Possibly LAST post
With the weather being cloudy, rainy and a bit on the cool side, I decided since tomorrow I will be 63 that I would go to Brindisi and stay for 2 days at a spa hotel. So today was, if I think too much, kind of sad. So I won't think about the leaving part. I'll look at Brindisi as another adventure. I know it's got some really old stuff I haven't seen yet.
So today I decided to take my life into my hands again and drive to Carovigno. Because of the one-way streets that are super narrow and the Italian drivers who absolutely love blowing their car horns mostly at me, I knew I might get myself into a tough situation in getting through a narrow, windy, uneven and now because of the rain, slippery road paths. And being Saturday I knew more people would be out walking. This added to the vigilance I needed to not hit anyone or anything. And the town is built on a big hill. And my car is a 5 speed on the floor. But I managed very well without incident and I actually found Gianni's apartment that I lived in 6 years ago. There was only one way to get to his apartment and it took me several trips through all the roads on that side of the town to finally find it. I wanted to say hello and goodbye to him one more time and I knew he would be home because of the rain. I wish Graziella could speak some English as I'm sure she wishes I could speak better Italian. I only stayed a few minutes. I hate long goodbyes.
This town will always be special to me.
On coming back to Villanova, I as usual drove through the tiny town called Fontanella. There are no stores there. Just gated, small communities. But on this road I have visited on a few occasions the many cats that congregate under a tree right next to the road usually all eating peacefully out of the one dish of cat food someone so generously gives them each day. This road is definitely the cat road. I think the people here treat their animals with kindness.
And that Black Lab Puppy! He seems to have the run of the town now. I always hear him even when he's down a few streets. It would have been too easy to meet him every day for a walk but I didn't want to be sad when I had to leave. I hear him barking right now.
I decided to wash my hair in the kitchen sink since there is too little hot water in the shower. Not up for a cold shower to get my hair washed. This has not been a vacation of luxury by no means. But I got to do a lot and see a lot. And then there was the ocean. Always that beautiful sound of the waves.
It's been a great 4 weeks and I wouldn't want to change anything.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Oct.5th Fri.
Raining
It was pouring rain on and off throughout the night. At 5 this morning I looked out to see a river flowing down to the ocean. I can see one drain but there is just too much water. And it's thundering. There is no one out. No dogs. No noise and it's now 8:30am. I am almost sure the farmers are happy with this rain though. I think it will rain all day.
It was pouring rain on and off throughout the night. At 5 this morning I looked out to see a river flowing down to the ocean. I can see one drain but there is just too much water. And it's thundering. There is no one out. No dogs. No noise and it's now 8:30am. I am almost sure the farmers are happy with this rain though. I think it will rain all day.
Oct. 4th Thursday
A little of this and that and ASTI
I went out with the intention of getting a few bottles of Perroni (beer). I got to the grocery store and saw a few bottles of chilled ASTI. So I bought one and went next to the castle on the beach in town, opened it, realizing I would never be able to get the cork back into the bottle. So had a couple of swigs. Realizing how potent it was, drove back home. I'm watching the big waves with white caps come onto the beach.
Just outside my window, two boys, maybe 16 or thereabouts, came down the street on a noisy kind of motorbike and did a wheelie(?). Two boys on a bike popping wheelies. They got off, set up their phone to take a video, got back on the bike and went back and forth on the street just outside my window doing wheelies and filming themselves. So funny
Well it looks like the Black Lab puppy has more people looking after it. I was in my car, sipping ASTI, listening to the music on the radio and I see him running on the next street...free as a bird.
Now these streets are just blocks about 200x200 foot squares with maybe 8 or 10 apartments on each block. I am on the side of the ocean. Little Black Lab lives a couple of streets towards the main street.
After about 3-4 minutes I see a woman, maybe 60ish, white hair pulled back in a bun walking in the same direction as the puppy yelling something in Italian. 2 minutes later comes the puppy running free back to where the woman came from. Looks like this puppy has many babysitters.
I can always distinguish his puppy bark from all the other dogs in this part of town. And there are many.
AND: Last night I was walking out on the street, saw Sugar running across the street into a hole in the stone wall right next to one of the restaurants. I called to her in my kitten voice. She ran into the hole, turned around to see who I was. She almost seemed like she recognized my voice from just 10 hours earlier but would not come out. I went into the restaurant, had some fish, came out and she was still there but ran into the bushes. I think she will be ok and is taken care of by the families right here. I took home the fish skin for her just in case. But no sign of her. That's ok. I don't need to get attached to any animals while I'm here.
I went out with the intention of getting a few bottles of Perroni (beer). I got to the grocery store and saw a few bottles of chilled ASTI. So I bought one and went next to the castle on the beach in town, opened it, realizing I would never be able to get the cork back into the bottle. So had a couple of swigs. Realizing how potent it was, drove back home. I'm watching the big waves with white caps come onto the beach.
Just outside my window, two boys, maybe 16 or thereabouts, came down the street on a noisy kind of motorbike and did a wheelie(?). Two boys on a bike popping wheelies. They got off, set up their phone to take a video, got back on the bike and went back and forth on the street just outside my window doing wheelies and filming themselves. So funny
Well it looks like the Black Lab puppy has more people looking after it. I was in my car, sipping ASTI, listening to the music on the radio and I see him running on the next street...free as a bird.
Now these streets are just blocks about 200x200 foot squares with maybe 8 or 10 apartments on each block. I am on the side of the ocean. Little Black Lab lives a couple of streets towards the main street.
After about 3-4 minutes I see a woman, maybe 60ish, white hair pulled back in a bun walking in the same direction as the puppy yelling something in Italian. 2 minutes later comes the puppy running free back to where the woman came from. Looks like this puppy has many babysitters.
I can always distinguish his puppy bark from all the other dogs in this part of town. And there are many.
AND: Last night I was walking out on the street, saw Sugar running across the street into a hole in the stone wall right next to one of the restaurants. I called to her in my kitten voice. She ran into the hole, turned around to see who I was. She almost seemed like she recognized my voice from just 10 hours earlier but would not come out. I went into the restaurant, had some fish, came out and she was still there but ran into the bushes. I think she will be ok and is taken care of by the families right here. I took home the fish skin for her just in case. But no sign of her. That's ok. I don't need to get attached to any animals while I'm here.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
October 3rd Wed 2018
Relaxing day at the beach
I've been here 3 weeks but still have not felt totally ok with doing just nothing. I did go out this morning to the center of Villanova (less than 1 mile) to get an American coffee and see if anyone there could help me with my Ipad. But no takers. The storage seems to be full and I cannot take any more pictures. I do have an account with ICloud but don't know how to put my pictures on it. I spent some time deleting duplicates but still no go.
At about 5:30am I heard a cat crying out my door. It had really long cries. I was cooking peppers and I think it smelled them knowing it was some kind of food because when I put a piece of cheese down for it, it attacked it like it was starving. It's a girl. I named her Sugar because later I saw her kneading the floor in my kitchen just like Sugar used to do while purring. She is tiger with a lot of white. She looks to be about 5-6 months and I think someone must have taken her from her familiar place and dropped her off nearby. I got her to come in. I gave her some milk and more cheese. She stayed a bit, purred and washed herself. An orange kitten raced by outside my door. Sugar noticed and went right out to look. I think Orange (I named him) was probably part of the litter. But Sugar came back in and cried for more food. After a while she left down the street and I haven't seen or heard of her again today. I emailed Marco, Claudio and Filomina about this lovely kitten. Filomina's husband and one of her sons is a veterinarian so I know they love animals. Filomina came by later and was noticeably concerned that the kitten had left. She said I should keep it in if it comes back because she knows a few people who would love to have a kitten.
I made a salad. I took a nap. I then went out in my beach chair and watched a fisherman with again the longest pole I have ever seen, trying to get a fish. He kept moving from one spot on the rocks to another. Still no fish. He had a green bucket which maybe had bait in it. But the pole looked like it didn't have a reel. It was just really, really long.
I've noticed a big difference in the heat of the sun on my skin. 3 weeks ago, I couldn't bear how hot the sun felt. Today it felt really good. Not hot at all.
And the Black Lab puppy is back. I haven't seen him since last week. He was out walking, leash-free with a different man. I recognize his bark from down the street. I went out, called him and he came running. We played for a bit and then he bolted down the street in the direction of his man. Not the man who was out walking him today. Back to his home.
Things are really, really quiet around here now. The people noise is gone. All there is is the noise of the ocean waves outside my door. Nice. Really nice
I think the Summer season is over here.
I've been here 3 weeks but still have not felt totally ok with doing just nothing. I did go out this morning to the center of Villanova (less than 1 mile) to get an American coffee and see if anyone there could help me with my Ipad. But no takers. The storage seems to be full and I cannot take any more pictures. I do have an account with ICloud but don't know how to put my pictures on it. I spent some time deleting duplicates but still no go.
At about 5:30am I heard a cat crying out my door. It had really long cries. I was cooking peppers and I think it smelled them knowing it was some kind of food because when I put a piece of cheese down for it, it attacked it like it was starving. It's a girl. I named her Sugar because later I saw her kneading the floor in my kitchen just like Sugar used to do while purring. She is tiger with a lot of white. She looks to be about 5-6 months and I think someone must have taken her from her familiar place and dropped her off nearby. I got her to come in. I gave her some milk and more cheese. She stayed a bit, purred and washed herself. An orange kitten raced by outside my door. Sugar noticed and went right out to look. I think Orange (I named him) was probably part of the litter. But Sugar came back in and cried for more food. After a while she left down the street and I haven't seen or heard of her again today. I emailed Marco, Claudio and Filomina about this lovely kitten. Filomina's husband and one of her sons is a veterinarian so I know they love animals. Filomina came by later and was noticeably concerned that the kitten had left. She said I should keep it in if it comes back because she knows a few people who would love to have a kitten.
I made a salad. I took a nap. I then went out in my beach chair and watched a fisherman with again the longest pole I have ever seen, trying to get a fish. He kept moving from one spot on the rocks to another. Still no fish. He had a green bucket which maybe had bait in it. But the pole looked like it didn't have a reel. It was just really, really long.
I've noticed a big difference in the heat of the sun on my skin. 3 weeks ago, I couldn't bear how hot the sun felt. Today it felt really good. Not hot at all.
And the Black Lab puppy is back. I haven't seen him since last week. He was out walking, leash-free with a different man. I recognize his bark from down the street. I went out, called him and he came running. We played for a bit and then he bolted down the street in the direction of his man. Not the man who was out walking him today. Back to his home.
Things are really, really quiet around here now. The people noise is gone. All there is is the noise of the ocean waves outside my door. Nice. Really nice
I think the Summer season is over here.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Oct. 2nd 2018 Tuesday
It rained today!
There was thunder and there was lightening in the skies out towards Carovigno. At the beach here it had sprinkled a little but not much. Good day to gaze at the items at the grocery store in Carovigno (Eurospin). I like to see what people are offered here in Italy. I already knew there is NO canned soup. In fact canned anything is very minimal. I wanted to cook some curry today so bought some potatoes, an onion, a (can) of chick peas (Ceci), curry powder and a bag of fresh green beans. I only wanted a few green beans but all they had was a big bag for 1 Euro. So now I have enough to make some green bean soup with the leftover 1/2 onion and potato.
The curry came out amazingly good. It's what I will eat today. I don't feel like pizza or pasta.
In town it was raining hard. There aren't any drains in the road for the water to go into. So my feet got pretty wet just going from the car to the store. This was my 3rd trip to Eurospin and I find myself spending too much time looking at all the types of pasta; dried and fresh. I bought a few mandarins that looked good but once home I saw they came from Peru. They aren't in season here until December. I don't like looking at the meat because I'm not sure just exactly what I'm looking at. I needed a small bottle of laundry soap. I found the smallest one with a picture of an apple on it. So I thought oh good it'll smell like apples. I almost got it until I saw it was windshield washer fluid for the car. I did find some yellow plums.
After the grocery store I went for a ride to try to see if I could find the olive farm I worked at 6 years ago. I ended up on some very narrow, dirt roads that a couple of times ended under an olive tree. At one point I wondered if I'd ever find my way out of this huge maze of olive farms. I never did find Gianni's farm but emailed him and asked if I could meet him at Eurospin and follow him out there some day this week. He in getting new WWOOFers this week to start laying down the nets for the olive collection starting very soon.
I got gas. I paid 50 Euro for 3/4 of a tank at the price of $1.73/Liter to have them pump it. I do get good gas mileage though and will probably put on at least 1500 miles while I'm here.
The sky is blue again here at the beach at 4pm with a little bit of a rainbow.
I walked down to the beach to see a lot of garbage and seaweed there. I don't think the John Deer tractor came this morning to clean the beach. I'm not sure if the people left all the plastic bottles there or if they washed up on shore. I saw many sea sponges lying about. No shells. Many cigarette butts though.
The town is very quiet as it is still siesta time until 5pm.
There was thunder and there was lightening in the skies out towards Carovigno. At the beach here it had sprinkled a little but not much. Good day to gaze at the items at the grocery store in Carovigno (Eurospin). I like to see what people are offered here in Italy. I already knew there is NO canned soup. In fact canned anything is very minimal. I wanted to cook some curry today so bought some potatoes, an onion, a (can) of chick peas (Ceci), curry powder and a bag of fresh green beans. I only wanted a few green beans but all they had was a big bag for 1 Euro. So now I have enough to make some green bean soup with the leftover 1/2 onion and potato.
The curry came out amazingly good. It's what I will eat today. I don't feel like pizza or pasta.
In town it was raining hard. There aren't any drains in the road for the water to go into. So my feet got pretty wet just going from the car to the store. This was my 3rd trip to Eurospin and I find myself spending too much time looking at all the types of pasta; dried and fresh. I bought a few mandarins that looked good but once home I saw they came from Peru. They aren't in season here until December. I don't like looking at the meat because I'm not sure just exactly what I'm looking at. I needed a small bottle of laundry soap. I found the smallest one with a picture of an apple on it. So I thought oh good it'll smell like apples. I almost got it until I saw it was windshield washer fluid for the car. I did find some yellow plums.
After the grocery store I went for a ride to try to see if I could find the olive farm I worked at 6 years ago. I ended up on some very narrow, dirt roads that a couple of times ended under an olive tree. At one point I wondered if I'd ever find my way out of this huge maze of olive farms. I never did find Gianni's farm but emailed him and asked if I could meet him at Eurospin and follow him out there some day this week. He in getting new WWOOFers this week to start laying down the nets for the olive collection starting very soon.
I got gas. I paid 50 Euro for 3/4 of a tank at the price of $1.73/Liter to have them pump it. I do get good gas mileage though and will probably put on at least 1500 miles while I'm here.
The sky is blue again here at the beach at 4pm with a little bit of a rainbow.
I walked down to the beach to see a lot of garbage and seaweed there. I don't think the John Deer tractor came this morning to clean the beach. I'm not sure if the people left all the plastic bottles there or if they washed up on shore. I saw many sea sponges lying about. No shells. Many cigarette butts though.
The town is very quiet as it is still siesta time until 5pm.
Monday, October 1, 2018
Oct.1 2018 Monday
Return to the beach from Matera
After deciding to visit Matera, just over the border of Puglia into Basilicata, I started reading about the town. After finding what it was all about, I couldn't wait to go there. I had planned to stay just one night but once there decided to stay two.
Matera is a medieval town started back 9000 years ago (7000BC) as caves dug out of the limestone mountainsides. With a ravine having 2 rivers converge and a mineral rich plateau for growing food, Matera was geologically a unique but intelligent location to start a community.
The city is so intriguing that I bought a book on Matera detailing the entire history.
The city now has a population of 60,000 focusing almost entirely on tourism visiting the more updated caves from 1200AD. As late as 1952, the last of the cave-dwellers were relocated to modern built apartments outside of the "SASSI" stone houses due to unhealthy living conditions. No electricity or indoor plumbing compounded by disease including Malaria were reasons why the government stepped in and built new and modern living facilities for the 16,000 "SASSI" inhabitants.
As a tourist, I got to walk among the cave dwellings now some turned into restaurants, businesses and upscale B&B's. To purchase one of these 'caves' means spending approximately $200,000 plus the cost of renovating per building codes and permits. Some wealthy people have bought some of these 'caves' just for that purpose. At one time, Matera was considered to have some of the worst poverty in all of Europe. Now it is a thriving tourist area supporting many B&B's and restaurants.
I found a B&B within the town plaza (not a cave B&B) owned by a man named Amadeus. The building was built in the 1800's and Amadeus has renovated it to being a luxury hotel on 3 levels. The bathtub alone could easily fit 4 people and served as a whirlpool of which I took full advantage of. Walking in and around all the cave sites was difficult at best for anyone with bad knees and feet. There were many steps and hills made up of walkways of slippery marble where on more than one occasion, saw people slip and sometimes fall. By the end of each of the 2 days I walked old Matera, I was exhausted and totally wiped out from the sun, heat and tough walking. I would have to think twice if anyone asked if I would do this again. But it was worth all the pain.
Each night on the plaza there was live music and performers(break dancers) of which I had a bird's eye view from my room and rooftop garden. Most people stayed out well past midnight especially on Sat. night where I could still hear a lot of noise until 3am. Just downstairs and next door from my room was a bread store and next to that was a Pasticceria emitting wonderful pastry smells at 6 o'clock in the morning.
A typical breakfast for these Italians is to gulp down a shot of espresso and either a plain or cream filled croissant. Being at a B&B, Amedeus said I could go there each morning and get anything I wanted on him. This saved him from bringing food to the people staying at his place.
The first sounds of the morning was the garbage collectors at 5:30 am. Next came the street sweepers, washing and brushing the marble plaza. Garbage is a real problem in all of Italy. People just dump there garbage bags at the side of the highway and along side streets. Cigarette butts are EVERYWHERE! I see couples, young and old, some with small children, smoking. And smoking doesn't seem to be not allowed anywhere. I've sat in a restaurant with people smoking. Sometimes at the end of the day I can taste smoke.
I could go on and on about the amazing town of Matera. But like all good things, it must come to an end. So I headed out this morning on a new route back to the beach and Villanova.
The countryside all around Matera and Locorotundo, Putignano, Fasano and out to the beach was very beautiful with rolling hills and farms. It seemed to be more cows and hay growing than in other parts. No big farm houses; just really small, cement, square houses with very little windows.
I saw some small amounts of corn being grown and still large fields of olives and grapes.
I'm back at my apartment in Villanova now. The wind has died right down so some beach-goers are back. Snorkelers are spear fishing right here at the beach. In the rocks are where they get the octopus. I see some small fishing boats further out.
Tonight I shall go out to get a salad for supper. And a beer. Tomorrow I think I will stay here, outside, read and stay out of the car for a while. My poor Toyota AYGO. I have put it through a lot.
After deciding to visit Matera, just over the border of Puglia into Basilicata, I started reading about the town. After finding what it was all about, I couldn't wait to go there. I had planned to stay just one night but once there decided to stay two.
Matera is a medieval town started back 9000 years ago (7000BC) as caves dug out of the limestone mountainsides. With a ravine having 2 rivers converge and a mineral rich plateau for growing food, Matera was geologically a unique but intelligent location to start a community.
The city is so intriguing that I bought a book on Matera detailing the entire history.
The city now has a population of 60,000 focusing almost entirely on tourism visiting the more updated caves from 1200AD. As late as 1952, the last of the cave-dwellers were relocated to modern built apartments outside of the "SASSI" stone houses due to unhealthy living conditions. No electricity or indoor plumbing compounded by disease including Malaria were reasons why the government stepped in and built new and modern living facilities for the 16,000 "SASSI" inhabitants.
As a tourist, I got to walk among the cave dwellings now some turned into restaurants, businesses and upscale B&B's. To purchase one of these 'caves' means spending approximately $200,000 plus the cost of renovating per building codes and permits. Some wealthy people have bought some of these 'caves' just for that purpose. At one time, Matera was considered to have some of the worst poverty in all of Europe. Now it is a thriving tourist area supporting many B&B's and restaurants.
I found a B&B within the town plaza (not a cave B&B) owned by a man named Amadeus. The building was built in the 1800's and Amadeus has renovated it to being a luxury hotel on 3 levels. The bathtub alone could easily fit 4 people and served as a whirlpool of which I took full advantage of. Walking in and around all the cave sites was difficult at best for anyone with bad knees and feet. There were many steps and hills made up of walkways of slippery marble where on more than one occasion, saw people slip and sometimes fall. By the end of each of the 2 days I walked old Matera, I was exhausted and totally wiped out from the sun, heat and tough walking. I would have to think twice if anyone asked if I would do this again. But it was worth all the pain.
Each night on the plaza there was live music and performers(break dancers) of which I had a bird's eye view from my room and rooftop garden. Most people stayed out well past midnight especially on Sat. night where I could still hear a lot of noise until 3am. Just downstairs and next door from my room was a bread store and next to that was a Pasticceria emitting wonderful pastry smells at 6 o'clock in the morning.
A typical breakfast for these Italians is to gulp down a shot of espresso and either a plain or cream filled croissant. Being at a B&B, Amedeus said I could go there each morning and get anything I wanted on him. This saved him from bringing food to the people staying at his place.
The first sounds of the morning was the garbage collectors at 5:30 am. Next came the street sweepers, washing and brushing the marble plaza. Garbage is a real problem in all of Italy. People just dump there garbage bags at the side of the highway and along side streets. Cigarette butts are EVERYWHERE! I see couples, young and old, some with small children, smoking. And smoking doesn't seem to be not allowed anywhere. I've sat in a restaurant with people smoking. Sometimes at the end of the day I can taste smoke.
I could go on and on about the amazing town of Matera. But like all good things, it must come to an end. So I headed out this morning on a new route back to the beach and Villanova.
The countryside all around Matera and Locorotundo, Putignano, Fasano and out to the beach was very beautiful with rolling hills and farms. It seemed to be more cows and hay growing than in other parts. No big farm houses; just really small, cement, square houses with very little windows.
I saw some small amounts of corn being grown and still large fields of olives and grapes.
I'm back at my apartment in Villanova now. The wind has died right down so some beach-goers are back. Snorkelers are spear fishing right here at the beach. In the rocks are where they get the octopus. I see some small fishing boats further out.
Tonight I shall go out to get a salad for supper. And a beer. Tomorrow I think I will stay here, outside, read and stay out of the car for a while. My poor Toyota AYGO. I have put it through a lot.
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