Week 10 – Summer arrived, and Anna as well.

  • Summer has now hit us  – every day this week over 30oC, so with the sight seeing we have had beach days and consumed plenty of Nastro Azzurro to keep the fluid levels up, (and with Rob discovering San Marco Primativo the local wine bottle recycler has gone into overdrive).
  • We have tried to be a little cultural and spent a morning at the Egnazia ruins near Savelltri. The ruins are Roman but the site has been occupied since before the bronze age – the museum is excellent and site really quite special.

  • Roman baths – hot and cold running water
  • The afternoon was, (of course), spent at our favourite seaside restaurant in Savelletri, home for a swim and a “picky tea”. Rob is now something of an olive oil connoisseur so we are using a lot of the top class extra virgin from Masseria Brancanti.
Byzantine pottery found intact in the burial tombs
Burial tombs carved out of the rock
The main Roman road – the grooves are from chariots – it takes a lot of chariots to grind 12 cm deep ruts in marble!
  • Anna arrived on Wednesday, so after a spot of lunch in Ostuni it was straight into shopping for the ladies, and people watching for Rob and Grant.
  • Thursday was a scorcher so we headed for Polignano a mare and after some more sight seeing, (did I say shopping??), it was down to the spectacular beach for a dip in the crystal clear water, and lunch at the first pizza place that could offer a breeze, shade and beer, (lots of beer!!)
Beach at Polignano
LtoR – Helen, Rob, Anna, Adrienne
  • Friday was a rest day, (did I say shopping at Brindisi Zara!!!!), and home for a swim.
  • Saturday we delivered Anna to Bari airport, (heading to Munich for a few days – only so much time needed with your parents), and the stayers went to Castellana Grotte – the largest, deepest cave system in Europe, (have I overused the word spectacular this week?), where the explored caves are over 4 kms long and are really quite spectacular – fantastic stalagmites and stalactites, but you need to google the caves as no photos allowed after the entry chasm.
The entry chasm is the largest and the only one open to the outside – bigger than a football field and 120 metres deep
Down, down into 16oC all year round
When discovered in 1938 the locals had used it as a rubbish dump for so long the rubbish was within 10 metres of the hole opening – the clean-out took years but revealed openings that are still being tracked and explored
  • Rob and Helen head for home in NZ on Monday and Anna and Cally arrive back from Munich on Tuesday night so more sight seeing planned for next week. We are really enjoying showing our visitors around our “hood” – Puglia is a gem just waiting to be “discovered”, (which means overrun and spoiled like Tuscany and Amalfi), but until it is readers – get here and enjoy the real Italy!!

 

3 thoughts on “Week 10 – Summer arrived, and Anna as well.”

  1. Most impressed with updates, well done! Sounds like folk are coming and going on a regular basis, shopping, food and wine does that. Bit of a chill set in for Kellyville after what has been a couple of warm days since we got back. Off to work for me tomorrow Grant, while you continue to take transitioning to new levels 🙂

    Cheers.

    Reply

  3. Will there be anything left in the shops for when I come? All sounds so good. Leave nuremberg tomorrow for golf before boarding the boat. Low water in Danube so miss 1 night on board. Week in France was lovely. Have gone from rose to aperol, loving it all.
    Look forward to catching up with the writer and shopper.

    Reply

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