Postcard

I swear this is a photo I took and not a postcard. It shows what this area is like. High rocky cliffs and small beaches. Some are hard to get to!!

A hike in Gragano

Kent is scouting out the trail ahead. After we came out of the trees and into the open it was nice with a fierce but cool wind.

Gargano

Let’s see what was special about this weekend. Well the first and most important thing was watching the Italy vs Ukraine game Friday night. We had a blast over Dora’s house, as the Italian team really seems to be playing better as they get into the tournament. No controversy. No red cards or penalty kicks. Three well played goals.
Then Saturday morning we took off for the Gargano Peninsula. This is area that is the “spur” of Italy. Now we know why. It’s like rock that the sea can’t erode. We hiked up a mountain, Monte Calvallino, on Saturday afternoon. The trail started out in the woods with little clearings full of flowers and then opened up to a bare and rocky hillside. It was VERY windy when we came out of the woods but the wind was refreshing especially after the heat and humidity that’s been hitting Italy for the past few weeks.
After the hike we drove until we arrived in Rodi Garganico. A small town with what looked like a good beach. We asked at the local café about a hotel and they pointed out a hotel, which fit our needs but…. What we didn’t know was that the town was celebrating their patron saint on Sunday. Now this is a good time to visit a small Italian town because everyone is out and there are usually street vendors and rides. It’s very exciting. The problem is the rides (and therefore most of the noise) were right next to our hotel and the ruckus went on very late. I don’t know when they stopped because I managed to fall asleep anyway. Then at 7:30 AM they sent off fireworks, again right by our hotel, to start the day’s activities. Not the big pretty things, just the kind you shoot up in the air and they make noise. Not the best way (and time) to wake up in the morning.
Sunday we drove along the coast stopping frequently to take pictures, some of which we’ll put up here. We walked around in Vieste and found a really cool hotel that’s in the centro storico and has it’s own stairs down to it’s own almost private beach. I picked up a flyer and it’s not that expensive. I’ll stay there if I come back in the summer. I don’t recommend the beach at Mattinata where we stopped. It seems to be a manmade beach with some kind of gravel throw down. People here were also laying out on bare rock so I guess these people are a little tougher than me. I want sand.
Sunday night was nothing but good news. We returned to Brindisi and the cool wind seemed to have followed us. It was not unpleasantly hot like Friday. A walk into town gave me a wealth of information. They were setting up a concert in the middle of town, AND Alla Corte di Bacco was open again. My favorite bar has returned. Now it’s under the management of Francesco who I already know because he manages Goblin’s Pub another place I go when they have live music. Also in the same Piazza I see that Monica has returned and is working with Tonino at La Locanda degli Angeli. It’s good to see her again even though she broke my heart a long time ago (that list is getting long now!). I’m sure she’s already working on another plan to leave town.

Zoom, Zoom

The kids and their scooters. Kent is doing his best to catch these speedsters with a digital camera. Not easy to do with the delay those cameras have.

Water, Where's the water?

Nello has a new game where he will play with water as it's coming out of the tap. It seems he could play for hours then he sits and waits for it come on again. It's a good game for the hot weather and a thirsty cat.

Vespa

This is a good artistic shot Kent took of Valiero's Vespa outside the store. I'm not sure who that is in motion outside.

A bad day at the beach....

is better than a good day at work. Well maybe… A good day at work is never painful. Well, I was very eager to show Lori and Kent how great the beach was when you can go swimming. In the past they have only been here when it’s too cold . So Saturday morning we go out to Torre Gauceto. We get everything setup and then Lori and I go out snorkeling. We were observing all the cool fish, sea urchins and etc while looking for an octopus. The water was pretty calm and clear. I was taking a rest on the rocks when a jellyfish stings me. Now it hurt pretty badly but I made the situation worse because when I reacted I scrapped my leg on the rocks AND I stepped on a sea urchin. So I struggle back to the beach to see one heck’va welt on my side, a good cut on the calf of my leg, and pieces of black sea urchin spines in my foot!!! Not a good day at the beach. We stayed for a few more hours trying to get just enough sun but not too much (I felt a little burnt Saturday night). We threw some Frisbee and I think people were paranoid the whole time that we would hit them, but we didn’t. Come on people! We’re professionals! Can’t you tell by our cool catches and smooooth throws! One thing we noticed was that Saturday morning is family time at the beach. There were a lot of parents with kids, and then they would go home for lunch and a lot of older kids moved in around 3:00 PM. So on Sunday we went around 4:00 PM and had a much better time. No new aches or pains and the sun was a little lower and not so inclined to burn us. We threw the Frisbee with some of my friends and even met a few new people that were pretty good throwers right off the bat. I was impressed. Last night was a pretty good concert in a town down the street. This afternoon is the Italy game and hopefully I’ll get to take them to my gym after the game if it’s open. Forza Italia!!!

Gommista

EEEGGGHHHADDSS!! I mentioned summer arrived in my last blog and I wasn’t crazy. The high temperature today is predicted to be 38C, for you Americans that’s the big 100F. Also still there is no sign of rain in the forecast. Although, this is good for the olives from what they say. You need a good blast of hot and dry weather to make them right. At least that’s why the Greeks say their olives are better.
Well the sister and brother-in-law arrive today and Italy plays its most important World Cup game so there is a lot going on, but none of it at work. I plan on leaving after lunch because the game starts at 16:00 and I need to clean the apartment up a little.
Other news, I owe my “gommista” a coffee. I went in yesterday to see if the rental car company “approved of” the idea of getting new tires on the car. He was having computer problems so me and another guy tried to help him out. I wasn’t much help but the other guy got it all set up perfect for the gas station. It was another one of those crazy situations I get myself into. I’m in the backroom of the gas station (well it’s at least a gas station, tire place, car wash etc…) trying to help get the guy connected to the Internet so he can see the email from the rental car company about my car. No response about the tires but I did get a fuse changed in my car and my air conditioning system checked. That station is hilarious. When you start talking and you never know what will happen. I have to go there from now on. It kind of reminds me of the gas station from “The Andy Griffin Show” only bigger with a lot more going on. It’s complete with a very dirty dog that I can’t help but pet. Oh and I owe him a coffee for the fuse.

No one is out yet!!!

So the soccer world is crazy right now. Italy and the US tied on Saturday, which makes the group wide open. Right now whoever wins their game on Thursday goes through. Italy has the lead in points so they have the added advantage that if Italy ties the Czech Republic then they still go through. But if Italy and the USA both win then they both go thru to the next round. That would really amazing. So everything is waiting until Thursday when the USA and Italy both play at 16:00 so I’ll call in "sick" to work that day (but I can’t watch the USA game). Hopefully the next day I’ll be “sick” too…
I didn’t do much this weekend. It was very hot and I felt really lazy. I should have gone out to the beach but I’m not really in any hurry. I know there will be plenty of chances to go and the water is probably really cold. I’ve headed out early in the season before and the water was too cold to stay in and beach was an inferno. In the end I was burned out on the beach by mid-August last year. This year in August I would like to head to Northern Europe to escape the heat and beaches for a while. I think by then I will want some cool air and see some places I’ve never seen before like in Scandinavia or Russia. We’ll see. It’ll depend on work and Nello. It may be impossible to find someone to watch him if everyone’s on vacation at the same time.

Summer

Summer arrived yesterday!! Yes we’ve been whining and complaining about how cool and wet it has been and I think summer heard us, finally. It’s hot today and they are predicting 90s this weekend with no sign of rain. That sounds like summer. So now at work it’s hot just sitting here. Incredible. The sea is still going to be cold this weekend but if it’s in the 90s then I’m in the water.
Also today I notice the heat more than ever. I rode my bike to work. You know how I mentioned the road construction appeared to be done, well I was wrong. There is one more street to do and yesterday they closed it (but just in one direction) creating a huge traffic jam. People couldn’t understand why they couldn’t go down the street like they did yesterday, myself included. So after taking a long way around last night I decided to ride my bike today. I think I can actually get to work faster by bike then by taking a car. It’s also less dangerous to ride my bike because all the cars are sitting still on street.
There have been a lot of birthdays lately. Last night it was Andrea who is the opposite of me. He is an Italian who rides a Harley and I’m an American who drives an Alfa Romeo. I think both combinations are pretty rare. So he wears Levis and Harley clothes while I wear “Baci e Abbracci” and Dolce and Gabbana. We were talking last night and I want to meet his parents because they live on a farm where they grow all their own food. We’re not talking just fruits and vegetables but meat (pigs, goats, sheep, and rabbits) and they make their own cheeses and who knows what else. Sounds like a lot of work so I’m interested to see how they do it in this day and age. Does modern technology help?