Italy week two, Castellana Grotte to Paris. June 2018
New home for 4 nights. Castellana Grotte.
Rural, peaceful and oh so beautiful. Next time we come back to Italy, this is the region we would start at. The further south we go, the better it gets. Can't wait to see the beaches and explore later.
Amadeus is our Airbnb host, Fro is our 4 legged friend.
If you want to save money and eat in, a wonderful fresh pasta with ham and cheese, followed by tiramisu and coffee...and of course a bottle of Vino! Only $20 cdn..we sat outside under an old tree and took in the stars...with Fro, who likes cheese, lol.
We had two places we wanted to see, on the east side. My pick was Alberobello, we headed their first. Just a 15 minute drive and we arrived. It was like a little gnome town, so cute! There are over a 1,000 of little white, round, stone houses, called Trullo or plural Trulli. They were built as temporary field shelters for the workers, but now are homes, shops and bars. There is no green space in between, all stone path. The Trulli have one door, you need to duck lol, and a tiny roof vent, but they are very cool inside, they keep the heat out. They are tiny, one storey, barely room for a chair and table, the bed is above you..basically our version of the new tiny home living 🙂
Our drive back around 7.30pm was pretty, the sun was setting and the sky was pink, another great sunny day in store for tomorrow. We stopped in our little town, Castellana Grotte for supper. The square was full, trees with lights and benches all around, filled with people talking, kids playing football, teenagers hanging out. It was beautiful, what a way to live. Friends, family and neighbours gathered each evening, the calm washed over you, such support and company..💞💕💗 it was a great day, we are loving this part of Italy. Sleep comes easy here ..
This is a long post, I am up early, 5.30am made a tea and am sitting outside.
Here's how the weather goes here, wake up, sunny. By lunch it's starts to haze over and you think it might rain, it never does. Amadeus said a couple of years ago, they went 5 months without any rain. The afternoon is cloudy, and then it heats up again..evenings are amazing, perfect temperature for eating outside. Repeat.
This morning we decided to find a beach, there were many near us, so we drove to the closest in Manopoli, parked the car, free parking, that doesan't happen very often here. And walked to the beach.
Roberto had picked up a cold, sore throat, sniffles and he passed it on to me, how kind. The pharmacist had given me some lozenges, they contain flubiprophen lol, pain killer for your throat, how smart. And I got a packet of Halls, black licorice flavour.
I keep thinking about the food back home. The meals I usually cook, the grocery stores. It's all going to be so bland. Even trying to recreate these dishes, with the produce back home, won't taste the same. Maybe from the framers market, maybe with my Italian olive oil, but I doubt it.
I couldn't leave the squares without stopping at Sugar again. We picked 4 new flavours, I had ricotta cheese and caramel gelato, and fig sorbet, Roberto had ferria Roche and maraschino cherry gelato. We sat in the square under a tree, we could hear the Argentina game, from the men next to us, listening on their phone. Life is good.
Today reached 33 degrees. No humidity. Nice breeze on our terrace.
We started the morning early, most people are out shopping in the morning, the stores open at 8 am, close at 1pm. By then the heat is too much, you don't want to be in a car or walking around. They open again at 4 or 5pm and close at 9 pm, makes perfect sense. It is lovely to wander and shop in the evenings. I had an appointment for 10 am, at a local hairdresser. A very nice man, from a barbershop, had walked me there, the evening before. It was funny trying to communicate, I pointed at me, then my head and then the street..he shook his head, said "man" a few times, meaning it was for men's hair cuts only. I nodded, did the whole routine again, kept talking in English, like you do, even after they tell you they don't speak English, lol. I didn't try talking louder though😂. He finally figured out what I wanted, and told me to follow him.
The hairdressers was small, a white cave, two sinks, two chairs. A girl who washed and did a lot of eyebrow waxing on the old ladies, and the stylist. She was probably late 50's. she didn't speak english, but the girl did a little. I showed her my Pinterest pictures. And that was that, she did her thing. The water in Italy is soft, you don't need moisturizer, your skin is soft..your hair is soft..baby soft. I was at that point, where I could of cut it off myself. It was annoying me. So I let her do her thing, she was good. Her scissors and razor looked expensive, she pinned up my hair and got to work. Layer by layer, she cut and razored. I knew it was going to be short. I have had hairdressers, litterally pull my hair out with a razor, the sound is horrendous. But this was sharp, like cutting soft butter. I was relieved when she got to the front and I had some length left, she said "fringe?" (Bangs) I shook my head no, she smiled. I was there for an hour, she styled it. Roberto had just came back from his walk, wow, he said, looks great! It cost me 18 euros, $29. (I pay $45 at home). I really liked it, it was a great pick me up, as my cold was getting worse.
Locorotondo. This is in the guide books as one of the prettiest towns in Italy. We agree. It's on a hill, the buildings are all white, there are flower pots everywhere. It was gorgeous. An old lady, tried to explain( in Italian) how the Madonna, had saved her. We understood, coma and 10. Not sure if that was years or months. We had a coffee, it was too early to eat here.
Rural, peaceful and oh so beautiful. Next time we come back to Italy, this is the region we would start at. The further south we go, the better it gets. Can't wait to see the beaches and explore later.
Amadeus is our Airbnb host, Fro is our 4 legged friend.
A trip to the grocery store.
Food here in Italy is so inexpensive. Today we spent 18€ ($29 cdn) and bought wine, a big bag of fresh pasta, a Brie wedge, a Gouda wedge, 100g chocolate bar, diced prosciutto, 3 x 1.5l of sparkling water, 2 bananas, 3 apples, fresh tiramisu cake, large bag of chips, fresh pesto sauce, and ground coffee!
Day 7. Trulli amazing.
After we picked up a few handmade gifts, Roberto was going into detox..he needed a beer, so we stopped for another great meal, flaky pastry with cheese sauce and tomatoes.. it was still warm, just baked and some bruschetta. Food back home is going to be so depressing...
Roberto’s pick. About an hour drive further (it looked like it might rain, but it was a quick 5 minute shower) we arrived in Matera.
It is said to be one of the worlds oldest towns, dating back to the Paleolithic age. There were still caves on the hillside, were the people lived, even as late as the 1950’s, when the government forcibly relocated 15,000 inhabitants. The “new” town. It is incredible, again tiny houses, but this time cut into the hill, you can see the fronts, but barely the sides.. no back yard here, no green space, just rock. There are some pretty places with flower pots and then next door, empty run down homes, where pigeons and swallows live. Oh how I would love to renovate one!
The best view of the city, is from a hilltop across the valley. We drove over. There were only 4 cars here, I can imagine in July and August it would be packed with bus tours. You could walk anywhere, there were no railings, just cliffs and a very long fall! We climbed as high as we could, had some fun taking photos and listened to the church bells coming from the city. Matera is under construction constantly, you can see the walls and houses crumbling. Next year they are having a big festival, so the push is on to get it “finished” lol.
Our drive back around 7.30pm was pretty, the sun was setting and the sky was pink, another great sunny day in store for tomorrow. We stopped in our little town, Castellana Grotte for supper. The square was full, trees with lights and benches all around, filled with people talking, kids playing football, teenagers hanging out. It was beautiful, what a way to live. Friends, family and neighbours gathered each evening, the calm washed over you, such support and company..💞💕💗 it was a great day, we are loving this part of Italy. Sleep comes easy here ..
Day 8. I think! I had to look for yesterday's post, losing track of time...beach day today.
Here's how the weather goes here, wake up, sunny. By lunch it's starts to haze over and you think it might rain, it never does. Amadeus said a couple of years ago, they went 5 months without any rain. The afternoon is cloudy, and then it heats up again..evenings are amazing, perfect temperature for eating outside. Repeat.
It was a town beach, near buildings, with a bar and umbrellas set up. It was fairly full, maybe a third of the umbrellas were taken. To the side was a free public area, quite full, but not packed. There was a small sandy area, some rocks and cliffs. Roberto picked the spot and we set up. We have been spoilt in the past, we have have been to many amazing beaches, St.Lucia, the warmest, shallowest and clearest. Curaçao, where we saw so many tropical fish, Barbados, Aruba..all great. So I tried to settle in, I really wanted to relax, get a tan, go for a swim. But it was no good, it just didn't make sense to me. There had to be somewhere better, quieter and less crowded. When we travel, we like to rent a car, pick a villa or an apartment, and find out where the locals eat. We like to try and communicate with the people, not always easy, but it's fun. We have found everyone here, more than helpful, very friendly and welcoming. I digress, 15 minutes later, I look at Roberto, "do you like it here?" Sure, he says..he knows I am not happy. "But it's crowded and loud, and small and busy.." we pack up.
The benefit of having a car, is that you can stop when you want, go when you want, turn down a side road, get lost ( this happens a lot, Perdita is still annoying me, even Rob swore at her yesterday !) we drove south, just a few minutes, we could see the car parks, and umbrellas all set up, for a fee of course. We kept going, a couple more minutes, we found a small area with 3 cars, we parked. Finally, a small inlet, 5 people, 2 men fishing, one snorkelling, this would do. I was happy, white sand, nice incline into the water, perfect. It takes a lot for me to swim, I hate the cold water. But this was great, we stayed a couple hours, ate chips(crisps) Roberto had a beer 🙂
We returned to home in the afternoon, Amadeus had put in some laundry for us, I should clarify, Robertos laundry, I had some underwear, but he seemed to be out of everything. We hung the clothes on the line to dry. Fro was following me around, we have too many groceries in the fridge, I have been feeding her Gouda, she likes me.
Roberto looked up restaurants in town for supper, they all sounded good, I told him to pick one. He did, and later we drove in, it was 7.30pm, the square was busy again, full of kids and people. The restaurant was one recommend by our host. It was tucked in between two tiny side streets, 6 tables outside, more inside. We sat out, the waiter was able to translate the menu, he made a few suggestions and we went with it.
In Italy, when you order drinks, the give you the cutest snack for free.
When you order dinner they give you free tasters, free cherries after or sometimes free lemoncello. The meal goes like this: they bring your drinks and a small taster, then appetizers, usually 4 or 5. "First plate" is pasta. "Second plate" is meat or fish. Dessert. Coffee. You eat normally around 8 or 9, finish at 10pm or 11pm. It is an event, eaten slowly, enjoying company, good food, good wine, it is amazing. We can't eat that much, so we ordered the appetizers, one plate of pasta and one tempura seafood dish. The waiter bought out 2 tasters. Then the apps, one after another, I couldn't keep up. The service was excellent, each plate taken away immediately, replaced with another. There was shrimp, the tiniest burger, onion soup with beet purée, bread, cheese potato mash with truffle sauce and almonds, zucchini on top of pototoes, with tomatoes...it was all fantastic. I was getting full already. Next came our main, spaghetti with tomatoes and olives, tempura with shrimp, squid, vegetables. We ate some, switched plates and ate some more.
I couldn't leave the squares without stopping at Sugar again. We picked 4 new flavours, I had ricotta cheese and caramel gelato, and fig sorbet, Roberto had ferria Roche and maraschino cherry gelato. We sat in the square under a tree, we could hear the Argentina game, from the men next to us, listening on their phone. Life is good.
These grapes deserve their own post, 3 mins from our villa. We stopped to take pictures, so glad we did. The grapes are covered in cloth, they aren’t very tall, I’m guessing 5 feet. I had to crouch down to see underneath, wow. Amazing.
Day 9. Hot, hot, hot!
Today reached 33 degrees. No humidity. Nice breeze on our terrace.
We started the morning early, most people are out shopping in the morning, the stores open at 8 am, close at 1pm. By then the heat is too much, you don't want to be in a car or walking around. They open again at 4 or 5pm and close at 9 pm, makes perfect sense. It is lovely to wander and shop in the evenings. I had an appointment for 10 am, at a local hairdresser. A very nice man, from a barbershop, had walked me there, the evening before. It was funny trying to communicate, I pointed at me, then my head and then the street..he shook his head, said "man" a few times, meaning it was for men's hair cuts only. I nodded, did the whole routine again, kept talking in English, like you do, even after they tell you they don't speak English, lol. I didn't try talking louder though😂. He finally figured out what I wanted, and told me to follow him.
The hairdressers was small, a white cave, two sinks, two chairs. A girl who washed and did a lot of eyebrow waxing on the old ladies, and the stylist. She was probably late 50's. she didn't speak english, but the girl did a little. I showed her my Pinterest pictures. And that was that, she did her thing. The water in Italy is soft, you don't need moisturizer, your skin is soft..your hair is soft..baby soft. I was at that point, where I could of cut it off myself. It was annoying me. So I let her do her thing, she was good. Her scissors and razor looked expensive, she pinned up my hair and got to work. Layer by layer, she cut and razored. I knew it was going to be short. I have had hairdressers, litterally pull my hair out with a razor, the sound is horrendous. But this was sharp, like cutting soft butter. I was relieved when she got to the front and I had some length left, she said "fringe?" (Bangs) I shook my head no, she smiled. I was there for an hour, she styled it. Roberto had just came back from his walk, wow, he said, looks great! It cost me 18 euros, $29. (I pay $45 at home). I really liked it, it was a great pick me up, as my cold was getting worse.
Roberto googled were to go next. We wanted to buy olive oil to bring home.
The shop was cute, only us in there. The big metal vats of olive oil, some old presses, lots of pictures. The owner, welcomed us, shook hands and said let's taste. He spoke very good English. Now I'm sure he does this many times a day. But the tasting was very well done, and he made it fun. We tried 4 olive oils. Here's how to do it. About an ounce of oil, ( in a small plastic cup), first you smell it, then you chug the whole amount, swirling it around in your mouth for 5 seconds, then you swallow it. This is the most important step, you take big breath in through your mouth. Try it at home. We did this 4 times, it was tough, it got hotter and hotter! The man was enjoying this. Next we tried a pure grape reduction, boiled for 20 hours, it was sweet and delicious. Then 2 balsamic vinegars, it was a tiny plastic teaspoon, the first was hot. The last he said was only for the brave, I told Roberto to try it. I could see it had a pepper on the bottle. The man said, no, both of you. I got out my phone to take a picture of Roberto and the man said he would take it. He took a video instead, oh my god! It was like pure chilli pepper, if I was in a cartoon, I would have steam coming out of my ears! My eyes watered, my nose ran. The man gave me a Kleenex. He was laughing. He said as a kid, his grandmother gave him this to treat a cold, sometimes it would be heated with orange, she mixed all kind of concoctions. It certainly cleared the sinuses! We bought olive oil, the sweet grape, the chilli oil, a balsamic oil and a great yellow olive paste.
Locorotondo. This is in the guide books as one of the prettiest towns in Italy. We agree. It's on a hill, the buildings are all white, there are flower pots everywhere. It was gorgeous. An old lady, tried to explain( in Italian) how the Madonna, had saved her. We understood, coma and 10. Not sure if that was years or months. We had a coffee, it was too early to eat here.
The sky was getting dark. We headed home.
On our drive back, it rained, actual real rain, not a light shower. There was lightning. Some of the streets filled with water. Some cars pulled over to wait it out. I don't think they are used to driving in the rain, lol.
Before and after :)
Today we leave Italy, and head to Paris. I’m already sad. I would love to stay longer.
Roberto went for one last run. He is going to miss the beautiful lanes. I get up and open up the patio doors, sunny again. I know I don’t have much time to write this morning, we are trying to be on the road by 9am. It is a 5 hour drive to Rome, even with the great autostrada , you pay tolls, but it is so worth it, 3 lanes, perfect roads and apparently no speed limits.
Time to eat supper. Molly FaceTimes us 🙃 our plane is 30 minutes delayed, not too bad. We arrive in Paris at 10.45pm, I’m getting tired. The airport is modern, we are laughing at sound system, it sounds like a heavenly choir singing and then the announcements. Better than the a sharp beep I guess. It takes us a while to find the hotel shuttle. The hotel is close, it is one of the cheapest I could find. It has nothing in it. No hairdryer, no soap or shampoo, one towel each. No alarm clock, nothing. It reminds me of Mabel’s residence room. The pillows are half full bags of cut up foam. I get Rob to check the mattress..but everything is clean. It’s 12.30, we need to sleep.
We had one day in Paris, so up and at her early. We took the train into the centre, and started at the Notre Dame. The line to get in was long, we passed. It was a beautiful sunny morning, even at 9am it was getting hot. We stopped for pastries, and were disappointed. That answered that question, Italian pastries are better. Next we walked along the river, vendors were setting up, so many paintings to buy, good prices too. It was fun to look, but we didn’t need a souvenir from France.
We reached the Louvre, we hadn’t planned in going in, to be honest, we hadn’t planned anything. But the Mona Lisa called. Again it was busy, but lines were fast, price was good. We decided to get cultured. Now I’m definitely not a fan of religious paintings, I’d rather see Monet, Dali or even Turner. But these were impressive, the sizes were unreal. The time it must have taken.. I dabble in painting, mainly crazy cows, takes me 2 hours, then I’m ready to move on. These paintings must have taken years. The dedication. It was surprising to us, how close we could get to them, the statues looked like they could fall over, with just a bump from a stroller. My favourite room was the French jewels, wow, a diamond found in India, 140 carats. How much would that cost? We found the Mona Lisa room, it was packed. The painting was smaller than we thought. We moved on. Statues were fun, I asked Rob, “why is the penis, so small?” He said it was life size, and smiled.
On our drive back, it rained, actual real rain, not a light shower. There was lightning. Some of the streets filled with water. Some cars pulled over to wait it out. I don't think they are used to driving in the rain, lol.
Day 10. Time to leave, i feel like I'm taking a new man home, lol
Before and after :)
Today we leave Italy, and head to Paris. I’m already sad. I would love to stay longer.
Roberto went for one last run. He is going to miss the beautiful lanes. I get up and open up the patio doors, sunny again. I know I don’t have much time to write this morning, we are trying to be on the road by 9am. It is a 5 hour drive to Rome, even with the great autostrada , you pay tolls, but it is so worth it, 3 lanes, perfect roads and apparently no speed limits.
We want to stop a couple of times to stretch and eat, and allow time for traffic. I am still typing as Roberto gets back, he has made coffee. I continue to type, he finishes packing. It takes me an hour sometimes, to write a post. I have to reread, my spelling and punctuation are not the greatest, I write how I think in my head.. lol
We said goodbye and thanks to our host, I pat Fro and give her the last of the Gouda.
Our drive takes us through the middle of Italy, it starts off dry and yellow, with cactus. It turns to farmland and then to woodland. You see it getting it greener. You can also see more and more industrial buildings, graffiti and litter, as we start getting nearer to Rome.
We stopped for coffee. In Italy, a coffee is a small espresso, we have been getting cappuccino. Roberto tries to order coffee, he asks for two lattes to go. They are tiny, in paper cups, no lids. I take a photo of his double doubles. He takes a sip.. omg. He has warm milk! He is not impressed, I’m laughing....
Our drive takes us through the middle of Italy, it starts off dry and yellow, with cactus. It turns to farmland and then to woodland. You see it getting it greener. You can also see more and more industrial buildings, graffiti and litter, as we start getting nearer to Rome.
We stopped for coffee. In Italy, a coffee is a small espresso, we have been getting cappuccino. Roberto tries to order coffee, he asks for two lattes to go. They are tiny, in paper cups, no lids. I take a photo of his double doubles. He takes a sip.. omg. He has warm milk! He is not impressed, I’m laughing....
On the autostrada food is more expensive, off the main road, there are truck stops, these are dirt cheap. Don’t buy gas, petrol, on the autostrada. We arrived at 5pm, lots of time. Returned the car rental. And checked in. Security is quick, lines are short, it is very efficient and very laid back. Our bag is under the limit, barely. We still need to buy wine in France. I might need to leave the beach towels and sunscreen behind. From what we can gather, we won’t be needing them in Pei!
Time to eat supper. Molly FaceTimes us 🙃 our plane is 30 minutes delayed, not too bad. We arrive in Paris at 10.45pm, I’m getting tired. The airport is modern, we are laughing at sound system, it sounds like a heavenly choir singing and then the announcements. Better than the a sharp beep I guess. It takes us a while to find the hotel shuttle. The hotel is close, it is one of the cheapest I could find. It has nothing in it. No hairdryer, no soap or shampoo, one towel each. No alarm clock, nothing. It reminds me of Mabel’s residence room. The pillows are half full bags of cut up foam. I get Rob to check the mattress..but everything is clean. It’s 12.30, we need to sleep.
Day 11. You never know what’s around the corner.
We had one day in Paris, so up and at her early. We took the train into the centre, and started at the Notre Dame. The line to get in was long, we passed. It was a beautiful sunny morning, even at 9am it was getting hot. We stopped for pastries, and were disappointed. That answered that question, Italian pastries are better. Next we walked along the river, vendors were setting up, so many paintings to buy, good prices too. It was fun to look, but we didn’t need a souvenir from France.
We reached the Louvre, we hadn’t planned in going in, to be honest, we hadn’t planned anything. But the Mona Lisa called. Again it was busy, but lines were fast, price was good. We decided to get cultured. Now I’m definitely not a fan of religious paintings, I’d rather see Monet, Dali or even Turner. But these were impressive, the sizes were unreal. The time it must have taken.. I dabble in painting, mainly crazy cows, takes me 2 hours, then I’m ready to move on. These paintings must have taken years. The dedication. It was surprising to us, how close we could get to them, the statues looked like they could fall over, with just a bump from a stroller. My favourite room was the French jewels, wow, a diamond found in India, 140 carats. How much would that cost? We found the Mona Lisa room, it was packed. The painting was smaller than we thought. We moved on. Statues were fun, I asked Rob, “why is the penis, so small?” He said it was life size, and smiled.
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