...and find warm weather
...to Sicily
Wednesday Oct. 19
The temperatures are dropping and the
leaves changing so it is time to seek warmer climes. Me, I could set
here for the whole trip but the Princess is in search of heat. We had
a great morning coffee and visit with Manuela and Daniele They are
very proud that Obama's last State Dinner is in honor of the Italian
delegation. Seems like everyone with a Italian name in America was
invited. We said our goodbyes, Manuela pleading for us to come back
“for twenty days after Sicily” and headed down the fog draped
hill in search of the Autostrada east bound. The fog quickly lifted
and we were in sunny skies headed east to the Adriatic Sea. There was
almost no traffic on the new highway through the eastern mountains
with lots of tunnels and very smooth road surface and it made the
trip a joy. On the eastern side of the mountains we got of the main
road and wandered our way to San Benedetto on the sea. This time of
year there is no need for a reservation so we drove along the water
till we saw a hotel we liked and Vicki went in to esquire about a
room. After she left, I decided to follow. She told me the rate,
quite acceptable, but I asked for a discount. Vicki said she had
already asked for the “best rate”, but to me that means “the
rate”, not a discount. With not much work I got a 10% discount and
could have got more but I thought it was fair.
We walked the waterfront and it and the
weather where nice.
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| great Italian builds, Ferrari and a castle on the hill |
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| fixer upper for Bob |
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| 250 tons. that ought to be able to lift me. |
Lots of hotels and restaurants are
closed for the season but we found one on the waterfront. Not that it
mattered as it was very dark and you could not see the water. Vicki's mind was stuck on having a dish
from a restaurant in the past. The way past. Like thirty years ago
in Miami at a Thai-Cajun restaurant. The dish was fantastic, whole
deep fried snapper with a spicy sauce on top, but it ain't Italian.
To further complicate things, she does not speak Italian, the menu at
Il Pescadora was not in english nor was the waiters english up
understanding any of this. He convinced her to have the sautéed fish
with a spicy sauce. To get this across he went to the kitchen,
brought out a sauté pan and mimicked cooking. I settled for just a
plan plate of fried calamari and little fish.
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| I ordered the 7000 eur bottle but fortunately they were out |
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| vicki's fish |
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| all those squares are for two wheel parking and the lane on the right is for bicycles. |
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| sunrise on the Adriatic |
The plan was to head east from Monte
San Savino to the Adriatic, turn right and meander along the coast.
This was not a good plan. Following the coast is hard, not scenic,
and slow. Mainly because the coast is full of little tiny towns, all
with restricted access to the coast by one way streets, blocked
streets and dead end streets and nothing was overly attractive. Just tacky hotels and high rises. So,
plan b came into effect. A mix of Autostrada, main roads, with a
occasional excursions to the waterfront. When we came to the, for a
lack of a better word, little peninsula out to our destination of Vieste things got a little better. A little.
We stopped in Torre Mileto for lunch a Chez
Vicki at a waterfront park. It was run down and trash all over the
place, but the restaurant was excellent.
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| off the auto strada |
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| on the autostrada |
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| chez vicki complete with flowers on the table |
I had chosen a B&B in Vieste as our
overnight but had not made a reservation. Vieste is mix of old and new
with no street pattern at all but I made it to the location of the
B&B with no problem. The problem was there was no B&B to be
found. So, plan B again. The problem with plan B is all the hotels
were shuttered. I voted for leaving town, she voted for a place in
the middle of the old town. You know who won. It only went down hill
from here. She used google maps to direct us to our destination. We
snaked through little streets, reversed course, tried another
direction, reversed course and went around the block which meant
snaking through small streets and making a meandering route. It all
came to a end when we went down a “street” in the old city that
was just wider than the car. This is not unusual in Europe. Nor was
it unusual when the street came to a end. Now what? The only choice
is to back the car up the “street” . Not an easy job when there
are only a inch on each side of the mirror but they were required to
get out of this. I succeeded with only hitting one trash can. Once
free we examined the error. Someone missed the “walk from here”
directions on the phone. Of course they “just popped up” and had
not been there before. I was done with this town and ready through in
the towel and head out of town, but “she” decided we should go to
the Palace Hotel near the main square. Strange as “he” had
suggested that after the B&B feel through. At the Palace the
receptionist and the owner were great. I negotiated a discount on the
a standard room, but decided I wanted one with a balcony. That, I was
told, was a junior suite and quoted a price, but immediately
discounted it 25%. I was all over that, because I am a financial
genius. Vicki pointed out that I spent 20% more to save 25%. She did
not get that I am secretly a Trump fan and it is the art of the deal
that matters. Not that it makes any sense.
I was not comfortable with this town
but after a hot shower in a great shower, a glass of wine on my cool
balcony, my attitude changed. We hit the town for a walk and the more
we walked the more we liked it. We had a appertive on the water in
the old town and that made it even better. We roamed the old town
meeting a few people but mostly it was deserted. Back next to the
hotel we had dinner where I ordered spegatti with clams that came in
a big clam shell.
Friday Oct 21
I walked the town in the morning and became more fond of it. If it was not for the fact we had reservations in the "cone head" town I would have stayed another day.
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| main street |
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| frisk me, please |
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| farm to table is call "km zero" here |
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| somewhere in there is the b&b we were looking for |
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| this is the hotel we were looking for yesterday. cars actually get here, but not ours. below is the right road to the hotel |
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| the right road |
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| the vegetable market |
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| the morning fish market |
So off we go to the "Cone Head" town. But on the way we take some back roads that are the trashiest I have seen anywhere. Quite disappointing. We also had to stop in and Fredrick II's hunting lodge. The building seems fine but the grounds could use a little work.
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| fred's place |
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| Fibonacci and math are a big part of this thing |
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| the gardens were dead and over grown |
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| one of the US's last exports. the begging cup. |
this guy has the begging down to a art in 20 languages. he is not a employee, just a guy with a orange vest
Garmin Sucks. Isabella, who gets here instructions from Garmin, continues to try and lead us astray. She is set for the fastest route, but continually wants us to turn off the main highway down a dirt road and come back to the main road. There is no time advantage to that. Also the data base, despite being recently updated, is old. Several times it did not show a bridge or other such item that obviously has been there for years.
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| the road |
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| Isabella's directions |
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| the road Isabella wants us to take |
Alberobello
We spent two nights in a cone head b^&b in Alberobello, a UN heritage sight. It was interesting and fun. We met Marino at the Vodaphone store while we were trying to recharge Vicki's phone. The Vodaphone office no longer recharges their own phones. So, Marino a former resident of NJ many years ago, lead us on a trek around town in the rain looking for a place to recharge the phone. Place after place no longer did, until we came to a tabac shop near the main church the could do it.
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| vicki with the interpretation sheet of the signs |
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| Marino and all the workers at the tabac shop |
Dinner was at the Cantina, a small restaurant with the kitchen in view of all. We got premier seating right next to the chef. They were all very friendly and gave us small samples of a few dishes we saw being prepared. Especially good was the provo, not provolone, cheese with onion jam. We had ordered some focaccia bread appetizer that was a special for the night. The most priceless photo would have been the expression on the waitress's face, who spoke English, when we declined the bread basket. It was a look of unbelief. It actually took a effort on our part to not let her put the bread on the table. "Italians always eat the bread". In fact they do as we saw the baskets refilled several times. The dinner was most excellent especially the pasta with fungi and chestnut sauce.
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| I took advantage when other people took pictures to snatch on of my own |
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| 10:30 and people standing |
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| 10:30 and people standing in line to get in |
Oct 23 Entering the twilight zone
The day dawned sunny and we packed the
car, programmed the GPS for the ferry dock for Sicily, said goodbye
to Daniele, the cute owner of our three room B&B, and to the
guests from Iowa. In honor of our departure the city set up a big
goodbye event complete with drone. We start the car and hit the road.
The next thing I now I am over 500
miles north of where I was supposed to be setting on the balcony of
the same room, 319, at the Arlecchino Hotel, in San Benedetto
del Tronto. What the hell??? Did I get on the autostrada going the
wrong way, did Isabela take revenge, did the last three days not
happen, but were a dream? Here is what I do know this morning. The
front desk clerk greeted me by name at the hotel and my wifi password
is WILSON2. Strange. We are in a holding pattern here for two nights
I am told. Then we off to Florence for five days, we disappear for a
couple of days, then surface in Venice of all places for five days,
then ride the rails to Rome for five days, then....if all goes well
and we do not go off the rails again, we will head for the land of
cotton and grits.
San Benedetto is a lovely
town and setting overlooking the beach is very relaxing. The harbor
is interesting as shown just a few days ago. There is not much OS as
what was a very small town then was bombed 144 times and shelled by
the navy many times. So today we will walk around, talk to some
people, probably the old guys on the bench, and see if they serve
pasta anywhere. Actually I am over pasta for awhile and asked Claudo
where there was something different. He recommended Olilo for fried
everything but mainly fish served through the window of the small
restaurant. Or White Bakery that has some of everything. We walked
to Olio to find it closed and doubled back to
White Bakery. It was the
spot I wanted. They had a wide range of familiar fare. Budwiser,
bagels, hamburgers, club sandwichs, thai salad, beans and rice, real
breakfast with eggs and bacon, tacos, but I chose huevos rancheros
and it was just what I needed. A coffee on the deserted main walking
street and a long walk brought us back to the hotel for a nap. Well,
no nap since I am stuffed with huevos.
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| the white bakery |
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| the Tunisian cook |
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maybe I can get a job
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