Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 6

When I first stumbled across Monopoli as somewhere we might visit, all I could think of was Mayfair, and Go Directly to Jail - Do Not Pass Go - Do Not Collect £200 Salary. I thought I’d just about got past that when Emma rang up last night and asked us where we were. When we told her we were in Monopoli she started laughing and assumed we’d just made the name up. Our beloved daughter is probably not a world authority on Mediterranean coastal travel destinations. Still, it does nevertheless seem that this part of Italy is not all that well known internationally relative to other seaside destinations around the Med. Apparently something like 75% of the tourists on Spain’s Costa del Sol are international, but that number would struggle to get to 20% here. ... read more

Lite Italienska bilder... read more

We’ve decided that us Aussies are probably the world’s least passionate conversationalists. We tend to mutter. We also tend to understate everything; we’d use a phrase like “this is a bit of alright” to describe one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And our tone of voice couldn’t ever be construed to imply that we were even vaguely excited about anything. Southern Europeans, on the other hand, radiate passion whenever they open their mouths, even though most of the time we’ve got absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It also seems to be compulsory in these parts to use your hands to accompany any verbal utterance, no matter how mundane, and if you’re getting really excited about something, well everyone else needs to stand back or suffer the consequences. Issy says she wonders whether ... read more

We’re a bit slow off the mark after a long day of travelling yesterday. Sleep also proved a bit elusive; Monopoli felt very much like a party town at 2am as we struggled in vain to get some shuteye. I head out for an aimless wander along the waterfront past the old city walls. There are some rusty old cannons sitting on the section in front of our apartment which perhaps hints a bit at their history. They were apparently built in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Muslim pirates started getting a bit unfriendly towards the locals. Shortly afterwards they then also helped keep out the Spanish Armada during a three month siege, which seems like an impressive effort for such a small town. Next up is the port - the harbour’s well ... read more

In the last blog entry, we told you that we had arrived in Italy in the town of Crotone. That was in the morning of June 24thand we decided to head into the marina after our overnight passage. It gave us time to get a full night’s sleep without being on duty every 4 hours, but also gave Bob time to change the oil in the engine. It is much easier to do when the boat is “stable” in a marina rather than at anchor. It doesn’t say he hasn’t done that, but if there is a choice and it works out with the timing necessary for the oil change, why not! It also gives the added bonus of having a place to take the used oil rather than keeping it on board for a later ... read more