Last Day

Our last breakfast in Bríndisi at a local bar…..HAD to have another pastaciutto…..oval shaped pastry like pie crust filled with Crema and marmalade AND served warm. And of course a cornetto (croissant) and cappuccino for one of us and a cafe macchiato for the other.

Arrived at Rome airport on time, taxi to small hotel (6 rooms) in Fiumacino and a short walk looking for lunch. Our theory is “follow the suits” and we did for a delightful lunch outside, across from the canal with all the fishing boats. There was a plate of starters, complimentary, and then we both had grilled calamari with basalmic vinegar and arugula…..FANTASTIC! I thought, calamari AND basalmic…??????Odd. But no!

Then one of us had the “house cake.” A bread, chocolate, Crema and meringue combination. The chef came out to talk to us…..he is Egyptian! Maybe this is an Egyptian dessert.

Our room has a terrace overlooking the canal and a fresh fish market that has been here for years. Busy place.

Our flight home leaves at 4:15 am (time at our home) so at 1:00 am (home time) we will be picked up to go to the airport. Very long day ahead as our flight lands at 10:30 PM. It has been a fun trip with lots of interesting finds and meeting wonderful, friendly people.

Bríndisi #2

We do not like cities! BUT Bríndisi is really, REALLY, nice!

Monday was the first really warm day since arrival 4 weeks ago…80 degrees and very sunny. We have covered this beautiful place from one end to the other! Some of the things we have seen today:

Our lunch view with entertainment as the tugs and pilot boats brought a navy ship into port. The food was also amazing….Sliced beef  and arugula under a crispy something and BIG tortellini (therefore, tortollONI)made with basil and stuffed with Mozzerella with tomatoes. 

And then there were the deserts…..semifreddos…..one was chocolate and the other pistachio with a chocolate cup of almonds…..and the cup was eaten too.  Perfect!

Tuesday we fly back to Fiumacino near the airport.

Sun!!

Saturday it never cleared…..cloudy all day. So, here is one shot of Polignano from the “beach.”

Our efficiency apartment in Monopoli was in a very old building and was real cozy and unique.

Sunday morning we returned our car to the Bríndisi airport and took a taxi to a super modern apartment in the old town. Thank God we took a taxi! The streets here are about 6 inches wide!!!! See?

We walked to the sea side (Lungo Mare); a beautiful day with everyone out.

We went into the interior looking for a lunch spot with locals….found it! We each had a pasta with fish in the pasta (I must remember how good it was when I have left over fish!) We shared a small salad and then, went for dessert of amaretto mousse with strawberries. Delicious! Photos just do not do it justice, so I am not showing you! 

It is so wonderful to have lightning fast internet here in Bríndisi after having spotty service in Monopoli. We will spend all day Monday exploring the rest of Bríndisi’s old town.

Polignano a Mare

Very cloudy and windy today. All over the historical center are quotes. This one was especially meaningful after the loss of 4 friends last Monday in the crash of a private airplane.

Translation:

The butterfly does not count the years, but the instants, for that is just his brief time.

Monopoli #2

Sitting in a cafe, sipping a macchiato, listening to a group of older men all talking at once, and watching rain. Here are a few photos from Thursday….a perfectly beautiful day.

These are the people who brought our lunch in.

We ate in a small Osteria….it was full and then the rest came! Very busy place.

We each  had a grilled sea bass (branzina in Italian.)

The purgatory church contains 9 mummies dating from 1774 to early 1800’s; this is the only woman, Antonia.

The alter had the most amazing sculpted columns. This is a detail of one.

And the whole alter.

Monopoli

WIFI here is iffy. I will try to post a few photos.

Wednesday’s risotto with zucchini & potatoes & mussels. DELICIOUS!

More to follow if WIFI holds up! The marble in the cathedral is amazing!

Pietrapertosa

THIS is Pietrapertosa, across the valley and one of our most favorite places on earth!  

These 2 photos show the 2 churches, one on each end of town. And, YES! it is a long climb from our parking area at the bottom of town, shown below, to the top.

 Everyone here is so friendly and want to talk to visitors; these are a few of the folks I visited with during my walk.

So many people here are using canes; walking up and down the streets is very difficult on the cobblestones even when one does not have a physical problem.

So……I am sketching an old door and a young man parked right here, in the middle of Main Street…..but only for about 15 minutes. It was lunch time, so no other cars wanted through. It is not surprising that most of the cars are scratched/dented on the corners. Oh, yes, that arch is from the 1500’s…..very well built.

One of my favorite photos of today: colors and geometry.

We had lunch at the same place where we have eaten every time here. A man who had grown up here, become a professor in Salerno, met us in the street on our first visit. He took us inside, introduced us, and told them we would be back for lunch. Every time we have the special home made pasta, Maccheroni with Mollica (fried bread crumbs with walnuts and pepperoncini.


So, we returned to Campomaggiore, 20 switchbacks down to valley and 20 more back up on the other side….that is a total of 80 today in a distance of 26 miles. Good thing car sickness is not a problem. We do wonder how they got the parts for the wind turbines up here.Wednesday we leave the mountains and go to the coast of Puglia for 4 nights in Monopoli.

Castelmezzano

We started the day off with a private tour of the museum about the old Campomaggiore; our guide was the handsome young mayor. There was the coolest presentation, complete with holograms of actors telling the story of the Utopian village and the of the landslide the demolished the town of 1525 people, but they all survived and built the new town where we are now.

Next stop was down the mountain, across the highway and up another mountain to Castelmezzano. A small place nestled below the rocky tops of the Dolimiti Lucane mountains.

Just as we started to sketch the rain started, so we killed time over caffe and then had lunch with a nice view of the mountain tops.

One of us was happy with the bruschetta and pasta…..another thought that was not quite enough so ordered the veal but unable to finish it, brought it “home” for a sandwich for dinner.

 Major traffic jam on our way back to Campomaggiore.

Lots of rain in the evening, but Tuesday is to be beautiful and we will cross the valley again to go to Castelmezzano’s neighbor, Pietrapertosa…..hoping our favorite little trattoria is open…..they all,have a “closing day” so one never knows which day it will be.

The Last Ghost Town

After a very nice and reasonable breakfast, the young couple who own the B&B talked to us about the area, made a lunch reservation at the only restaurant, will make an appointment with the mayor for tomorrow to go through the museum about the old Campomaggiore (landslide of 1885, then moved everyone here), and said they would lead us by car to restaurant at 1:00. Talk about service! We walked around the town to get familiar with it. The closest village is Albano Lucania, spotlighted in the photo.

These are the mountains on the other side of the valley where we have visited 2 special villages in the past and will again while here; Pietrapertosa & Castellmezzano.

Our last Ghost Town is 3 miles below Campomaggiore on a narrow road. The landslide of 1885 demolished it and all that remains are walls, part of the church (steeple rebuilt), and the walls of the castle. It was a planned community; a utopian ideal begun in the 18th century. Unfortunately it was locked up.

There is a 10 day long performance here in August; that must be why there is apparatus around. 

Lunch was good; Gicamo, the owner, was the waiter too and teased us about ordering every course as “1 for 2.” He said the Italians EACH order that plate of antipasto, their full plate of pasta, then their meat course AND desert……he was pleased when we ordered 2 espressos at the end.

Matera

First thing one must do in Matera…..go to Casa de Pane, get in line, buy a cornetto, eat it immediately!

Then, one can move on to the Sassi, a UNESCO site. This is the view of part of it (taken from where we had our espressos)….the fixed up part, full of B&B’s, restaurants, etc.

The church carved out of the rock, began in the 11th century, then a newer church added in the 14th century. We had never seen it opened, but it was today and we went in. There were many frescos that were in pretty good condition considering they were on cave walls. We were not allowed to photograph them though.

The cave homes, inhabited until the 1960’s are all the dark holes in the ravine walls. The first few times we were here, we were allowed to walk all over the area and go into the caves, but now the old area is roped off. Mel Gibson’s move, The Last Temptation of Christ, was filmed here. New apartments above the caves.

This is the view from the cave area back to the Sassi area. Excuse the crane.
We had lunch at a restaurant where we had eaten the first time here…..still very good and popular with the locals!

We left and headed to Campomaggiore, way up in the wild mountains….and the road up was WILD. One switchback after another; the last 5 miles took 20 minutes. We are in a lovely small B&B, the bed linens are even embroidered, Wow!