TWO AMHS MEMBERS AND “BEST OF FRIENDS” IN ITALY – THEIR ADVENTURE CONTINUES!
The following is part 2 of the “adventures of Alberto and Maria” who spent part of June and July in Italy. The first part, focusing on Italian language studies in Agnone, Molise and visits to Maria and Alberto’s family’s villages, appeared in the September issue of the AMHS Notiziario. Our wonderful adventure in Italia continued when we left Isernia on June 24 in our rented FIAT Bravo.
We were excited to get on the road to Puglia - destination, Polignano a Mare, where we planned to stay for four nights in a lovely 3- level apartment. We thought we would have a leisurely drive there, and possibly make some quick stops on the way to absorb as much of Puglia as we could, given that this was our first visit to the region. We navigated the roads out of Isernia in the direction of Termoli, Molise. As we approached this city, Maria and I were so tempted to make a quick stop.
We had both visited this beautiful and historic beach-side town separately in the past, and we both loved it. We decided we could not spend too much time there as it was Saturday, and there would be lots of beach traffic. We settled for a quick stop for cappuccino on the outskirts of town before we got back on the road. I was the designated driver for our trip and, while behind the wheel and not too long after being on the road, I noticed a light on the dashboard, but decided it was just my unfamiliarity with the car, and was not worth worrying about.
What could be wrong? About a half hour or so later, we learned otherwise. The Fiat’s engine suddenly groaned and stopped. I steered off to the side of the road only to learn we were, in fact, out of gas! It never occurred to me that we had not been given a full tank of gas in Isernia when we picked up the car. Maria immediately jumped out of the car while I was still behind the wheel, cursing my stupidity. I watched her run up the highway a bit; I got out and ran after her, not knowing what else to do. Fortunately, there was a roadside SOS call box, which she used to get us some assistance.
We waited by the car, laughing. What else could we do? Eventually, a tow truck arrived and, after attaching the tow chain to our Fiat and pulling us on to the truck, we rode to the station, in style, comfortably still sitting in our Fiat. There, for a fee, we got our full tank of gas (meglio tardi che mai), got the battery jump-started, and we were once again on our way to Polignano a Mare. The rest of the trip went fine with the exception of lots of weekend traffic around Bari which, unfortunately, we never had time to visit. Once we finally arrived in Polignano, we had quite a bit of trouble finding our way to our designated parking lot.
We had to call the manager of the residence, who sent help in the form of a riscio’ (rickshaw), which led us to the lot and, then, we had our luggage and ourselves transferred into the rickshaw. It was a bit of a bumpy start, but soon we arrived at our lovely residence in the centro storico.
The Terrazza Merlata is a beautiful apartment in the midst of the centro storico and perched on the cliffs. It is a three-story property with two very comfortable bedrooms and two complete bathrooms, a nicely furnished living area, and a full kitchen. The top draw for both of us, though, was the amazing rooftop terrace full of spectacular views of the centro storico, the cathedral, and the sea surrounding the Lama Monachile/Cala Porto which was 30 meters below.
This was especially lovely in the evenings when we sat outside, enjoying the amazing views with some of the delicious vini bianchi Molisani we brought from Monteroduni, and later some very good vini Pugliesi. We also enjoyed our formaggio caciocavallo from Agnone, and olives from the local market in Polignano. Polignano a Mare is a very striking and popular town which is located about 30km south of the Bari airport. It was built over, around and into the rocky cliffs on the coast. The centro storico is very walkable, and there are ample means of transportation nearby which make the city a great place to use as a home base. There are also plenty of good restaurants to sample.
The town is believed to be one of the most important ancient settlements in Puglia. Unfortunately, being a weekend in June, the beach and centro storico were quite crowded. Maria and I were not used to the crowds after our stay in Molise and, after getting a taste of crowded streets and sidewalks on Saturday night (and Sunday), we decided to do something a little away from the beach area. We scheduled a two-hour boat trip on Sunday afternoon, along the coast that allowed us to see the beautiful coastline and explore numerous grottoes.
The meeting place to catch the boat was at the site of l’Abbazia di San Vito. San Vito is the patron saint of Polignano a Mare, and there is a festa early in June to celebrate him. We boarded the boat and headed south, back toward where we were staying. It was such a beautiful day. We entered several different grottoes which were stunning. The most interesting, maybe, was the Grotto Palazzese. This grotto is spectacular, and is also the site of the famous restaurant of the same name which is housed within. Unfortunately, we did not realize reservations were needed months in advance to visit. In any case, I jumped off our boat with several of our “boat-mates” at the entrance of the grotto (Maria stayed aboard as she did not have her bathing suit) and swam into, through and out again of the grotto back to our waiting boat. It was something I hope to always remember.
It was so amazing to absorb all the beautiful colors and markings within the grotto from the perspective of a swimmer, and, then, stopping to also look up and see patrons in the restaurant looking down! The remainder of the weekend we spent exploring more of the centro storico, and different restaurants and shops. We walked around the borgo which was much less crowded than the beach area, and very interesting. We found some wonderful local cozze (mussels) which we had been craving since our arrival at a ristorante and enjoyed them al fresco with the local beer. One evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Covo dei Saraceni ristorante which is called Il Bastione.
From where we were seated, we enjoyed the view across the Calo Porto below. We could see our apartment and its fabulous terrace in the distance. Another evening we found a comfortable wine bar in the centro storico called l’Archibugio. We liked it so much, we returned there for our last evening.
On Monday we headed to Alberobello to see the trulli. On the way there, we spotted signs for the Grotte di Castellana, where we decided to stop and take a quick tour. The ancient grotto was rediscovered in 1938 by Franco Anelli and, subsequently, became more famous. It is full of stalactites, stalagmites, statuary, and caverns, and is dramatically lighted. Following this tour, we arrived in Alberobello and the trulli, the unique houses that are found in the southern region of Puglia constructed using a prehistoric building technique which is still used today.
The limestone dwellings are examples of drywall (mortar-less) construction, and employ roughly worked limestone boulders collected from neighboring fields. They feature pyramidal, domed or conical roofs of corbelled limestone slabs. Alberobello, because of the historical value and unique architecture of these structures, is a UNESCO World Heritage site (since 1996). Maria and I visited inside some of the trulli during our visit, and we found them quite amazing. Some of the trulli were transformed into stores where we bought some local delicious Pugliese specialties of taralli and locally-made digestivi.
One of the highlights of our visit in Alberobello was the Trullo Sovrano. This trullo is believed to have been originally built in the early 17th century. In the mid-18th century, it was expanded to include a second level, the only trullo of its kind in the village. The top level is connected by an internal stair made from mortar. Trullo Sovrano is full of original furnishings and art, and represents a fascinating piece of history in Puglia.
On our last full day in Puglia, we decided to take the train and travel south to Monopoli. It was another beautiful day, and the five-minute ride on the train allowed us a good amount of time to walk around this beautiful and historic sea side town and spend a lovely day on the wonderful sandy beach there below some of the walls of the town.
Happily, it was not packed with tourists! It was difficult to leave, but we made our way back to the station, and safely returned to Polignano in the early evening Since we were leaving the next morning, we decided we wanted to spend some time at the beach below our apartment after the weekend crowds had left, and enjoyed the clear, turquoise water. The beach is rocky, but it is stunning. There was a cave on one end of the beach which made it possible to walk through the cliffs and at the other end of the pass-through was a ledge people were jumping off. I did my best to be a local, and enjoyed the plunge.
Then, I climbed out of the water back onto the ledge and headed back through the cave to the main beach, where I spent some more time in the refreshing water on the rocky beach before taking a last walk around the surrounding area above the beach. After four nights in Puglia, it was time for us to leave. We both wanted to see and do more and left knowing that this was only the beginning! We had wanted to see some of the Gargano Peninsula, which we had heard was well worth a visit, but it was a bit out of the way. We decided we could take a detour on our way to Macchiagodena Molise, to experience some of it.
I drove the Fiat and Maria navigated, as usual. This part of Puglia, though, is a bit of a challenge with narrow winding roads, sharp turns, and up and down travel. It passed through beautiful parkland filled with cliffside views of inviting beaches below. But, unfortunately, we were only making time for two stops. The first was Vieste. It is a beautiful town full of alleys, steps, and bright white houses that seem to arise from the water. We walked around for a while and, since it was lunch time, stopped at Ristorante Enoteca Vesta.
The restaurant is located in a natural cave in the medieval town. Afterwards, we continued our walk around the centro storico, passing through piazzette, arches and narrow streets. We climbed higher for a closer view of the Castello di Federico and the 11th century Basilica. It was only a taste of a place I would love to return to. But, we had to continue as we still had quite a bit of distance to cover before arriving at our hotel in Macchiagodena that evening.
We made our way to Peschici, which was the second spot we wanted to visit a little further north on the peninsula. Peschici is another quiet seaside medieval town. As in Vieste, we walked up and down narrow streets. We visited the remains of the castle and fortress which was a vantage point overlooking the bay for pirates in the Middle Ages. Now it is a beautiful spot to look down to the beach. It was so tempting to get a closer look, but we had to get on the road. We were so happy to have gotten a taste of the Gargano. It is a totally different part of Puglia which many people do not yet know about. As we drove away from Peschici, we could see still more tantalizing views of the coast around every turn. Then, we passed the Lago di Varano in the distance.
There was still so much to see. Eventually, we entered our beloved Molise once again. It had been a very full day. It had also been an incredible and happy two and half weeks together in Molise and Puglia. This adventure was almost over for Maria and me, but the sea and mountains and wonderful people of Italia are still beckoning.