Italy Day 6 - Manduria and the sea

Sunday in Manduria - well, let's just say if you're not going to church, the church makes sure you are awake. At 8:00am they start ringing bells that reverberate throughout the streets. I thought we were IN the bell tower by the volume of the bells. Luckily we get up early so didn't disturb our sleep and it was pleasant - almost movie like. So I pictured Sofia Loren casually walking to church in a 1950's dress and speaking to everyone on the street she passed along the way. In reality, Dick and I left our room through quaint back alleys (didn't want to get caught in the rush to church) and made our way to the cafe for espresso and juice. Yesterday, Daniela (our expert driver) wore a dress that belonged to her grandmother. She looked exquisite and almost created the Sofia Loren look.

One of our adventures of the day was to go to Antimo's family olive grove and do an olive oil tasting. Oh my, I think I enjoyed that more than wine tasting. This grove of trees was hundreds of years old. You can tell by the circumference of the trunk of the tree and gnarly growth. It all added to the tree's charm.

Anna (Antimo's mom) makes her own olive oil - several ways. If they pick the olives before they mature and fall to the ground, the oil has a slightly bitter taste, and if they wait for the olives to fully ripen and fall to the ground, they have a sweeter taste. Antimo also brought a semi-commercial brand of olive oil that a friend produces to compare. The manufactured olive oil had a sharper flavor with a peppery bite at the back of the mouth. We learned the right acidity level for extra virgin olive oil (between .02-.08). I will have to check my bottle of olive oil from Costco (Italian friends, don't faint, I use it for bulk stuff, not refined cooking and eating in salads) to see if the label tells the acidity level. All olive oils we tasted were good, but I think I prefer Anna's the best. 

After the tasting we tried frise - a very dry bread shaped like a bagel. In order to eat it you have to soak it in water for a few seconds. Then we slathered it with olive oil, and tomatoes. Who needs cream cheese and salmon? Although that would have been good too. We are just loving the rustic charm of this area and the food is so fresh - you can almost taste it from the aroma of the fruit/vegetable. If the frise are processed correctly (dried with no moisture left), they can be stored for 6-8 months. 

The sun was warm and rising in the sky so we were off to the beach. The sand here is  white and nice to walk in. The water is very clear it seems like you can see the bottom forever. We walked out into the ocean about 100 yards and we could still touch the bottom. Temperature of the water similar to the pool at Tukwila. I could have stayed in the water for hours but we had more plans for the day, so caught a little sun to dry off, no time to sit and tan today. 

Now we were off to a cousin's house for lunch (Antimo has a lot of cousins as you might guess in a small town). I forgot it was a cooking class day too! We were in the oldest part of town in Manduria. The streets were barely wide enough for his small car. We arrived at this beautiful very tall home. We were escorted through the main floor (living room and kitchen) to the 3rd floor where they had a massada - which is a party or entertaining area. Half of this was a large outside terrace and inside was a large room with another kitchen. This is where I had my cooking class. 

The main dish for lunch was to be the risotto primitivo - I hoped that today I would be better at cooking this dish or the cat might be eating it instead of us. Thankfully it was a simple dish - warm up olive oil and butter, put in some onions so they are cooked but not caramelized, then add the risotto (Italian measurement - 2 handfuls per person) and a little sage and coat the risotto with the oil/butter/onion mixture. Stir, stir, stir and then add the sausage and primitivo wine. From there it's stir, add more wine, stir, drink some wine, etc. I think most of the wine got into the dish and not drunk by me, because I was still standing after 45 minutes of cooking, although others were debating that fact. The dish is finished off with parmesan cheese and a little more sage. Perfecto!

Of course no Italian family would sit you down for lunch with just one dish - so out come the appetizers, cheeses, olives, breads, nuts, then eggplant parmesan (better than I've ever tasted). We were offered salad but we were too full. Fruits were next (white melon and peaches) followed by cookies, espresso and digestive drink. You can just picture the spread. The family was so gracious. And I'm thoroughly impressed by the children we've encountered - they are between 12-16 years old and they are so polite, stay at the table, and do not have their nose in a cell phone. 

It is 4:00 pm and we needed a nap - so back to the BNB to rest before going out for dinner. Are you laughing because I just can't imagine eating another morsel today!!

Did I mention the mosquitos found me the moment I stepped on Italian soil. I don't know why they don't bother Dick. My extremities look like a battle field with bloody bites and dead mosquito bits.

We did some laundry in our room and it didn't dry in time so I got out the hair dryer so we would at least have the essentials if you know what I mean. That created a whole new meaning to "hot pants". I'm thinking I might even do this at home on cold days. 

What does one do on a Sunday afternoon between 5:00 and 8:00 pm? All the shops are closed because it is Sunday. We could turn on the TV but we don't understand enough Italian - although the soap operas are hilarious. We could walk around the town, which we did and found a little flea market outside the church. We ran into Vincenze (Antimo's dad) and had a short conversation - mostly using our hands and the few Italian words we all knew. 

If you can't think of anything else, you drink wine, right? That was our conclusion. 

We found a cute little restaurant and ordered some wine and a short time later, here comes friends from Portland. So we joined them and ended up ordering a pizza and talking for hours. Then Antimo and his friend wandered by our table - they were going to dinner together. Fun to experience this small town atmosphere. Didn't get back to our BNB until 11:00 pm, but that's earlier than we've gotten home in weeks. 
 

The old man and the olive tree





Olive oil tasting under the olive trees




About every side street in Manduria turns into a restaurant at 8:00 pm. They just block off the street with a car at each end and put up some trellis, tables and chairs and it transforms into an outside dining experience.  





Old olive trees on Antimo's family property







Cooking class in session 





Looks awful but tasted oh so good when cooked





Water spigot outside on the masada





Primitivo risotto ready to eat!




Saw this on our walk about town. Do you see where the run off from this air conditioner is going? Into a plastic jug. Okay then, problem solved. 





Antimo and Daniela stopping by our table for a glass of wine before enjoying their evening dinner together.

Italy Day 5 - Alberobello & Trulli houses

This day was an adventure that could not be planned by any agency, tour company or bumbling tourist. However, Antimo orchestrated a perfect day.

We did have a challenge getting to Alberobello because every train crossing we came upon had the guard rails down waiting for a train. We were told that in the olden days there was a man at every crossing in a house adjacent to the tracks and when he was alerted to the train coming he would lower the safety gates (heaven help the town if he was caught sleeping). Now they put the gates down automatically but so far in advance that traffic gathers for miles in each direction before the local 3-car train passes.

Then you have to drive through every small town from here to there because there is no motorway or highway for us to take. We got behind some old man on a bike and that is the speed we went until we could safely go around him. Sound like Portland?

When we first arrived in the town with the trulli, I used the bathroom in a gelateria (because you know we hadn't eaten in 2 hours so before we took the trulli tour, we had a gelato). Anyway, I got stuck in the bathroom and couldn't get out. Luckily Debbie (from Portland) heard my banging on the door and pushed it in so I could get out. She later had the same experience. Not the best engineering on that door system.

The trulli structures were fascinating to see scattered across the countryside. There are 60,000 of them. They are made of limestone so you will only find them built where the limestone is located. People built them from what they found in the ground and built the house around it. They date back to before the 1500's. The walls are about 4 1/2 feet thick and made of 3 layers. You have to build the roofs from the bottom up because there is no support in them.

When the landlords came around to collect taxes for having a house, the people in the trulli would take off the keystone and the roof would cave in so that they could say it was not a house, just a barn for animals. This happened about once a year and then they would build the roof back again. Some trulli have symbols on their roofs which are either pagan or christian.

After the trulli tour our local guide gave us cookies and mozerella because you know we hadn't eaten in an hour. Of course, we were on our way to lunch but......

Our next adventure of the day was to go to a small massuria for lunch. The owners of this farm worked with cows, producing milk and cheese. The massuria owners put on a lunch spread that was over the top fabulous. We ate in the barn which had been restored. All homemade dishes and everything was delicious. Of course after lunch out came the fruit and pastry - after drinks like limoncello and espresso.

I needed a nap and we were not in any hurry to leave, so went outside to sit on the grass and relax. As people finished their lunch and drinks they too came outside and we sat around on the grass just visiting and enjoying a perfectly lovely day. About 5:00 pm or so we left the farm, said goodbye to our hosts and headed to dinner. I know, really? We were all soooo full we were very glad that the restaurant we had planned to visit for dinner was closed that evening.

Before we left the massuria, I headed back into the barn to visit the restroom. For the second time that day I was stuck. I was trying to get out the main barn door but I was locked inside. Debbie and her husband were trying to get in and I was trying to get out. We were all laughing which added to the challenge. Funny in the end.

We visited another small town on the way back to Manduria, walked around the old parts of the city, had a coffee and then traveled back to Manduria. Ahh, a delightful day.

Gelato before Trulli tour

Lunch at the massuria. I don't think there was enough food. These cut outs in the walls is where the cows used to eat hay. They are shaped like this because their horns were quite large in the olden days and this shape created space for their horns.

 Group of trulli - condo concept?

Sangria with primitivo wine, peaches, and other fruit

Dessert table

 Cows whose milk made tasty cheeses

Dick and I in front of a trullo

Drinking coffee in nearby town

Italy Day 4 - Manduria

The crush is in full swing here in Manduria. Today we picked grapes for the harvest. We learned so much about grapes and wine today my head is spinning (okay so those of you who know Dick well can imagine what his comments were to that). Anyway, after breakfast at a cafe we took off for the vineyards. If you think the roads in Oregon are bad, I beg to differ. Potholes and bad road patches are the good roads. I'm not saying this didn't add to our experience, I'm just saying I won't be complaining about the roads when we return home.

Today they were picking San Genovese and Cab Sauvignon grapes in the field we visited. These grapes picked right off the vine tasted really sweet, like a nice red grape (okay, that's what they are before squeezed - LOL). Antimo taught us how to cut the grapes so we don't cut any fingers off. The local picking crew was very nice and tolerated how slow we were and just worked around us. We would move down the field and within minutes the regulars were caught up with us and had moved on. Just so you know, we will not be changing careers to grape pickers anytime soon.

Antimo had a nice snack prepared for us, coffee, juice his mother made, pucci with olive and bacon, and foccia with meat and tomatoes - just in case we would faint away from hunger from not eating every 2 hours. We sat down for this snack under the arbor of the grapes. The table was decked out with a  tablecloth and the food and drinks were set up like something you would see in a movie. So cute and picturesque. It was wonderful.

Now you have to know that as Dick was picking the grapes, he would say, "vintage 9:30", a row away it would be "vintage 9:35" OMG! These fields were very interesting because some were planted natural - just plants next to each other, no supports of any kind, some were trellised like an arbor, some were espalier on wires or like they do with some of the vines in Oregon and California. Most of these fields had to be picked by hand because you could not get large equipment down through the rows.

Next we went to the winery where all these grapes were going to be processed. It is a co-op but on a very large scale compared to some I've seen in Oregon. The original building that the winery now uses for tastings, and purchasing wine has cement rooms below that the farmers could use to ferment their grapes years ago. You would drop the grape juice down a hole in the floor (these rooms were originally sealed off from each other). I can't imagine this large facility with holes in the floor about every 10-12 feet. Hopefully you had your "hole" well marked for your family grape storage. There are about 45 of these rooms, 35 of which they opened up so you could go from room to room and turned them into a museum. Each room held different artifacts from earlier times. The walls were sometimes very red, which represented the type of wine it held. Each of these rooms when used for wine storage held 11,000 gallons. Dick figured he could have 33,000 gallons if he converted our 3-car garage. Heaven help me!

Back upstairs to the tasting room, you could taste the different varietals just like any winery. Or you could go to the bulk pumps and fill your gallons from any of these pumps. You may remember we saw something similar in Tuscany a few years ago. However, these really look like gas pumps. (see pic below)

Well, you haven't had a complete wine experience until you've used the wine vat bathroom. We saw these in Sicily being used for wine, here they have turned some of them into storage and one was a toilet. How many of you can say you've tinkled in a cement wine vat? Maybe after a few bottles of wine you may think you have - ha ha. 

We returned to town and Antimo's mother was ready to show me how to make a special kind of pasta from this area - pizzarieddi. It is a simple mixture of flour and water, kneading the dough, and then rolling into tube. Then cut off small bits of the dough and roll it on a metal stick (much like a knitting needle). I did something similar in Sicily and was much better at it then here. I did such a great job that after Anna was done teaching me this method, she rolled up the dough I had made, and was going to feed it to the chickens. Thank goodness we weren't eating it. Luckily she had already prepared some for our lunch, along with grilled eggplant and braciole (rolled up meat). 

Antimo's parents gave us the grand tour of their home in Manduria. While the main house in on one floor, the property has a basement where you could cure cheese and meats and an upper level that had a large outside patio with storage rooms that currently housed their latest crop of tomatoes.

There are a few barking dogs around town, really nothing more than any town would have. However, just as Dick was nodding off to sleep for an afternoon nap they started barking about something. He shot up in bed and said, "that *#&$% dog is barking in dialect."

Tonight we are going to join John and Debbie for a gala opening event of a massuria. John and Debbie are Portlanders here in Manduria at the same time we are. We all took Italian lessons at the same time and will be sharing a few experiences while we are here together. We are dressing up in our finest tennis shoes and clean jeans tonight, well, actually grabbing the best we have to wear for this event. I'll even clean out the branches and bits of grapes from my hair for the evening. 

Anna's rooftop storage

These are the typical vases used to collect wine from the winery - they are quite large - some standing 3-4 feet high. 

 Dick with Antimo at the wine dispensing machines.

One of the horses in the barn.

Evening event at massuria. All chairs were faced outwards to invite guests to sit.

 Toilette at the winery

Beautiful grape arbors

 Picking grapes in Manduria


We had a little time to kill before the evenings event so we walked around the town. This was about 5:30-6:00 pm. Well as you know the shops close between 2:00 and 5:00, however, here it is a guessing game when the shops will reopen for the night. Or, in other words, you have to consider Italian time. So the sign on the shop may say they are re-opening at 4:30 but at 6:00 pm it is still closed. When we returned to the town that evening around midnight everything was open, the streets were bussing with people - in fact we couldn't find a place to park near a gelato store - and it was midnight!

But, back to earlier.... after scraping the grape bits off my skin and under fingernails, out of my hair - gads! we prepped for our gala evening. What a surprise. This massuria is a horse farm. They have stables and riding ring and all that goes along with that.

So here we are all dressed up and before we go into the building, we are walked down this dirt road to the stables. They had about 8 or 10 horses, all beautiful animals. One of these horses even had his own goat in his stall to keep him company. 

The event was good, the facility was beautiful. I'm shocked at how well restored these buildings are for farm properties. As you will see from the picture below all the chairs at the tables are faced slightly out. This is to invite you to sit down. And never are you to leave your chair tucked into the table as we do in the US. This means you didn't enjoy your meal. We learned this from another guest from Holland.

They brought in a chef from Rome for this event. The evening started with wine (of course). They weren't quite organized with their appetizers as they didn't put them on a tray and bring them around, nor did they serve them from the buffet. We weren't quite sure what to do and neither did their staff. Learning curve for everyone at this new venue. 

After standing for what seemed like a long time, we decided to sit down. Once we decided to stay for dinner, then they served the appetizers. Puzzling. All around a nice evening.

Italy Day 3 - Hello Manduria

It was raining when we woke up this morning. Ah, that wonderful sound - now I have to remember that in February when I'm looking for sunshine in Oregon. 

We went in to old town Bari this morning to do some shopping and what we discovered is that everything was closed. I guess people know when the ships come in to the port of Bari and open the shops early. So we stopped by Martinucchi's and had a cappuccino and espresso while we were figuring out what to do with our morning. We were leaving on a train around 3:00 pm so had some time to explore. 

We stopped by a cheese and meat store we had seen earlier and grabbed a few things for lunch on the train. Then stopped in a few shops - I didn't buy anything - shocked even me. 

We said goodbye to our BNB and walked our luggage to the train station just down the street. We even boarded the right train going in the right direction! We were warned by Antimo that the trains don't always announce each little town they stop in. And we're here to tell you that they did, but it was so muffled, we hardly understood what they were saying. So thank goodness Antimo told us to look for the white town about 10 minutes out from Brindisi called - Ostuni. Thank goodness Dick stayed awake so he could tell me we had just passed that town and to get ready to debark the train. 

We arrived in Brindisi around 4:30 and Antimo was there to meet us. He drove us through the town and off we went to Oria. There we stopped at a co-op where a few grape farmers get together to process their grapes - on a very small scale. They crush, ferment and bottle in this small space about the size of a 4 car garage. Each family has their name on their barrels and when done, pours the finished grapes into a large ceramic pitcher. We tasted some grapes that had started to ferment - oh so good. Primitivo wine is common in this area. 

Our BNB is just delightful. It has a 5 star ceiling called stella. All in stone. The ceiling is so high, there is a loft area with a picturesque railing where I would picture family members yelling down to the people below - in a friendly way of course. ha ha. The street is so small outside that no cars can travel on it. Well, guess that stops traffic and car noise for us for awhile.

At 7:30 pm we were off to the countryside to make pizzas at a massuria (working farm). This family has 300 acres of olive trees and 40 acres of vineyards. They make their own olive oil and wine - duh! The owners are a very nice family. The daughter is beautiful, in fact she was runner up Miss Pulgia. She and her mother prepared all the ingredients and fired up the outside oven. We rolled out the dough and put the toppings on. It was so fresh - the San Marzanos were bursting with flavor and the mozzarella was indescribably good when it melted all over the dough. 

We learned that they test the oven to make sure it is ready with a puccia. They take a hunk of dough and roughly roll it out, no toppings, then throw it in the oven. It should poof up which tells you the oven is hot enough. Dick got into the swing of things and made his own pizza - first time ever! With our pizza dinner our hosts brought out their homemade primitivo wine, cheeses, white melons (tastes similar to honey dew) peaches, nuts and grappa of course. It was all so delicious, even the grappa. Surprised I'm still coherent to write this blog. 

Lunch on the train from our purchases in town

Grape crushers in Oria the old-fashioned way. 

Our BNB in Manduria

 Outside Brick oven - looks hot enough don't you think?

Pizza in the making 

 Even Dick is getting into it

Italy Day 2 - Bari

Hello fellow travelers,

Today we started with our BNB breakfast. the owners made the cakes and the mother made the jam. The fruit juice was delicious - it wasn't exactly orange juice, there were other flavors, just don't know what they are. The plums were delicious as were the grapes. And the bread, quite yummy.

Okay, so it's not all about the food (kinda is) but I'll move on. After breakfast we walked to the port of Bari to join a walking tour. As we crossed many streets I was using my U.S. head and crossing on the green. Dick would hold me back because these traffic lights are only a suggestion here. I said we had the right to cross, he said well you may be right, but then you may be dead. So I think that's where they got the saying "dead right". 

I didn't have time to fuss with my hair today so decided to wear a hat (I know I must have looked more like a tourist but oh well). With a slight wind which we encountered as we neared the sea, the hat kept flying off. I finally took it off and just went without it. I later discovered there was a way to tighten the headband in the hat. Dick never accused me of walking around with a tight head... band, if you get my drift. 

Our tour with Giuseppe was fabulous. He had a few other people from a cruise ship that docked here in Bari and we spent 3 hours and about 5 miles walking around old town and new town. Our guide was friendly with everyone we met along the way - the old Italian ladies love him. They were so friendly and invited us into their kitchens where they were making orecchietta pasta (shaped like an ear). These ladies are masterful at making them. They only use semolina and water - make them by the hundreds and dry them on screen-like trays. 

As we were walking around town you would see people's laundry hanging outside their  apartment. Giuseppe was telling stories about the laundry and said, well if you get new underwear, everyone on the street will know it, because you have to hang it out to dry sometime. Many laundry lines have plastic covers that project out over their clothes to keep the bird poop off the clothes. Guess those dive bombing birds that hit our windows sideways in Oregon and leave a mess must vacation in Italy. 

Going to visit the family tonight. Talked to my cousin Franco on the phone and it will be a challenge to communicate. Did I mention I wrote down a few conversation scenarios and translated them before I left? Dick said I should talk slow, very, very slow, or otherwise I will run out of Italian conversation in a minute and a half. Heaven help us.

Leaving Bari tomorrow and wanted to send out a few notes and picture of Italian family before we left - and besides it's raining. Yes, you Oregonians and Californians remember that wet stuff that falls from the sky.

You could have made a Monte Python movie out of our adventure with the family. As I mentioned, they did not speak English and Dick and I don't speak much Italian. So as in any Monte Python movie, you have people wandering around wondering who is saying what and making stuff up. 

What entertained us most was figuring out whose car to take what grandmother, what cousin, etc. It was a long discussion and we just moved with the crowd. So poor Dick did not realize what was going to happen. How do you prepare a non-Italian for this experience? 

When we arrived at cousin Columba's house (7:00ish) she offered us cake and limoncello. I know Dick was thinking - damn I missed dinner. So we graciously took what was offered. Then the men started returning home from work and we talked about their boys and their majors in school, soccer, stuff like that.

We had kind of run out of conversation that we could all understand (used up all my Italian within the hour) so they put us in a car and drove us around the town - although Monte Python might have used horses. It was dark by now, but we could get a gist of the town square, park, etc. We stopped into the house where my grandfather was born. Brought tears to my eyes to experience it again. 

Back to Columba's house to decide about dinner, where we would go and who would ride in which car. That discussion took forever as you might imagine if you have Italian heritage. Nothing is decided quickly. 

There are two very old grandmother's who don't walk well. We were amazed at how they maneuvered marble stairs in and out of the house (without railing) that were wet from the rain, then walk a spurious path to get to the cars. 

Once at the restaurant there was another long discussion who would sit where, next to whom, etc. The young cousins (children of my cousins Columba and Angela) sat close to us because they spoke the most English. Now you have to know it is about 10:00 pm and we are just sitting down to order dinner. 

First we had about 8-10 appetizers that were just kept coming out to the table. Olives, buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, mushrooms, something baked in cheese, asparagus gnocchi, a plate of fish (octopus, shrimp, and other unknown fish that all tasted good - we even tried the octopus!) and more that I didn't know what it was. So now we are full, and here comes the pizza! They ordered us a pizza each the size of a large pizza in the U.S. Needless to say, we brought most of ours home. The meal ended with what they call "glass" which is small gelato bites covered in chocolate. 

The evening ended with kisses and hugs, tears, and a lot of good-byes. 

Off to Manduria tomorrow!

Breakfast at BNB

 Neighborhood grocery / fruit store

 Typical street in downtown Bari

Local lady making her orecchietta for the day in her kitchen - grandson looking on. 

 Local fisherman mending his net.

Giuseppe (our walking guide) pointing out a historical spot.

 Every day is laundry day!

Seaside housing - their view is the Mediterranean 

Port of Bari

Pictures of my mother and father's wedding - from a relative in Bari.

The three aunties (daughters of my grandfather's sister) are in the blue blouse in the front and the two older ladies in black sweaters sitting at the table. The older man in the white shirt sitting by Rosa (in the blue blouse) is my uncle Vito. Franco in the blue shirt in front is standing behind his mother. He's single ladies. My cousins Columba and Angela are in the back of the picture by us and the two young men are their children. The other two men are their husbands, both named Michael.

Goodbye England - Hello Italy

Have to shout out to Gill, thanks for the wonderful trip around England. She is the hostess with the mostest!! Truly enjoyed our visit - England is a fascinating country.

So we are on our way to the airport at o'dark hundred. I thought it was foggy, but by English terms it was misty. As we drove along, I thought the fog was getting thicker, but Gill assured me it was just heavier mist. Then It actually got so foggy you could barely see the road. Gill did an impressive job of getting us to the airport and her parting words were, you have 2 hours for it to clear. I was worried we wouldn't take off, but we did, albeit it a little late. 

We ate breakfast in the airport at a restaurant named after Lady Godiva (her estate is just down the road according to the notes on the menu). Dick was hoping for a "ride by" but of course she is long gone -- maybe he was thinking of Lady Gaga?

Well have to say we are very impressed with these German airlines. I think I commented earlier on Condor and today we took German Wings, very nice as well. We somehow got in first class - such as it is on a small airplane, and it had loads of leg room. 

Throughout this trip the only thing that has not synced is my FitBit. It is still on west coast time and I keep missing the steps for the day. By the time I think to look, it has reverted to 0 because it is clocking me in the Pacific Time zone. Oh well, I'll catch up with it when we return from our trip. 

We arrive in Bari and check into our BNB. Giuseppe, our host, is just delightful. It was exciting to be here and bonus, we had a portion of an apartment that was very nice. Just as described! After reading the instructions for check in and check out, we noticed it was "flexible" so check in time is flexible as is check out. We're not sure what time "flexible" is. You gotta love Italy. 

After attempts to communicate with my cousin Franco - he speaks no English, my Italian is rustic at best - we figured out he was unavailable today but will see us tomorrow, which left us on our own tonight. The last time I visited Bari was about 10 years ago so it was a challenge to get acliminated to where we were in relation to old town, Saint Nicola Church, etc. (Gosh I have a hard time remembering what I wore yesterday, let alone where I'd been 10 years ago - so why am I surprised I needed a bit to get oriented?)

We walked towards old town wandered down a few streets and found a beautiful piazza with lots of restaurants. We saw a little grocery market (really a small closet size open to the street) with fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm certain locals only shopped there. I spotted figs sitting in a small bowl and asked to purchase some. For 4 figs it cost less than 1 euro. Before we left Oregon, figs were going for $1 each in the market. I ate two on the way to dinner. LOL.

We found a pizzeria that was open early (before 8:00 pm) and sat down to have a glass of wine and think about dinner. We had the perfect setting, sitting outside on a sultry evening and watching people go by. Because we were speaking mostly English (try as we might to practice our Italian), an English gentlemen who was traveling alone stopped by our table to chat for a few minutes. The local police stopped by the Gelateria next door and had their mid-evening gelato. You just can't get this ambiance in our town. So 1 bottle of wine later, 2 pizzas and a portion of Tiramisu -- we were done for the night and it only cost us 28 euro. Gads what a deal! 

Our room at the BNB. It is part of an apartment that comes with a kitchen, little dining area, bathroom and someone else staying in the room next to us. Odd, but okay. The owners said they decided to rent out their apartment and are living in another section of the building. 

Our first pizza in Italy. Extra thin crust pizza. It was delicious - we could have shared one pizza but Dick wanted his own toppings and didn't want mine with anchovies, capers, artichokes, mushrooms and whatever else. He had a sausage and cheese, and the kicker was that one of the cheeses was gorgonzola melted in with the mozzarella. He said it was really tasty - not a combo I would have thought to make. 

Gelato where the police had their break. We're hitting this place up on our way home from our Bari tour tomorrow!

Last Day in England

Before we left Cornwall we had to have a pasty (click link for correct pronunciation) Cornwall is famous for these meat and potato pies. We bought some still warm from the oven to take on our journey back to Stroud. About halfway back, we got off the motorway and stopped at a car  park, bought a tea and ate our pasties. They were still warm actually because when we picked them up at the shop the woman had just made them and hadn't even put them in the case yet. It was quite good. Gill said they make them with raw ingredients and everything cooks inside the pastry. 

Okay all you golfers in Tukwila, this you will not believe. If you think the ducks are a bother on the course, let me tell you about the cows. You see, on the common land, people can let their cows run amuck and many of them love to hang around the golf course. I wasn't quick enough to get the golfer teeing off and I hope missing the cow in the fairway ahead. It was a funny site to see.

The evening ended with dinner in a pub known for it's beers. One of Gill's and Dolly's friends took Dick up to the bar area and gave him the whole story of hops, beers, and I don't know what else. He had a beer tasting going on and finally returned to our dinner table so we could order dinner. These chaps are more than happy to share what they know with anyone. They had hops vines hanging on the ceiling and Dick didn't get a word in edgewise to tell them we have them in Oregon, but oh well, they had such a grand time, I think he wanted to let them feel special.

Note to self: Do not read a book about a plane crash right before you are about to get on a plane. Reading Mayday by Nelson DeMille. Really good book though.

Gill figured out our route to the airport for tomorrow. If you don't hear from us for a few days, we've gone astray or can't find WiFi. We're off at o'dark thirty in the morning for Bari, Italy.

Cornish pasty shop - as you can see the pasties were not in the window just the sweets which looked wonderful - but we skipped them.

Our last dinner in Stroud with Gill

Cornish pasty shop

Cornwall Charm

First thing in the morning was to go to a Boot Sale - which is a flea market where people have "stuff" in their trunk (boot) and sell it. It was so cheap it was hard not to buy everything. I did find a few  things - hope I can get them back home without breaking.

We had a lovely day visiting small Cornish towns, following the road along the sea. Fantastic views. In Ramehead we visited a Coast Guard lookout. The Coast Guard volunteers were counting people on small boats in their area because these smaller vessels wouldn't be picked up by radar. It was fascinating to watch these two men work together to identify a boat and the number of people aboard and what direction they were headed. They told us this helps the Coast Guard because if there is a weather problem, or if someone reports a boat missing, they can check their logs and help with information.

Before we left the Coast Guard lookout, the men told us to look for a small picket fence just a few feet by a few feet as we were driving away. They said that marked the grave of a famous sailor from their village. He requested being buried standing up and facing the sea. They did not know if he was saluting but they did know that he was standing up in his grave. Only in Cornwall!

Close by this lookout were small cottages that were built before WWII as holiday retreats. You weren't able to live them in full time then, but now they are allowing people to fix them up and live in them. They are probably about 400 sq. ft. and are located on the side of the hill looking out over the ocean. They have million dollar views.

One town we visited gets flooded often because of how it is situated on the seashore so the houses located in the lower levels of the village have these boards that slip into a slot in front of the front door to keep the water from coming in. Some have drainage grates for the water to escape. It seems like a good method - don't know if it works well, however, they are still standing hundreds of years later, so there you go.

We ended in the afternoon back at the same pub that Gill's friends own and run. Before we got in the door, the people sitting outside already knew that we were visiting from Oregon, etc etc. It was very small town and very funny how fast news travels.

Dinner tonight was at an Italian restaurant. The best part of dinner was the garlic bread. Enough said.

Tomorrow we return back to Stroud to pack and get ready for our flight to Italy on Tuesday.


Love the way the trees bend over the street. Don't know how large vehicles get through this.

Almost ran into this bus on the road - yes we passed it scraping the bushes to get through

Ha Penny field near Gill's flat in Looe

Gate in Kingsand with a view to the sea