The sun will come out ... tomorrow ... or will it?

Thank God we had our day on the beach last Sunday, the sun has been
distinctly absent since then, apart from the odd glimpse.
We moved a bit further up the coast on Monday to Petacciato Marina. Marina?
Well just a term for the coastal bit associated with an inland town in some
cases, not much of a marina in the true sense of the word this time. We knew
from our books of a possible place to wild camp there, and we found it no
problem, as had the 50 or so Italian motorhomes who were already there! It
was only a car park on the beachfront but it became a temporary campsite for
the holiday weekend (the coming Tuesday was Labour Day), quite a little town
in its own rights. We were the token foreigners until Tuesday when a couple
of German 'homes arrived. It was quite a pleasant place to stop, a lovely
long sandy beach and thankfully no rain, but not a lot of sun either. We
just hit the books and read the hours away, with the odd stroll along the
sand to break up the day. Tough eh? The place emptied out quite a bit on
Tuesday but a few Italians remained that night and with the two German
'homes we were not alone.
For a change of scenery we headed inland on Wednesday to the Abruzzo
national park and a campsite near the small town of Opi. We should have
known better! The clouds looked uninviting inland when we set off and by the
time we arrived at site we had already seen some rain. We settled in, a nice
site, surrounded by hills. We were the only ones there. We discovered that
there was no hot water for the showers, but were assured that it would be
fixed that evening. Not that we intended finding out as the rain hit and we
stayed firmly in the safety of Noddy.
The new day arrived after a very wet rainy night, and it was still looking
grim. Things got worse when we realised that we had left our shoes (pool
shoes) outside overnight and one of Sue's had gone walkabout! She was not a
happy bunny. She didn't cheer up much when I saw it in the distance and
retrieved it for her. It was a bit chewed, one of the resident dogs. I wont
repeat what she said. We almost upped and left, but decided to stay out for
a day or two. The Dutch couple, Peter and Yvonne, we had previously met were
due there on the Friday so we decided to stay to meet up with them again.
The rain returned again so we had showers in Noddy as there was still no hot
water in the campsite showers! Eventually by lunch time the rain had
stopped, and the site showers were fixed, hoorah! I made the most of the
break in the weather and headed off on foot to Opi to find the tourist
office to get some info on the park. It was a 4 or 5km walk and thankfully
the tourist office was open, the lad working there was very helpful. I even
bought a map of the park with all the walks marked on it. Thought it would
be useful, perhaps it will be sometime. I got a bit wet walking back to the
site, the rain had returned. It didn't stop all night.
Friday morning, it was still raining. We decided enough was enough. We were
leaving. I sent a SMS to Peter saying we were leaving and they were better
off going elsewhere as it was so wet where we were. We will have to catch up
with them some other time. Anyway, we had breakfast and packed up. Still
raining! We chose to drive up to the showers, park, get clean, pay and then
head off. I dropped Sue off and went to empty the wastewater and the loo.
Doh! No hot water in the showers. I got soaked doing the chores and no hot
shower to clean off in! To make things worse the owner was nowhere to be
seen so we couldn't even pay and leave. Plan B. We hooked up to the
electricity again and showered in Noddy, one problem solved. Still no owner
so we couldn't leave, they had one of our ID cards. Eventually by lunchtime
the owner retuned. We had a bite to eat, paid our money and hit the road. It
could have been very nice there if the sun had been shining, the showers
worked, and Sue's shoe hadn't been munched. Never mind, all part of the
experience!
Our next stop, anywhere the sun was. We headed north, ending up in L'Aquila.
Again our books showed a free place to stay, but after finding it we found
it full of Italian 'homes, a touring club. Thankfully there was another
possibility in the town and we got a spot there instead, free also. It
wasn't sunny but it was dry so we ventured into the old town for a look
around, and very nice it was too.
Another day, and another plan. We missed the town of Spoleto, in Umbria,
last year when we were around these parts so we thought we would check it
out this time. Silly mistake, the camper stop we were looking for in the
town we eventually found but it was not very nice at all and the town was
way too busy to find alternative parking. So Spoleto we will see next time!
Instead we ended up in the nearby hill town of Montefalco and an excellent
camper stop! A large free parking area on the edge of the medieval town with
good drinking water (10c per 10l) and electric (10c per 6 min) and a great
view of the valley and hills beyond.
We had a stroll around the town and even paid, yep us the people who don't
pay, to go into the museum and see the stunning frescoes there. Well worth
the money, but sorry no pictures, not allowed, so if you want to see them
you will have to come here yourselves!
Our little spot in the car park with the view was too good to leave today,
so we sat in the sunshine and read our books listening to all the birds
chattering away in the trees around us. Yes sunshine I said. It was very
nice indeed, well until the thunderstorm and heavy rain arrived of course!
I will leave you with a passing thought. We always say we are pleased when
we are wild camping if another motorhome arrives to keep us company. What if
the occupants are serial killers praying on lone wild camping motorhomes?
Hmmm.
Ciao
M&S

The Trulli, the whole Trulli, and nothing but the Trulli

After sending the last blog from the roadside we continued on our quest for
the next place to stay for the night. We did have ideas of hitting a
campsite on the east coast of Calabria near Sibari, but after eventually
locating it down a very rough and ready 'road' we changed our minds. It was
quite a busy site but not terribly exciting and seemed a long way from
anywhere. We did however bump into a German couple, the Norwegian Germans,
that we originally met at the Scarabeo site and then also at Giardini Naxos.
Seeking an alternative we ended up at Matera in Basilicata. We were heading
there sometime anyway and as we were not having any luck locating anywhere
else to stay it seemed like the best plan. We parked in a car park behind
the castle, official camper parking for 10€ per 24hours. There was water and
a waste dump there so it worked out quite well. The town was only a stones
throw away also.
After a nice restful nights sleep we headed into the town centre to locate
the ancient part of the town and the old cave dwellings, the Sassi. It was
quite a site to behold. The old dwellings were created originally back in
the Stone Age from natural caves or hewn out of the bare rock face. They
were lived in up until about 1950 or there about when the inhabitants were
'evicted' due to health and sanitary reasons, or if you want to be cynical
so that the area could be turned into a tourist attraction. The Sassi are
now a UNESCO site, which obviously explains the rubbish that litters all of
the old Sassi. There are a couple that are shown as they would have been
lived in during the last century but the remainder seemed to be used as a
good place to chuck all the rubbish, quite appalling! Anyway, the ancient
town was still very impressive even the 'newer' areas of it. As we did not
want to pay for another night in the car park we headed off again in the
evening and parked for the night across the gorge that runs past Matera with
a great view back of the Sassi and the town with the setting sun behind it.
Wednesday was Liberation Day, a public holiday. So being the sensible people
we are we headed to a major tourist spot not even thinking that it might be
a wee bit busy, Alberobello and the Zona di Trulli. The Trulli are small
stone built huts, they look a bit like African mud huts, and they date back
to well quite literally a long time ago. There are loads dotted all around
the countryside, but the town of Alberobello contains the main
concentration. There are lanes of the things, some not small individual
homes but large multiple Trulli residences, and the ones in town are all
whitewashed, very pretty. Of course only a handful are still lived in and
there were many that were being 'restored', the remainder not surprisingly
were 'tourist shops' selling all sorts of 'Trulli' memorabilia and plenty of
other crap too. After we were all Trullied out we headed off to find a spot
for the night and found a nice one on the coast just outside Polignano a
Mare, at the harbour.
We were lucky to arrive when we did. It was very busy already and there were
a couple of Italian motorhomes there. During the afternoon if became busier
and busier with locals out for a drive and a walk on the beach in the
sunshine, glorious that it was. By nightfall it had emptied out again and
there was only Noddy and another motorhome remaining, nice and peaceful.
Thursday was a bit of a wash out. It started off very overcast and we
visited Ostuni the most stunning hill town in the south of Italy, or so the
guidebook said. It was OK but not very exciting, well not in the rain
anyway. After our usual afternoon search we found a place on the coast for
the night, just south of Polignano this time, and sat out the rain that
arrived. It chucked it down overnight, not surprisingly a sleepless night,
very noisy in a box in the rain I can tell you! It did however wash a lot of
the dust and dirt of Noddy, so can't complain.
Our next destination was San Giovanni Rotondo in the Gargano promontory, the
home of Padre Pio. Who? He was a local priest who had the stigmata on his
hands. He died in 1968 and was canonized just a few years ago. He is a very
big name in the Catholic church in Italy and thousands flock probably every
day in pilgrimage to his place of rest. There is a huge, and I mean huge,
hospital built there for the 'relief of suffering', the church in his name
which is again rather large with endless rooms out the back with all his
belongings and the history of his life, not forgetting his tomb of course.
There is even a separate museum. It is all quite a sight to behold! There
are glass cabinets that contain all his old clothes and mitts. The room that
he lived in is preserved as it was. Behind the main church is another
enormous modern church that I guess is used during the main pilgrimage that
occurs once or twice a year. After we had ingested all we could we headed of
to Monte Saint Angelo a hill town about 20 miles to the east. The main
attraction of Monte S Angelo is the Sanctuary di San Michele Arcangelo where
archangel Michael is said to have appeared several times back in the fifth
century. It is one of the earliest Christian shrines in Europe, and the
church is built down into and out of the rocks, very impressive.
After all the heavy sightseeing we needed a change of direction and headed
north across the Gargano through the national park to its north coast. The
drive up and through the forest was delightful especially as we saw
virtually no other traffic. Only the lack of anywhere to stop to take in the
views of go for a stroll (theoretical) marred the experience. Arriving down
at the coast we entered our usual hunt for a place to stay. We stopped for
dinner at the harbour of Lido del Sole and from there spied some campers
parked just back along the shore on the beachfront. We managed to locate
them and parked for the night. The sunset was amazing with the sun going
down on the sea to the west.
Today we just chilled on the beach with the locals. The only drawback being
all the sand that one transports back into Noddy. Sigh, one of the many
issues we face on a daily basis!
Ciao
M&S