Three Go Adventuring Again

[2657]

The joys of having young dogs

It is now 14 years since our last died after having a dog as a constant companion more or less all my life, still miss them.

Back in the UK to look after the daughters 2 lurchers in a few weeks though

 

[scousebird]

You have a small dog with a big personality by the sound of it

 

[DBK]

You have a small dog with a big personality by the sound of it

And small brain.

 

[DBK]

Amazingly, the sun was shining this morning when I took Charlie for his usual brief leg stretch at 06:45.

Unfortunately, dark clouds returned shortly after we had finished breakfast but nevertheless we decided on a walk on the gravel roads which surround this place.

We spent a little over an hour, in high humidity, walking to Monticchiello, another strikingly positioned hilltop village. It must have had a wall around it once but all that is left now are some square towers, several made into houses, and the original gateway.

It was a picture postcard place though, and without the tour buses of nearby and much more famous Pirenza.

We could have eaten in Monticchiello but it looked like rain and though we were equipped for the wet the idea of walking back in a thunderstorm carrying metal framed umbrellas didn't appeal.

So, chucking the budget out of the window we had lunch in the camp restaurant today. It was a meal of two halves. The first course was a mixed salad, tasty after adding the farm's own olive oil but not exactly very exciting, lettuce plus grated raw carrot and beetroot.

The game was saved by the second half, home-made "pici" which is a thick spaghetti (yes, a new one on me too) which was cooked more al dente than I do pasta at home but in fact it was perfect. The pici was about the thickness of a decent sized lugworm tail if that helps imagine the size. But it was what the pasta was served with which clinched it, an intensely flavoured pork ragu. It was a mega-tasty dish - so tasty I had already eaten half of it before remembering to take a picture.

Entertainment was provided by 14 Americans who were on a cheese making course we think (€120 per person if you are interested).

And another look at the fireplace and it's circus performers. The round thing in the bottom right is a ball balanced on a sea lion's nose.

A good day - and the sun has come back this, afternoon for a while but more showers, and thunderstorms forecast for the next few days - then possibly, just possibly, it will become properly sunny!

 

[DBK]

We Have Decided to go South!

The weather forecast really doesn't look good where we are for the next few days and further north it looks damp into the foreseeable future of long range weather forecasters. So we had a decision to make, Tuscany was as far south as we had originally intended to go, the plan was then to turn back and either head for Slovenia and Croatia or go north to Austria. For some reason we have gone off Croatia, I know there's a lot to see but do we want to drive that far to fight Germans over beach towels? Of course there is much more to Croatia than beaches and I wanted to visit a town in Istria which featured in a Jules Verne novel but I think that will have to wait.

Austria, being north with doubtful weather will also have to be postponed so after discussing our options last night we have decided to push on south and head towards Puglia. We are now at the bottom of Tuscany, (see map below) at the blue dot south west of where it says "Italy" on the map and Puglia is off to the right at the heel of Italy. Our first main objective there will be the Gargano Peninsula which you can see as a sort of spur sticking out above the heel. It is strictly speaking not in Puglia I think, it is in Molise, but we should go on from there into Puglia afterwards so we shouldn't spit hairs - or even heels.

There is still much to see near where we are now, Umbria in particular where amongst other things there is the battlefield where Hannibal defeated the Romans, but the weather trumps history so south it is going to be - in gentle stages as usual. We haven't been away five weeks yet and still another six to do.

But back to the present. We have stopped at CamperContact #4198 at Santa Fiora which is perched on the side of Monte Amiata which might well be the highest mountain in Tuscany, and if it isn't it is certainly one of the most prominent as it dominates the skyline all around the Val d'Orcia.

At first glance, as you walk in from the aire, this doesn't look like a hilltop town but you soon cross a vertiginous bridge over a gorge and then enter the old town perched on a promontory.

Down below there is a sort of tank which I think was used to keep fish from what I could gather.

Note grey clouds!

Inside the old town it was all narrow streets, which I've shown photographs of before so for a change here is a shot of what I could see through someone's gate.

I think they must take a lot of time watering in the summer.

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[andrewjw]

We've been to the Gargano area a couple of times...heavily forested with potential for walking. Vieste is an interesting place with lots of history. There are several campsites on Spiaggia Lunga...a beautiful beach just north of Vieste.
We're less keen on the heel and toe of Italy...just come from there for the first time...found the countryside uninspiring with poor roads and poor campsites...maybe we didn't hit the right spots.

 

[DBK]

We've been to the Gargano area a couple of times...heavily forested with potential for walking. Vieste is an interesting place with lots of history. There are several campsites on Spiaggia Lunga...a beautiful beach just north of Vieste.
We're less keen on the heel and toe of Italy...just come from there for the first time...found the countryside uninspiring with poor roads and poor campsites...maybe we didn't hit the right spots.

Thanks for the suggestions, we weren't planning on going that far south but the weather doesn't look good further north. Of course we'll be complaining about the heat when we get there!

 

[DBK]

Our southward plunge continues with a stretch on the autopista today, the A1 heading towards Rome and a very good bit of tarmac it was, proving the Italian haven't forgotten their Roman ancestor's road building abilities. But just before we joined the motorway we drove past Orvieto, a singularly spectacular town perched on a 300m plateau. This isn't the best view but it was from somewhere we could safely stop.

The hill it sits on is long and thin and this view is of the thin end. As we approached from the west we could see it broadside and it was a striking sight. It has one of the best cathedrals in Italy, the Duomo, and is something of a tourist magnet. It also has a deep well reached by a double helix staircase. They were clever folk in 1527 when it was commissioned by the Pope of the day. There is a sosta a few kilometres from it (CamperContact #15287) but we were heading south so couldn't stop! Which is of course nonsense, but the weather is just too unreliable to linger around here.

We were planning on stopping at the sosta at Castel di Tora on the Lago del Turano, CamperContact #6781, but it was a bit uninspiring as it had no views of the lake and had a neglected air, indeed it was a neglected aire as well. So we chose instead #11017 at Colle di Tora which we had passed through a few minutes earlier. This has very good views of the lake.

The village on a hill the other side of the lake is Castel di Tora where the gloomy aire was, it is close to the village and is no doubt popular in the season but was a bit dreary for us.

I took Charlie to see the lake, and he just kept on walking into it and swam out and did a little circle before coming back.

The weather was dry when we started our walk but a flash of lightening and a rumble of thunder suggested this may not last.

I took this shot as we headed back as the rain started to fall.

By the time I got back to the van, with an already lake-soaked dog, it was raining quite heavily. We were just in time as the rain then became very heavy with hail thrown in for a few minutes. Outside, the track became a river.

Our front wheels would have been in water too, although I didn't think it necessary to get out and photograph them! Then it stopped and within ten minutes everything was as it had been and the river had vanished.

This is where we are now, the blue dot in the middle, not far from Rome.

 

[Viennese]

I am now following this trip since you are now going to Puglia, and I am going next year. I have to say what I have seen of it confirms @andrewjw's view. My friend bought a Trullo and I drove down with her on one visit. I found the surrounding area very boring - just fields and fields of olive trees, all the roads looked the same and the nearby town did not have one decent restaurant. I know there are interesting places to go like Ostuni and Alberobello, and another friend has been going down to the south to the sea for 16 years to this campsite near Ugento which must be good!

 

[Robert Clark]

Glad it's not just us that follows the weather. Nowhere looks good in the rain.
Are you thinking of continuing down as far as the Amalfi Coast?

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[DBK]

I am now following this trip since you are now going to Puglia, and I am going next year. I have to say what I have seen of it confirms @andrewjw's view. My friend bought a Trullo and I drove down with her on one visit. I found the surrounding area very boring - just fields and fields of olive trees, all the roads looked the same and the nearby town did not have one decent restaurant. I know there are interesting places to go like Ostuni and Alberobello, and another friend has been going down to the south to the sea for 16 years to this campsite near Ugento which must be good!

Yes, but it is forecast to be hot and sunny down there by the time we arrive. Would you believe I am back to wearing trousers? It is all a new area for me so I don't have any particular expectations, but there are things to see before we get to Puglia, the Parco Nationale d'Abruzzo has both bears and wolves, not that we will see any unless it is stuffed but it must be rugged country so I will try and take a swerve through it on the way down.

Glad it's not just us that follows the weather. Nowhere looks good in the rain.
Are you thinking of continuing down as far as the Amalfi Coast?

It would be a shame not to, after getting that far south, but a limiting factor is the dog and how long we can leave him during the day. I'm having to plan on the hoof (or paw) as I haven't done any research at all about the south of Italy not originally intending to go this far south. But so far we really have been lucky with finding places and generally planning the evening before for the next day's travel - serendipity does work.

 

[Robert Clark]

Sorrento is very pleasant 29928 is pretty much the only place to stay, but is an easy walk into the town.

 

[andrewjw]

I am now following this trip since you are now going to Puglia, and I am going next year. I have to say what I have seen of it confirms @andrewjw's view. My friend bought a Trullo and I drove down with her on one visit. I found the surrounding area very boring - just fields and fields of olive trees, all the roads looked the same and the nearby town did not have one decent restaurant. I know there are interesting places to go like Ostuni and Alberobello, and another friend has been going down to the south to the sea for 16 years to this campsite near Ugento which must be good!

The campsite near Ugento http://eng.rivadiugento.it/index.htm was one of the ones we went to recently...in many ways ok although the main body of the site is more than a stone's throw from the lovely beach and crystal water.
Sadly the advertised buses to Lecce don't run at this time of year and the
system for the showers has to be experienced to be believed...

You enter the shower area , choose one of the numbered shower cubicles and then press the appropriate button ...when you are stripped off in the shower you then press a large red button which to be fair produces hot water from the shower head ...but for all of 45 seconds!

Having sussed this out we took it in turns to hang around in the ladies / gents waiting for a shout that the water had stopped so the system could be reset for another 45 secs...molto amusante!!

Now in the much more civilised ( in every way ) Peloponnese!

 

[DBK]

And for completeness, the bill from Podere il Casale came to €205 for our two nights. This included one dinner, one lunch and some shopping (cheese and honey) on the morning we left. It was a good experience but it does have the worst black waste disposal facility I have ever seen but this doesn't seem to stop folk visiting.

On our last night a couple of young British cyclists turned up and pitched a tiny tent. They had set off from Holland, passed through Switzerland and were now heading towards Rome and after that a ferry to Sardinia before returning via Corsica to Nice.

I've given them a generous review of 7 on CamperContact but I suspect others might mark them a lot lower because of the facilities. I didn't have the opportunity to speak with the owner before we left and didn't want to burden the young lady from Moldova in reception. They seem to be doing very well teaching Americans how to make cheese and the camping is very much a sideline I think.

 

[DBK]

The campsite near Ugento http://eng.rivadiugento.it/index.htm was one of the ones we went to recently...in many ways ok although the main body of the site is more than a stone's throw from the lovely beach and crystal water.
Sadly the advertised buses to Lecce don't run at this time of year and the
system for the showers has to be experienced to be believed...

You enter the shower area , choose one of the numbered shower cubicles and then press the appropriate button ...when you are stripped off in the shower you then press a large red button which to be fair produces hot water from the shower head ...but for all of 45 seconds!

Having sussed this out we took it in turns to hang around in the ladies / gents waiting for a shout that the water had stopped so the system could be reset for another 45 secs...molto amusante!!

Now in the much more civilised ( in every way ) Peloponnese!

Just been looking on line and found a Guardian article recommending the same place. Obviously they never showered - or possibly even stayed overnight. http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/aug/13/readers-tips-best-of-puglia

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[Anthea M]

Loving catching up with your travels! The food looked amazing!
Charlie destroying the aires book , hilarious or not ! Had he damaged the areas you need?! Safe travels and hope the weather is better.( love the handbag shop!!)

 

[DBK]

Not much to report tonight because today was a driving day. It wasn't meant to be but when we stopped for lunch we decided to keep going and we have now reached the Gargano Peninsula. Right where the blue dot is on this map, which gives a slightly different perspective on our trip as it also shows our "home" location in the south west. We are a long way from home!

The map also shows if we had taken a ferry from Plymouth to Cherbourg we could have come here in a perfectly straight line.

It was an interesting drive today, or at least the first part was because we crossed over the Appenine mountains, the "spine" of Italy and it was a really spectacular area. There were a lot of tunnels, the longest 5.5 km and some impressive bridges to rival anything I've seen say on the motorway along the north coast of Spain.

We reached the Adriatic around mid-day then drove down the coast for an hour forecast stopping for lunch at Marina Di Chieuti, which was somewhat run down and the beach below where we stopped had masses of plastic litter. This was where we decided not to find an aire here, which was the original plan, but to push on to Gargano.

The next bit of road was interesting. We were on the old main road, which has now been superceded by the autostrada but it is used by a lot of trucks. Unfortunately, no one has told the young ladies standing by the roadside every kilometre or so that the bus doesn't run any more. Or why else would they be standing beside the road?

We have stopped now at ACSI #3096 which is in an old olive grove.

And at €13 a night it is cheaper than a local sosta.

The site is a fifteen minute walk from the village of Peschici which looks very attractive, like one of the "white villages" of Spain. We will explore it tomorrow.

And it isn't raining!

 

[DBK]

A Hot Dog Day

We woke up this morning to find genuine wall to wall blue sky! We could only celebrate this in one way, by going for a walk. Unfortunately, due to minor necessities like running a load in the camp washing machine we left a bit later than we had hoped. Peschici is a town on top of a hill so the only way is up, as they say, and there a many sets of steps around the town to take you to the top. Which was quite amazingly touristy.

We've visited umpteen Italian towns and villages perched on rocks but this was the first where every house had been pressed into some sort of retail outlet or restaurant. It wasn't too tacky but it was hard to see the original town underneath the merchandising.

At the very top of the place was a little tower - which had been converted into a pizzeria I think.

There were still a few bits fairly original.

From the town there was a good view of the bay and busy beach.

Our campsite is off on left of the picture, behind the two identical looking big white buildings. You can't see anything from here except the olive trees.

By now, after walking up to the top in the sun Charlie was feeling very hot, he has a very thick coat and it must be like wearing a duvet for him. We had given him water but he kept stopping and trying to lie down in the shadows.

We coaxed him down to the beach by the little port.

But just before we got there two dogs ran towards him, a little yappy one and a much bigger animal who promptly attacked Charlie. There was no damage done and the owner ran up and dragged them away.

Charlie walked on a few paces then promptly keeled over, kicking his legs with his jaw opening and shutting. I thought he was having a fit. I picked him up and he recovered almost immediately so I carried him to the water's edge where he walked in and sat soaking and cooling until he seemed fully recovered.

He's done this once before on a walk in Cornwall though it wasn't very hot that day so I'm not sure what the problem is. We'll take him to the vet when we get home and see if they can find anything but for the moment it looks like gentle walks only and no excitement like getting into fights with other dogs.

 

[DBK]

On a happier note we left Charlie in charge of the van tonight and went for a pizza in the camp restaurant. We had been assured they had a very good pizza chef from Naples so we had high expectations.

They certainly had the right kit for making pizzas.

And when they came they didn't disappoint.

They were quite unlike anything I've had in the UK, the toppings were thinly applied, which I think is the Neopolitan way but it was ever so tasty with no obvious herbs such as the shaken on dried oregano we use at home. With a half litre of house wine and a coffee it came to under €20.

 

[Anthea M]

On a happier note we left Charlie in charge of the van tonight and went for a pizza in the camp restaurant. We had been assured they had a very good pizza chef from Naples so we had high expectations.

They certainly had the right kit for making pizzas.

View attachment 110884

And when they came they didn't disappoint.

View attachment 110885
View attachment 110887

They were quite unlike anything I've had in the UK, the toppings were thinly applied, which I think is the Neopolitan way but it was ever so tasty with no obvious herbs such as the shaken on dried oregano we use at home. With a half litre of house wine and a coffee it came to under €20.

Walk looks great and so does the pizza. Sorry to hear about Charlie lucky he could cool off in the sea, hope you can get to the bottom of it. Did he eat any more books?! When you were out to dinner?!

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[DBK]

Walk looks great and so does the pizza. Sorry to hear about Charlie lucky he could cool off in the sea, hope you can get to the bottom of it. Did he eat any more books?! When you were out to dinner?!

The van escaped more or less unscathed under his watch - but we are being sure to tidy everything away, which is no bad thing.

 

[jumartoo]

You look to be having another good trip.

Hope Charlie is OK.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

hope charlies okay, great photos and blog of your trip

 

[DBK]

Another lazy day mostly spent reading although I didn't summon the energy to wash to van windscreen which I've been promising for the past week.

We took Charlie for a very short walk this morning, straight to the beach, where he had a paddle...

Then a shake...

Then the lucky boy found a stick, or more accurately a bit of plank!



He was fine and no reoccurrence of yesterday's little drama.

PS: The Internet is too slow here for me to watch the youtube video, it took all afternoon to upload so could someone please tell me if it doesn't work?

PPS: And yes, we forgot to take Charlie's tick collar off before he went swimming!

 

[DBK]

When it was cooler in the later afternoon I tried to photograph some of the very old olive trees here in the campsite. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are over a hundred years old or more.

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[bellabee]

The video doesn't work, I'm afraid. Pity, I would have liked to have seen Charlie with his stick. Glad to hear he's better.

 

[DBK]

The video doesn't work, I'm afraid. Pity, I would have liked to have seen Charlie with his stick. Glad to hear he's better.

Sorry to here that. Not sure why that is, I've had an email from YouTube telling me it has been uploaded, and the original file runs fine on the tablet.

Edit: Try it again, it had only just been uploaded, perhaps it might work now, otherwise like me, you may have a slow Internet connection.

 

[Hellski]

Video working for me on an iPad

 

[Anthea M]

Another lazy day mostly spent reading although I didn't summon the energy to wash to van windscreen which I've been promising for the past week.

We took Charlie for a very short walk this morning, straight to the beach, where he had a paddle...

View attachment 110991

Then a shake...

View attachment 110992

Then the lucky boy found a stick, or more accurately a bit of plank!



He was fine and no reoccurrence of yesterday's little drama.

PS: The Internet is too slow here for me to watch the youtube video, it took all afternoon to upload so could someone please tell me if it doesn't work?

PPS: And yes, we forgot to take Charlie's tick collar off before he went swimming!

he clip worked for me! And looks like he is loving it!

 

[laird of Dunstan]

clip worked for me too

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