Europe a la Carte

I have wanted to visit Apulia for some time now. It is quite confusing as the "heel of Italy" is known interchangealby as Apulia and Puglia. The region streches for over 400 kilometres from north to south. The area has been influenced by occupation by Greeks, Byzantines, Arabs, Norman-Swabians and Aragonese. Its unique attractions include the conically roofed trulli houses and the baroque city of Lecce. It is now easily reached from the UK by Ryanair flights from Stansted to Bari and Brindisi.

Ryanair are now flying from Glasgow Prestwick to Rome Campiano. In 2000 we went to Rome to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and we flew from Edinburgh via Frankfurt, which took nearly a whole day and cost over £200 each. This time it's direct flight for £30 each! Of course it would be even better to fly into Bari or Brindisi but that is not an option available by direct flight from Scotland. I am taking my own advice not to chance connecting flights with a low cost carrier.

We arrived in Rome on the evening of Thursday 4th November and picked up the hire car. I try to avoid driving in Italian cities, especially Rome. So we avoided Rome and headed south west to the coast to stay in Anzio, at the Grand Hotel dei Cesari. Anzio is best known as the landing point for the Allied landings in 1944 which led to the liberation of Rome. It is an ideal stopover for the first night when arriving at 20.00 from Prestwick, if you are planning to hire a car and have a touring holiday. Ciampino airport is south east of Rome, just off the peripheral motorway, making the drive to Anzio quite straighforward.

 

Anzio would also be ideal for a seaside short break, with its 16 kms of beach. It would also be suitable as a base for a one week holiday. There is a lot to see in the area and you can buy a ticket for around 6 euros which covers the train journey into Rome and the underground in Rome.

 

The next morning we drove south down the coast towards Naples. The area just south of Anzio is a national park. It is very pretty, with the coast, a strip of dunes with a lake and canals nearby. The pier just south of Pico Verde is popular with the locals for there own specific style of fishing. They use long rods with nets on the end.

 

Castel dell"Ovo, Naples

We had a brief stop in Naples and walked along the seafront. The driving there was worse than I had imagined. Even when we joined the motorway it was still not great. The motorway from Naples to Reggio di Calabria (in the toe of Italy) is toll free but isn't really a proper motorway. We just didn't have time to drive around the Amalfi peninsula and it was dark by then anyway.

 

We were staying at the Hotel Esplande in Paestum south of Salerno. The hotel has a lovely garden with a pool and their private beach is a short walk through the wood.

 

The archaeological site of Paestum is not very well known but has three well preserved Greek temples. These temples are among the best preserved Doric temples in the world. The original Greek name for the city was Poseidonia. It was founded around 600 BC. Proper excavation of the site only began in the early 20th century. The Archaelogical Musuem was erected in the 1950s as a showcase for the finds from the city.

Sapri

The next morning we drove on the main road through the Cliento National Park. The first half of the trip was on a new road constructed on pillars with fantastic elevated views. Then suddenly it was back on the hairpin bends of the old road. We stopped for lunch in Sapri before heading east across to the Tatanto Gulf for a night at the Best Westen Minocea Palace in Scanzano.

We went out for a celebratory meal as we had phoned home and heard that one of our sons had received a conditional offer for his favoured university course. We found an authentic pizzeria, La Tavenetta del Barone, in Piazza Gramsci. The family who ran the restuarant were sitting down to eat on a rota, so there was always someone to attend to the customers. A large cheese and mushroom pizza cost 3.5 euros.   I had heard that Taranto was very industrial and this is true but the old centre is still attractive. I wanted to see Gallipoli. Gallipoli means "beautiful city" in Greek. It was built on an islet which is now linked by a bridge to the new town. The old town is laid out in a Muslim style with winding narrow streets and inner courtyards.

I had arranged to visit the Bacile Castiogano in Spongana. It is palazzo in the centre of the village. However it is set in attractive walled grounds and you feel as though you are in the middle of the countryside.

The next stop was Otranto, also known as the "Door to the East", on the eastern coast of Apulia. Otranto was one of the first Greek colonies in Italy in the 13th century BC. Many soldiers embarked here on their way to the Crusades. However the Turks took revenge for this in a massacre in July 1480. The cathedral houses seven chests with the bones of the almost 600 victims. Again time was not on our side as it was dark when we arrived.

Lecce was the next port of call. It has been described as the "Jewel Of Puglia" and the "Baroque Florence". It looked fantastic at night. The remains of the 2nd century Roman amphitheatre lie in the centre of the city. The Baroque style was popular in the late 1500s to the mid 1600s. The local limestone was extremely pliable and hardened once exposed to the elements, taking on a warn golden hue. The best example of this style is the Basilica Santa Croce, which was recently restored to its full glory.

Our lodgings for the night were at the Masseria San Domenica. The masseria has been beautifully restored and extended. The outdoor pool filled with filtered sea water is large and alluring, our room was low key but beautifully furnished and there was a terrace outside.

The following day, Monday, was the worst weather wise, as it rained all day. We stayed at the Masseria until around 12 noon in the hope that the rain might abate but no luck. I was disappointed as we were due to visit Ostuni, known as the White City, and then drive through the trulli zone. A trulli is a squat white house with conical stone roofs, constructed with gray chiancole stones, which help insulate the houses in Winter and cool them in Summer. The roofs are decorated with various shapes. It sits on a outcrop consisting of three hills. The houses are reminiscent of stacked white cubes. We thought we would visit Bari that evening but there was a massive traffic jam as we approached, so we decided to give it a miss and head for Il Frantioi where we would spend the night.

If you'd like to stay in a typical trulli house, there is a choice available with Trulli Holidays.

This is another restored masseria but in the agriturismo style. Our room had a ceiling at least 3 metres high. We were offered wine and appetizers in our room on arrival. Il Frantioni has a restaurant but dinner is not available on Mondays. We had eaten a large late lunch in Fasono and were happy just to have an evening snack. It was pure relief when we looked out the next morning to see blue sky and sun. We had a look around the masseria and the grounds. There is a cellar with the original olive oil presses and a selection of their produce, a herb garden, an Italian garden and a walled garden.

Our destination for Tuesday was the Gargano National Park. I was very impressed by Trani just north of Bari(photo). It would make an ideal short break destination as Ryanair now fly into Bari from Stansted. Trani is said to have been founded by Tyrrhenus, the son of Diomedes, one of Homer's heroes. In 1063 the first ever maritime code was devised in Trani, the "Ordinamenta maris". Trani castle was built in 1233 for Frederick 11. It was used as the main regional prison from 1844 until 1974, when it was given to the Apulian Heritage Society. I really like the seafront park of the Community Villa, with its rows of flowers and trees. Beneath the park is a small lido.

The Gargano peninusla was very dramatic, with white cliffs and full of trees. The peninsula is a massif, located on Italy's achilles tendon. It is very popular with Italian holidaymakers from June to September. There are beautiful white chalk cliffs and pine forests, which reach a height of over 1000 metres. The road from Manfredonia to Vieste was slow and bendy but with great views. It was Vieste in the dark! However it looked fantastic in the dark. On the north coast, east of Rodi Gargano there is a thin strip of land with lidos.

We were the only guests at the Best Western Hotel Delle Piane in Rotando San Giovanni. I would not recommend this hotel, it is modern and soulless. This town, founded in the 11th century is known as the "Lourdes of southern Italy". The area has been visited by pilgrims for centuries as it was said that the archangel Gabriel appeared in a cave at the nearby town of Monte San Angelo. In 1216 St Francis of Assisi passed through San Giovanni Rotondo after visiting Monte San Angelo. San Giovanni is best known for Padre Pio, a priest who came to live there in 1916. Padre Pio was the first saint to be stigmatised. He saw an apparition of Jesus with wounds in his hands, feet and chest, and after this sighting Padre Pio had marks in the same places, from which it is said he lost around a cup of blood a day.

It was raining again on Wednesday morning but by our first stop at Tremoli the sun was shinning and we were able to enjoy a beach walk. The sea was the most amazing colours and the coastline was dotted with ramshackle fishing contraptions. We stopped for lunch in Pescari. I was not too impressed by the city but we had a delicious lunch there at the Black Bull. I know it sounds like a British pub but there were locals eating there. At this point we decided to take the motorway for our journey east toward Rome. It was a good choice as the motorway was quiet and had wonderful views of the virgin snow capped mountains and numerous hilltop villages of the Abruzzo national park. We turned off the motorway to head for Fiuggi, our stop for the last night. We had a brief stop in Arsoli. You drive through a Roman arch as you enter the town of Saubico. The Best WesternHotel Fiuggi Terme was busy with Italians. It is a very popular town for thermal treatments, due to its proximity to Rome.

On our last morning, Thursday, we tried to drive through the hills but the rain just seemed to be setting in. We thought if we headed for the coast we had more chance of dry weather. Also we had really liked the area south of Anzio so headed for Pico Verde. We were rewarded with some late afternoon sunshine. Our flight from Ciampino was due to depart at 20.35. We thought we had left plenty of time to get there. However as we approached Ciampino we took the turning for the town of Ciampino and could not find any signs for the airport. We had to stop and ask for directions twice, we drove past the perimeter of the airport twice but could not find the entrance. I was beginning to think we might miss the flight at the point where we missed a sign and ended up back on the peripheral motorway. Luckily there was another exit nearby to turn back.

My overall impression of the trip was that we attempted too long a journey. However I was aware of this from the outset, I wanted to visit Apulia and that seemed the most cost effective and simplest way to do it. It would have been better is we had been able to travel a couple of weeks earlier before the clocks changed. This was not possible as my husband has work commitments and I did not want to undertake all the driving myself. The weather did change for the worse during our trip. We did see a lot and I would like to return to Apulia especially the Gargano peninusula to spend more time there. I would also like to see more of the Salerno area and the Cliento national Park.