Yours trulli

Alberobello was a must see en route back and I for one was super excited!  Before leaving the UK we'd watched a few episodes of Italy Unpacked with Giorgo Locatelli and Andrew Graham-Dixon and this picturesque little town had been on their itinerary.  A trullo, plural trulli, is an ancient circular stone dwelling with a conical roof, sometimes adorned with symbols of mystical or religious significance, peculiar to this part of Puglia.  We'd read different stories about their origins, although it seems that they've been around for many hundreds of years, primarily as farm dwellings to begin with, and were easy to build and adapt into groupings when the need arose for more space.  They certainly have a startling effect on the landscape when seen en masse, and Alberobello has the highest concentration of them.  Many are still inhabited, or used as businesses, although few of the existing ones are any more than a few hundred years old and some recently built or renovated.

As we drove into the area, we began to see the occasional trullo by the side of the road, some as individual buildings and some incorporated into bigger houses.  This area is lovely, with many other villages to return to.  We drove through Martina Franca, then passed by Locorotondo,  a confection of a tiered white village which looked beautiful, and we had also heard of Ostuni nearby as a place to wander.

For us though, time was marching on and after the somewhat stressful day of brake replacement we were looking forward to a bed for the night! Again, we were lucky and found a lovely little campsite, Bosco Selva, a walkable 1km up the road from Alberobello.  The camperstop in the village proved to be a tad pricey at €18 to park in a tiny unshaded carpark for 24 hours with the only facility being a refill/drain for water and waste wheras for just €20 we had a lovely shaded pitch in the woods, a modern sanitary block with hot showers, free wifi and a free map of the village.  We'd definitely recommend this site if you're visiting the area.

Walking around the trulli next day was magical, and although the village is obviously a tourist attraction it's very low key, and none of the invitations to look inside a shop feel pressured in any way.  In fact I'd say go in and take a look, as some have terraces with wonderful views across the town and the owners will tell you about the history of their individual trullo.  We were extra fortunate in that it was market day too and for lunch we sat outside with our takeaway stuffed foccacias, followed by the inevitable gelato, and watched the world go by.

Our final stop in Italy was to be a beach treat, and we'd chosen a stretch of coast near the Gargano peninsula.  This area looks very picturesque but with an imminent departure we'd decided to stay on the straight stretch near Manfredonia.  We made more food discoveries en route, including a ricotta in jars called ' Ricotta Forte' - my mouth took a while a recover from that one - this is ricotta allowed to spoil, under controlled conditions, and then sold as a delicacy.  It certainly packed a punch!! Less challenging were the pale green round cucumbers, barattieri I think they were called, around the size of a small melon and pale green in colour - picture below - any more info on these appreciated as the little I've found online; a couple of pictures and recipes/information, is all in Italian. And of course, more figs, some of the best we'd ever tasted, which we bought at the campsite shop. 

The site we chose, Camping Lido Salpi ticked all the boxes, small, good facilities, the promise of a peaceful night's sleep as it was well away from the road and any houses, and an ACSI bargain at €12 a night.  The beach was pretty decent too, with a well run concession, clean and not too busy but again a good illustration of clean in front of the site and a mess just beyond. . . . . .

This campsite also has parking for the lido/concession and gets pretty busy with the locals at the weekends, which may be why the dinner dance on the Saturday night went on until past 1am . . . Warning bells rang when a coachload of revellers turned up at 10:30pm!!  Ah well, Friday night was quiet.

Next morning we headed off, suitably sunned but a little bleary eyed, ready for the long trek north into France.

J.

Across Calabria and on to Puglia – and a trip to the garage…

As this part of the trip is very much the homeward leg, we plan to do longer distances than we’ve been used to on our slow meander down to Sicily. We’re keen to visit Alberobello in Puglia to see the ‘Trulli’ that we had been intrigued by when watching a programme about Italian culture and cooking. So we looked to break the journey in the ‘sole’ of the Italian ‘boot’ at a place called Sibari.

It’s a trip of about 200 miles and just as we were making good progress on the motorway, the brake system warning light came on… and after checking that the fluid levels were all good, and with plenty of bite left on the foot brake, we guessed it was probably the warning light that the disc pads needed changing. A quick call to our local garage in Brighton confirmed that it was likely the pads, and although there would still be a bit of mileage left, best to get them checked out sooner rather than later.

Once we arrived at Camping-Village Pineta di Sibari we did some research for the nearest Iveco garage that was on our route back – and settled on one in a town called Fasano in Puglia near the coast. As it would likely be about a two and a half hour drive, and there’s no telling how long the lunch break might be, we decided to make a ‘proper’ early start the next day.

Camping Sibari was a really interesting stop-over. It’s a classic example of the enormous ‘camping villages’ that the Italians love, with lots of long term/ permanent set ups – some of them very elaborate indeed!

The beach itself was also a revelation, as although the campsite had its own neatly arrayed brollies in the style we have come to love…

the locals also made great efforts to stake their individual claims and the rest of the beach was taken up with rows (not so tidy) of neatly furled brollies all ready for the next day.

Had we not needed to press on to the garage, we could have stayed for a day and enjoyed the clean beach and well-provisioned campsite. This is the first one we have come across with its own butcher and barber! And after nattering to the women in the shop about local wines in my alarming Italian, one of them popped out the back and came back with a ‘special’ local bottle for 2 Euros – and it was rather lush! Mrs B was also pleased to see the return of cicoria, a type of bitter greens of which we’d grown rather fond en route down in Lazio, so a large bunch of those were popped in the basket too, along with some juicy yellow plums for dessert.

After a peaceful night under the plentiful pine trees, we set of for the garage at 0930 – a very early start for us!

Following a couple of attempts to find the garage via Google maps, we gave up and followed our instincts instead – thanks Google – that’s the second out of two times that the real location of a garage is nowhere near your positioning!

We managed to get a quick visual check by one of the friendly mechanics who told us to come back at 3.00 and they’d have us sorted that afternoon – genius! So after a shop at our now favourite Italian supermarket, Conad, we arrived back at 3.00. Once the wheels were off I was called over to look at the problem – one of the discs had rusted away on the rim and was badly scored – as well as not being entirely circular any more - and the pads needing replacement as well. So, changing the brake pads turned into replacing the discs as well. Fortunately, the garage had a pair in stock - this is one of the reasons why we opt for Iveco main dealers – not cheap but pretty reliable for parts availability.

The job took the two mechanics an hour in the very well equipped garage, one on each wheel, and after they’d checked the rear wheels and handbrake (OK – phew!) we were on our way. So a big thanks to Garage Losavio and the two Leonardos who did the work!

Heaving a big sigh of relief that we were back on the road, we decided to look for a campsite close to the Trulli we had planned to see. We’d heard from other camper-vanners that there was a good ACSI inspected site that also did a discount just outside the town of Alberobello, so we set off into the evening, driving, as instructed by the Leos, ‘molto piano’ for the first few hours of driving. The brakes were so much better – and the warning light was extinguished - hurrah!

S.

Ciao Sicilia!

Following our salt-water swimming pool relax-a-thon in Finale, we decided to find a beach-side campsite for the final stop-over before catching the boat back to the mainland – or going to Italia as the Sicilianos say!

As we were paying at the campsite I had my credit card refused – probably just a dirty magnetic band or chip I thought… then it was refused at the supermarket in Finale where it had worked the day before… A quick call to the bank confirmed that it had been blocked, as there were a number of attempted purchases from Sears and Roebuck in the States… No idea what links there might be between Sicily and organised crime in the USA…

So, fingers crossed the cards we are left with are not compromised!

We’d heard good things about Camping Marinello in Oliveri from other travellers and decided to give it a go. As it happened, it was just along the coast from a spectacular cliff-top sanctuary at Tyndaris – another church built on an ancient Greek settlement that we thought we might have a go at, via the steep ascent from the campsite before we left.

Marinello  turned out to be a real gem, with a large and clean public access beach with just a couple of private bits away in the distance.

The campsite was busy when we arrived, with a large group of friendly French camping-caristes from their national federation and a smattering of campers from a variety of countries – including my first sighting of a camper on Maltese plates. We managed to get a nice shady spot near the sea in a little row with campers from France, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic – and I added the Czech ‘ahoy!’ to my smattering of international ways to say ‘hello!’

The bay that Oliveri is in is adjacent to a natural park ‘Laghetti di Marinello’ and super pretty. It also attracts a number of floating gin palaces that anchor up over the weekend, making for a very swish vista from our beach-side viewpoint. This was taken just before the other 50 boats turned up…

After much prevarication/ lazing about on the beach, we decided to make the ascent on Tyndaris ‘early’ one morning - that’s just before 11:00 for us… By then, the temperature was in the low 30s – which we’ve been used to for a while – and we’d packed water…

After about 45 minutes of airless, hot and sweaty almost vertical climbing (OK – a bit steep then) we were treated to some incredible views of both the sanctuary and looking back down to the lagoons.

Unfortunately, the remaining 500m looked like they might just be the cause of a medivac as we had run out of water and the temperature was soaring and we were flagging…

So we headed back, looking down on where our camper was parked and with the sound of the sanctuary bells tolling ominously behind us.

Later, over one of those now familiar chats I’ve grown used to with women from other countries over the mysteries of the washing machine, I met a German woman from Marburg who had just come back from doing the 8km ascent to Tyndaris on a mountain bike (by road) – time for me to raise my game on fitness levels I think!

After another perfect afternoon lazing on the beach, we decided to treat ourselves to a ‘last night in Sicily’ meal at the nearby restaurant. Over a chilled carafe of local wine we tucked into swordfish and watched the sky over the hills behind us turn a pastel pink, as we sat looking out over the bay – perfect!

We decided to take the motorway for the last leg to the port at Messina, especially as they had been largely free on the rest of our trip around the island. This leg cost us the princely sum of just over 3 Euros – so our total motorway bill for Sicily came in at about 5 Euro – genius! It looks as if most of the southern part of Italy has free motorways – something we almost missed by not paying enough attention to the map legend!

Getting the boat back was a doddle – we just turned up at the port and literally drove onto a ferry that was about to depart.

So, thanks Sicilia, it’s been an amazing month and there is still so much that we didn’t see – the best way to leave somewhere I think!

S.

Sicily on fire, Palermo and a spot of saltwater swimming

There had been reports of a fire at the Zingaro natural park, close to our previous stop at Capo St Vito, which got us talking about the hay harvest, currently in full swing here, where it seems common practice to burn the remaining stubble.  With Sicily's high winds and arid climate we're curious to know why it's done this way, and wondered if any secondary fires are caused by it.  We passed one blaze right by the roadside which was clearly out of control and saw the remnants of many others, small patches of charred landscape, especially on our drive around the south and west coasts.  

Sicily seems to be intensively cultivated and proud of its produce, including local wines and citrus fruit, although the latter has taken a back seat to more profitable crops in recent years.  There is very much a sense of independence on the island and a local we chatted to today described his origins to us as Sicilian 'DOC' (like DOC wines!) and our return to the mainland was referred to as 'going back to Italy' by a campsite owner.

As we've probably said before, the scenery all over Sicily is pretty amazing, and after another breathtaking drive we arrived at camping La Playa at Isola delle Femmine in time to join the 4:30pm queue! Lots of campervanners use this site as a stopover for visiting Palermo and jolly convenient it is too, as well as being very boundaried about its siesta times; the site closes its gates, and doors, for three hours at lunchtime!

After a super helpful Palermo visit briefing by Daniela at the campsite (she provides group briefings to all new arrivals in fluent French, English and German - every evening if needed; very impressive!) we retired early in preparation for a day in Sicily's capital. It's an easy journey, just 30 minutes on the train and we got off 2 stops early on Daniela's suggestion, at Orleans Station, opposite the Palazzo Reale.  As I was keen to get along to the morning foodmarkets, we put that on hold and headed straight off via a small church, San Giovanni degli Ermiti and garden. Then off through the city . . .

We arrived soon after to Ballaro market, an explosion of colour and noise.  The market is open air and in a network of mainly pedestrianised streets, give or take the odd 3 wheeler!  The produce here is fantastic - and I have to wax lyrical here, Jamie Oliver style!!  Stall after stall of amazing fruit and veg, along with specialist vendors selling cheeses, herbs, olives and fish, specialising in pesce spada (swordfish) cut straight from the beast itself, the heads displayed on the counters.  There were sardines too, and gilthead bream, in fact the most fish we've seen since arriving in Italy.  I could have come away laden, but we had a day of sightseeing ahead, so we decided to stuff our faces at a restaurant in the market instead, but not before buying a kilo of fresh figs from Messina, and some herbs and olives.

Lunch was delicious, and what a fascinating spot to people watch, sat outdoors at the entrance to the market.  We ate a mixed starter platter with sardines, octopus, peppers and aubergine, followed by an enormous pesce spada steak (me) and a mixed fish platter (Mr B).

Then off to wander the streets and absorb the atmosphere of this vibrant city.  We stopped at one more recommended church, Martorana, which was beautiful, with sumptuous Greek style mosaics in golds and blues; a real wow moment on entry!  The racy Florentine style fountain nearby was pretty impressive too, although I'm still sulking a bit about the Trevi!

Then it was time to head back.  There's a lot more to see here than we'd want to do in a day, and we heard that Monreale, a short bus ride away is worth a visit too - maybe another time.

Back at La Playa, we decided to stay on for a day to rest.  Four consecutive days sightseeing in the heat is pretty tiring!  Next day we wandered along the peninsula to the village of Isola delle Femmine to see the old tower and harbour and to buy some fresh pesce spada from a hole in the wall fishmonger, and fruit and veg from a greengrocers, much nicer than the supermarket and a mini language lesson too.  At the fish stall we learned that pica (not poco) is Sicilian for a little, and at the greengrocers that finochio (fennel, which we were buying) is slang for gay - a bit of a random conversation that one! We also sampled salted sardines from huge tins, which were being sold loose; they're a bit like anchovies in texture and taste, and bought some of the juiciest tomatoes I've ever eaten.  The tomatoes here are wonderful and come in all shapes and sizes, each more delicious than the last, probably with summer hotting up, which it certainly is!

The coast at Isola delle Femmine

Then it was time for another early night and attempt number three at sleeping through the local disco and karaoke before setting off for our next stop, just east of Cefalu.

We arrived at Rais Gerbi camping, near Finale, with some trepidation; it's a 250 pitch holiday village and the last one described like that we'd bailed out of after one night!   This one however, was a nice surprise and we managed to bag a fabulous pitch overlooking the saltwater pool, which itself overlooked the beach with the Aeolian islands shimmering on the horizon.  We stayed five nights, swimming, sunbathing and getting very hot. Temperatures are rocketing!  If you look closely you might be able to see my nifty swimhat in the pic below, compulsory poolwear at this site!

We celebrated our final night with a delicious pizza from the restaurant and home made salad, eaten on our pitch with a view, and then it was time to head to our final stop on the island, a campsite on the Marinello Lagoons near the ancient city of Tyndaris.



J.

Trapani, Capo St Vito and on to Segesta – yup – more Greek ruins!

Going to Trapani was a must for us – partly because of its north African links and varied history, but also as one of the most westerly bits of Sicily bar Marsala (which we drove through en route to Trapani). Having decided to drive round the coast of Sicily we could hardly miss off the west coast. It was an interesting drive too, with working salt pans on the outskirts of Trapani – move over Maldon!

We’d heard some pretty dire reports of Sicily’s west coast from other travellers, and particularly the levels of rubbish washed up on the beaches, so when we parked up we enlisted a bit of help from the local patron saint…

All we found was about a metre of slowly rotting weed along the shoreline instead! The sea state was rough and the wind had been strong and on-shore, so no surprises about the weed – but apart from that, it wasn’t that grubby at all. You can just make out some of the square, low houses that are influenced by architecture from Tunisia and elsewhere along the north African Mediterranean coast in the next picture.

Like much of the rest of Sicily, Trapani delivered on some fine baroque buildings and was not too big for us to enjoy a pleasant wander, taking in the architecture and hunting for a gelateria. It would have been a top place to have idled away a few hours over lunch, but we were still beached from the enormous arancinis we had eaten at a road-side stop. They certainly make them big here!

One of the other reasons we wanted to go to Trapani was to visit Erice, a hill top mediaeval village with views (on a clear day) to Tunisia - which can be reached by cable car from the town. Unfortunately, this is as close as we got as the weather turned and Erice disappeared into the clouds…

So off we headed, past more disused and crumbling tuna canning factories towards Capo St Vito on the north coast of Sicily, where we planned to spend a few days ligging about on a campsite that looked promising (and had been recommended by some other camper-vanners on the mainland) with maybe the promise of a bit of yomping in one of the two natural parks on the headland.

It was certainly set in a spectacular location, nestled at the foot of this hill/mountain-ette – which was very popular with climbers.

Unfortunately, Camping la Pineta wasn’t what we’d hoped for – serried ranks of pitches in gloomy woods, surrounded by scrubland and with loud music at the pool and bar until late … I know this sounds a bit old fart/ ‘if it’s too loud you’re too old’ etc – but we had deliberately chosen this site as it was billed as a relaxing and picturesque stop over. Indeed, sometimes shaded sites are great – this one just seemed oppressive – and a mediocre, busy and concession dominated beach didn’t help!

The weather had also darkened along with our mood, so we decided after just one night to cut loose and take the back road over the hills to Segesta in the interior. It was only on the way out that we noticed that Capo St Vito was described on the multilingual signs as a ‘resort’ – we clearly need to hone our research and planning skills!

This campsite experience was also a bit of an object lesson for us, as we have found no reliable correlation between reviews of campsites on the ACSI app we use and how we actually then find them ourselves – moral of the story being to go and have a look and make your own mind up - and on balance, most of them have delivered!

The ACSI app is, however, dead good for route planning/ navigating in areas where they have campsites, as they use map tiles with a lot of detail (more than our paper map) but not so good when you get to a bit they’ve not got the tile for. So we used it to navigate our way over the hills out of Capo St Vito to Segesta – along a route that our faithful old paper map was telling us was partly unmade… the landslips (this was just one of many) were an additional feature!

Maybe we should have guessed from the fact that all the signs for Segesta were really faded and not always pointing in the same direction, that this was not one of the more popular routes up over the hills to the ruins. It was, however, a good adventure and we were glad that we had deliberately built the camper on a van with a strong chassis and good ground clearance – we certainly needed both on this journey!

The road may have been old and sometimes simply not there, but at least it brought us directly to the car park for Segesta. Again we’d managed it for the middle of the day so it wasn’t too busy. This ancient site is famous for having a temple that was left unfinished (to the inexpert eye it doesn’t look that much different I have to say!) and an amphitheatre with a truly exceptional view.

As usual, there’s a bit of a yomp involved in getting to the best bits. You can get a shuttle bus up, but we decided to walk. This picture is taken about a quarter of the way up to the amphitheatre, with the van in the car park below.

This is a view back to the temple complex from a bit further up the hill…

Here’s a view from the top in the amphitheatre, looking over the hills and plains – and the motorway – in the background.

The amphitheatre has been partially restored (you can see the smaller stones used in the next picture) but for me this is a bonus, as you get to appreciate the scale of what it must have been like to sit and debate in such an amazing location.

We stopped at the temple itself on the way back down. For any Greek temple aficionados amongst you, apparently you can tell it was unfinished from the little square bits sticking out of the base of the pillars in the next picture.

It seems that the Carthaginians invaded and the temple was left incomplete. But as with all the others we’ve seen on Sicily, it’s still pretty impressive!

And so, with what might be our last Greek temple experience on Sicily under our belt, we headed off on the motorway we had seen from on high to a site near Palermo – our next stop.

S.