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As always with my blogs, it is a work in progress...
Posting in reverse order will make it easier to navigate updates, always on top, especially after you read the older stuff.
Se me ha ocurrido que no les he dicho quien soy. Io Sono Ron
Page 1: Puglia
Page 2: Sicily
Page 3: The Baltics: Albania, (North) Macedonia, Croatia...
Page 4: Rome and villages up north
Page 5: NE Italy
Page 6: NW Italy
Page 1:
Southern Italy
A warmer place for a few weeks. Late January through early March of 2024
Pre-Spring / Primavera
Lecce, Puglia, Italy: January 26-30, 2024
* Lecce - pronounced like Milk.
January 31 - Retired day
In Traveling, like in retirement, I lose track of when today is. So, I rely on my cell phone, when I remember.
I have to say, the several segments of the train rides I've taken over the last few days have been scenic. All of this was across part of the southern Pennine north of the Calabria region then down Catena Costiera parallel to the Tyrrhenian Sea Coast.
From Potenza, I traveled west to Battipaglia then south to Reggio Calabria where I spent the night. It was pretty cold in Potenza, near freezing. The beech trees are still dormant though the grass is starting to green up.
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| Train Pic: Farmland |
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| Train Pic: Mountain Village |
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| Train Pic: Rocky Canyons |
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| Train Pic: A mountain pool fed from frozen snow. |
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| Train Pic: A highway bridge in the background |
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| Train Pic: Bridges, near and far |
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| Train Pic: Farm field and wind power on the ridge. |
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| getting near the coast |
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| My train where I transferred to head south from Battipaglia to Reggio Calabria |
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| Lots of hilltop villages, and bridges to get there. |
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| Tyrrhenian Sea - part of the Mediterranean on the west coast of Italy's peninsula. |
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| For a long while approaching Reggio Calabria, it was just me and my backpack. |
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| A black & white night view of an Italian Pine on the pedestrian street in Reggio Calabria as I walked back to my room after supper in one of the Piazzas. |
January 30 - Martedi
Today was a travel day, by train. Lecce --> Brindisi --> Bari --> Foggia --> Potenza.
Not many pics today but it was a beautiful, scenic ride. (the train windows were quite dirty).
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| Italy is quite green: Solar, Wind, Recycle, Electric trains everywhere. Public Transportation... Makes the USA seem like the 3rd world place it has become. |
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| There is a village up on that hill. In this region, every hill has a village, with trains that run through. Some Albanians, immigrants, rode the train with me and got off near their farm. Salt of the earth, friendly, hardworking. Don't believe everything you see on the Tube. |
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| Another Ho Hum View Bridge across the valley in the background, right of center, up by the clouds. |
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| View from above the hotel looking southeast. No olive trees here, too cold, but I did see several backyard vineyards. |
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| I went for a walk and found a bread shop. The pic doesn't do it justice. Yes, I bought some, and ate it before supper. |
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| Potenza Centrale - Train Station - night view |
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| Plain old hotel cafe bread with supper. Definitely a low carb diet this week. |
January 29 - Monday (Lunedi)
Val d'Itria
Another great tour day with Giorgio. We went a bit north in Puglia Province into the Val d' Itria. First along the Adriatic coast then west into the mountain valley of Val d' Itria.
So a fact, a sad fact, about olives. The trees in the sub region of "Salento" are dying. In the south is where Olive Oil is produced. A bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa is infecting tree branches and they simply die, one branch at a time. Mostly they affect the old trees. Since an olive tree takes 10-12 years to produce, the math is not good. 60-million trees, Morti. Simply firewood, no salvation.
Farther north a different variety of Olive tree is grown and the fruit is used for packaging rather than oil. Needless to say, the price of olive oil here has gone from €3.5/ltr to about €18.5. Que lastima. But, pizza will still be good.
Now for today's pics.
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| Il Giorgio - mi Guia The license says Deutschland. Italian Tax Management |
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| Beautiful Ostuni |
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| Ostuni, que Bello |
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| La Costa del Adriatico |
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| Grottos |
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| Nearest Grotto is a 5-star restaurant, 3-star Michelin Glass floor with the ocean underneath. |
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| Arches, balconies, and tour guides |
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| Plant Lover |
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| Lots of rock, everywhere. People stack them up and see what happens. |
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| Park entrance to the Adriatic Ostuni |
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| Remember the song: "Volare" |
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| El artista que canto "Volare" |
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| Trulli - Alberobello, Italy Google it |
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| Trulli Italian Tax Evasion |
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| If you see one Trulli, you will see 100. |
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| e vero - Trulli 100 of them |
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| A church in Alberobello Built in Trulli style |
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| 101-Trulli houses |
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| Young Olive trees and 102 Trulli houses |
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| More balconies, each unique. |
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| Tunnels after tunnels Very Cool |
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| Stairs to more balconies |
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| A tiny church with Al Fresco cositas painted up there. Sadly, they are fading after a few hundred years. |
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| 1/2 church. The other 1/2 was taxed away. |
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| Politics and Religion aside The architecture is amazing. The dome looks like it floats, even if it is made of rock, a ton of them. |
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| In a narrow street Build a narrow house |
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| Pretty powerful clouds |
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| Longobordo? Martina Franca? Puligniani? |
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| That white walled city. Inside the town, still nice, but not so much white. |
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| 150-year old Olive trees in northern Puglia, near Bari. Ostuni, Italy Que troncon mano |
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| The arch has the strength to hold the walls of neighbor's walls from pushing out or down. |
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| If you think that is a tall building, Get on top and look down. |
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| Another pile of rocks under a beautiful sky. |
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| 150-year old Olive trees in Otranto, Italy. Beautiful red soil. |
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| I should have taken notes. I don't remember where it is. The point though, is that it is beautiful, near the southern Adriatic coast. |
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| Go left, no... go right. |
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| Previously a Catholic Church Now, rental apartments. €800/Month. |
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| Some guy in un altra Piazza |
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| Lots more arcos. The Romans used them to help bear the weight of the wall above. The Arabs did it better. |
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| The reflections in the windows above the big arch got my attention. There is a church behind me. Eerie |
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| The Adriatic: A lot of olive trees An interesting roof, lower left. |
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| Another narrow tunnel. |
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| Cielito Lindo The Adriatic and in the middle ground arboles de Olivo. |
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| That guy, again. |
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| Another view looking East |
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| A huge Olive tree, another one. My ankles feel that swollen after walking all day, in heels. The trunk is 6-feet across? La carga de los Años compadre. |
January 28 - Sunday
On Sunday I went on a day-tour to see the Salento from "Sea to Salty Sea", the Adriatic to the Ionian Sea: Lecce to Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca to Gallipoli and back to Lecce, about 9-hours. Staff at the Info center in Lecce helped arrange it. Donatella and Giorgio. I felt the red soil of Pulia/Salento in my hand, and licked the salt water of the Ionian Sea, saltier than that of the Adriatic.
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| Bluewater Hole with fresh rainwater. Beautiful yellow and red soil. The water is 15-feet deep. |
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| Largest Mosaic in Europe - Otranto, Italy The whole of the church floor is a beautiful mosaic. Wait, is that a naked body on a horse? In a church? |
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| Mosaic tile |
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| ...and more mosaic tile with four carved Roman columns behind. |
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| In the three windows ahead: Full of skulls. The Turks locked in 400 Catholics in the church until they converted... or did not. |
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| There they are. Framed skulls and bones. |
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| Every column is of a different style Otranto, Italy |
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| Funny to me: Automatic Votive Candle Replacements. Drop in a coin and one light turns on. |
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| Otranto, Italy Adriatic Coast |
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| Otranto, Italy Adriatic Coast |
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| Otranto, Italy Adriatic Coast - very few beaches on this side. |
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| A rough water day on the Adriatic. Lighthouse near Otranto, Italy. Faint mountains in the far upper left are Albania at 68-km away. |
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| Santa Cesare Terme Smelled like Sulpher |
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| Sunday is a normal Biker day. Like a race day Zipping past you on a curve. |
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| Interesting dome, middle east oil money? |
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| Boat marina carved out of the rock. |
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| The view got my attention. |
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| Near Castro, Puglia, Italy |
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| Near Castro, Puglia, Italy |
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| VW Karmann Ghia |
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| Pretty Clear Water |
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| Salt water cove |
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| Santa Maria di Leuca - the southern tip of Italy's boot heel. |
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| Leuca |
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| The southern end of the Roman Empire, Sicily is farther south but not Roman. Santa Maria di Leuca To the left is the Adriatic Sea, To the right the Ionian Sea |
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| If shadows could talk |
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| Ionian Sea Lighthouse |
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| Why so many Confessionals, seven? Allah Gives new meaning to the term: Pescadores. Fishermen 😂 |
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| Gallipoli: It is a big Tourist City |
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| Gallipoli Big Tourist City, with beautiful, calm water. |
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| Gallipoli Big Tourist City |
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| Port Cesareo: Roman Watch Tower Round ones were Arabic/Saracen. Africa isn't too far away. |
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| Port Cesareo: Sunset on Ionian Sea |
January 27 - Saturday
I confirmed a tour for Sunday then walked around the Historic Old Town taking pics after having a cappuccino and a slice of something like a "Pastelito de India".
Lecce, Italy looks abandoned, it sort of is. Tourist season has yet to begin and this part of Italy is not on the main path of tourism, not a bad thing.
I have good conversations with locals, ticket agents, information offices, waiters, cafe owners each day. They speak Italian, some English, some Spanish, and of course the ubiquitous "Google Translate" offline... it works!
Not all who wander are lost, pretty appropriate. There is some neat stuff out there.
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| The night lights up in Lecce. |
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| People Everywhere, Saturday Night. Everyone with ski jackets. |
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| Baroque - Il Duomo di Lecce And the young fiddler on the right was a pretty good musician |
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| The International Triathlete sporting events of: Pistachio Gelato, Cappuccino, and People Watching |
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| Oh the Moon Shines Bright |
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| Miles de arcos |
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| Otra Piazza |
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| The remains of an old castle in Lecce. King Carlos V, I think. |
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| Arches, domes, columns, limestone floors. All built to last a few hundred years. |
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| Pretty clean, caught my attention with the narrow road curving away ahead. |
January 26
I came into Lecce by train this morning, 1-hour 45-minutes from Bari to here. In the Heel of Italy, definitely Puglia region. After walking through the maze of winding streets I found my place for the next few days, an AirBnb.
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| My first Italian Pizza |
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| Sidewalk Cafes and nightlights |
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| A nearby Roman Amphitheater Even this exposed wedge is pretty large. It was a full circle at one time. |
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| Information Center Hoping to get a couple of tours through here |
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| You may not believe it but this is Chocolate |
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| ...and more chocolate w/ Horseshoes, pliers... Price list calls them Pinza Tenaglia - clothespin |
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| Una Piazza |
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| La Mia Stanza - My room AirBnB |
Bari, Puglia, Italy: January 24-25, 2024
Italy, it has long been on my list of places to go and spend time. The culture, the language, the food, the architecture, and the geography.
A long trip through Denver and Munich to Rome. As soon as I arrived in Rome, take a train, so I did... to a train station to get a long-distance train to Bari, Puglia, Italy. It is my starting point for southern Italy.
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| Spring Jackets & Street Lights on a pedestrian street. |
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| Interestingly, there are more e-bikes and e-scooters than motorbikes in the small streets here in Bari. |
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| Narrow streets, arches, clothes hanging on the line above. |
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| Arches holding this Greek Orthodox place up. |
Rome, Italy
January 23-24, 2024
From Albuquerque to Denver to Munich to Rome. A fairly easy set of connections. Not much sleep on the overnight flight. From the Rome airport to downtown and the main train station, by train. From there a sandwich (Panino) and water then I caught a train south to Bari. Traveling without a plan. I asked about a hotel at the Bari train station and they recommended the Hotel Adria (Adriatic) nearby, 2-nights.