was a three day weekend (It was Liberation Day...we were disappointed that we weren't invited to some sort of festivity, being descendants of the liberators...). Ostuni is known for it's chicness and nightlife and people come for day-trips and the weekend. We've seen a few Americans, but most tourists are Italian. Ostuni has a small, hilly, and maze-like historic ... read more
IMG_2299
If you look closely, you will see the hundreds of cigarette butts discarded just before getting on the train...
View from our apartment in Ostuni

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Martina Franca January 24th 2016

We are back online so will add to the post when we get organised! Hi all We have spent two lovely days in stone heaven- trulli magic! From Matera we drove to Martina Franca, battled the city traffic, was met by our lovely hosts and escorted to our trullo which was located 6 km from the town boundary. What amazing buildings - heritage listed as it seems us much of Italy! Stone walks, stone floors, stone roof - even the glass could be called crushed stone! Sadly no internet! We stayed two nights, froze our butt off as the heating only worked while the fire was going and it was impossible to keep it going for long enough! Some floor rugs would have been good. Michael spent many hours designing trullis and working out how they ... read more
Newer but wow
Inside our trullo
A typical house

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Otranto October 28th 2015

Od dwóch tygodni regularnie i całkiem bez sensu sprawdzałam prognozę pogody. Słonce, słońce za chmurami, burze, deszcz. Deszcz. Środa miała być najcieplejszym dniem, więc pojechaliśmy na plażę. Co prawda ja siedziałam w puchówce (podobnie, jak w lipcu nad Bałtykiem), ale Włoscy emeryci pomarszczeni jak rodzynki byli w gatkach tylko i rżnęli w karty siedząc na leżaczkach. I nawet kilka osób się kąpało (podobnie, jak w lipcu w Bałtyku). Naszym celem było Otranto, ale jechaliśmy nad morzem, przez pozasezonowe kurorty, drogami wśród oliwek i kamiennych płotków. Zatrzymaliśmy się w Torre dell'Orso - przy samej fantastycznej plaży z miękkim piaseczkiem i absolutnie szmaragdową wodą. Nie spodziewałam się we Włoszech takiej plaży. Inna rzecz, że przynajmniej dało się ją zobaczyć, bo wszystkie leżaczki ładnie złożone czekały już w zamknięciu na przyszły rok. Myślę, że w lipcu szpilki się nie ... read more
Wakacje
rodzynki na plazy
Ludzie się nawet kąpali

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Lecce October 27th 2015

Od dawna dawna chciałam przyjechać na południe południe Włoch. W samej Puglii niby już bywałam od dawna, ale wszystko poniżej Brindisi było czarną plamą. W ubiegłym roku mieliśmy zaproszenie na ślub przyjaciela Q - Mario, ale w końcu sam Q przyleciał na 16 h (3h na szukanie restauracji wśród pól oliwek i kamiennych murków, 3h na spanie i 10h na imprezę), bo ja zamknięta byłam w szpitalu. I był jeszcze ten świetny film Mine Vaganti, genialnie oddający lokalny klimat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT5OHzDcJBs Moje podróżolubne dzieci podróż zniosły fenomenalnie. Choć L ma ostatnio przydomek "Niszczydełko", to słodko zaczepiał współpasażerów, nurkował pod fotelem, żeby wyciągnąć M kredkę, drzemał i zjadł, co trzeba. M natomiast uwielbia latać samolotem chyba głównie dlatego, że wtedy wjeżdżają lizaki (na 3 lizy, bo potem są ble!) i... read more
Tanio i duże porcje!

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Polignano a Mare October 8th 2015

Today started as each day has for us at our little cafe with cappuccinos and cornettes (croissants stuffed with grape jam!) Warm from the oven! We decided we would take a short boat trip along all the caves underneath the old town. WOW! The sea was rough, which we didn't like but the sun was shining and the color of the water just beautiful and so clear! We walked a bit out of town toward a small bay to catch our boat. We spent one hour which was enough but other than the rough sea and over zealous driver it was so much fun, also to see Polignano from this angle was really a sight! We hung out after the ride with a cold beer watching the locals lay in the sunshine. Then decided to do ... read more
Looking back towards old town
Bay we took boat from
Looking towards swimming area

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Polignano a Mare October 7th 2015

what I say except it's like walking around in a postcard! we left London a few days ago and arrived in Bari Italy which is a thirty minute train ride to what was our main destination! Bari is a port town located on the tip of the heel of Italy on the Adriatic Sea. Often called the breadbasket of Italy, or the jewel of Italy. Bari itself was okay, the old town was very pretty and our hotel was just beautiful! Leslie and walked around upon arriving in search of a drink and maybe a bite of food. It was quite busy with all the Italians enjoying a stroll and chatting on all the corners with friends. We found a small cafe/bar and managed to squeeze in and order drinks in our limited Italian. We spent ... read more
Beach walkway
Stunning view on the other end of town
Lovely old building

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Lecce September 5th 2015

After arriving in Bari we thought we would go to Positano or somewhere on the Amalfi Coast. But we had trouble finding a place that we liked, in a location that we liked and at a price that we liked. So instead we headed in the direction of Lecce in the stiletto heel of the Italian boot. We didn’t know it as we don't take much notice these days, but when we got there without a booking or any internet access, we discovered that we had arrived on a Sunday that happened to be a public holiday this is a double whammy in Italy and nothing much was open. So we started walking in the heat with heavy bags. Eventually we ended up at McDonalds, thinking they might have Wi-Fi. But no. After a fillet-o-fish we ... read more
Duomo and its tower
Dinner in one of the cheerful lane ways after dusk
Taormina




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