Northern Germany, Southern Italy & a couple of different valleys of the Dolomites

[RB]

More Lecce

 

[RB]

Lecce continued

 

[RB]

Lecce

 

[RB]

Lecce Food

Animaterrae Restaurant- downstairs onsite










Bar Food up the road




Described as veal meatballs with tomato sauce served in a jar ( we had passed on the horse meat)


Not what I was expecting when I ordered hot chips as a side for a meal-they were served warm


One of MrsRb's pasta dishes

 

[RB]

While based in Lecce we spent one day visiting Otranto- Otranto, Town in Puglia, Italy Bus there are back & a good experience. Only about 50km away but a totally different experience with the waterfront being the main attraction. The walking requires a reasonable level of fitness as there is a bit of a climb from the bay to the historic centre-we got off the bus at the Bay & walked up & through the centre & left from the bus stop located near the railway station.

 

[RB]

 

[RB]

Lecce to Monopoli
Our train originated in Lecce. Our first Italian train of this trip & we were pleasantly surprised-information overload, excellent seats, charging at seats, wi-fi, clean windows and a smooth ride!
Still flat with poorer looking soils and more olive trees dying or dead

 

[OZDUCK]

Greta photos and you look to also have had fantastic weather. I don't recall ever hearing of Lecce before but it looks to be a very attractive spot. It is always nice to see photos of 'new' places. I only know of Otranto because of the "Otranto Barrage" created in WW1.

 

[RB]

Greta photos and you look to also have had fantastic weather. I don't recall ever hearing of Lecce before but it looks to be a very attractive spot. It is always nice to see photos of 'new' places. I only know of Otranto because of the "Otranto Barrage" created in WW1.

Weather was fantastic but certainly wouldn't walk to be walking around all day in the middle of summer. It is pretty amazing to have a read of the wiki page for Lecce & to see the age of the buildings/churches. Otranto is certainly a strategic location

 

[VPS]

Those blue skies in Lecce are amazing

 

[RB]

Palazzo Palasciano Monopoli Palazzo Palasciano, Monopoli – Updated 2022 Prices
A very comfortable and well located apartment where we stayed for 4 nights- a bit of a base for day trips as well as seeing Monopoli. Great bed, bathroom and comfortable living area. Air conditioner was needed & worked well. Easy walk from the train station and right on the edge of the historic centre. Again pretty flat walking to everything & plenty of choice for food & drinks The apartment was fine for us but if you wanted to cook meals maybe the kitchen is a bit small.
Bit difficult to photograph, up a flight of stairs and the bathroom flowed off the bedroom-separate rooms for hand basins and the shower was a larger walk-in. Washing machine worked well & as with previous stays the wi-fi posed no problems

Shower-plenty of room










Plenty of storage & air con was excellent


Part of lounge area with Juliet balcony

 

[RB]

Around Monopoli
Monopoli, Town in Puglia, Italy

We were impressed by Monopoli- a “real” town of workers/residents with the Old town area attracting a steady stream of visitors. The weather stayed hot & fine except for a short-lived thunderstorm and again walking is relatively easy. There are a few shopfronts still to reopen (some gone forever) but the sight of locals getting out & about at night is reassuring. We found locals keen to assist with any questions we had. Our dinner choices were a bit of a mix, a couple of lacklustre restaurants in our “local” area but also an excellent pizza joint. Lunches were on the go, including octopus on a bread roll-all were excellent

 

[RB]

More Monopoli









Just being Italian!

 

[RB]

More Monopoli















Full moon


Local morning meeting spot-bring your own chair. Not sure they were the target market for the Pilates

 

[RB]

We used buses & a train to visit Alberobello and Locorotondo as a day trip from Monopoli. The ride up & back (different roads) gave us a good look at the countryside-bit better soils as you got away from the coast. Nice to say we have seen Alberobello and the trulli ( remarkable examples of drywall construction, a prehistoric building technique still in use in this region. The trulli are made of roughly worked limestone boulders collected from neighbouring fields. Characteristically, they feature pyramidal, domed or conical roofs built up of corbelled limestone slabs.) but we were left a little underwhelmed- seemed a little contrived with most trulli now used as souvineir shops, restaurants & visitor accommodation. Locorotondo appeared a more “genuine” hillside town with a scattering of trulli, vineyards and olive groves easily viewed from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.





Alberobello

 

[RB]

Locorotondo















The bus ride back to Monopoli

 

[RB]

The Sunday was another day trip using a train to Polignano A Mare-Polignano a Mare - Wikipedia
More publicity in recent years with the Red Bull Cliff Diving and on the day of our visit the 72nd running of the Targa Crocifisso, a bike ride for up and comers (some competed a couple of weeks later in Woolongong).
Another town with easy walking but also very hot. The Old Town is very compact but very crowded with the cycling enthusiasts. Many of the streets are pedestrian only but the biggest crowds are around Balconata sul Mare with views of the town beach and the cliffs. We also saw the statue for singer Domenico Modugno’s (song Volare) who was born in Polignano A Mare. Our lunch was punctuated by a band-led parade to highlight the bike race..

 

[RB]

Polignano A Mare continued

 

[RB]

Monopoli to Termoli
A great train ride that hugged the coast. Still a mix of soils & activity. Larger farms with orchards and large scale vegie growing, some olives still & plenty of wind turbines. The train was on-time until the last half hour & then we waited for a southbound train & limped into Termoli at a very slow pace.
We had singles facing each other

Starting to see orchards








Rear facing camera on display at times




Starting to get away from the flat of the south






Certainly close to the coast

 

[RB]

Elite Suite Termoli Élite Suite, Termoli – Updated 2022 Prices
A very easy 10 minute walk from the station, this apartment was in a building that seemed to be occupied by permanent residents. Serviced by a lift, the apartment had been refurbished to cater for short-term stays. Very comfortable, extremely clean and spacious and with facilities that worked well. No real kitchen (breakfast coupons provided for a nearby coffee shop) with a small fridge that wasn’t cold & only plastic cups & glasses. What could have been a small 2nd bedroom was a “dressing” room and the only tv was wall mounted in the bedroom. Window shutters helped with masking the noise of the train & vehicular traffic. Flat walking everywhere and around 15-20 minutes to the ferry terminal.

Spare/Changing room/storage












Only tv was in bedroom


The excellent coffee shop that took the breakfast coupons


Had good choices and excellent coffee