Italy Part 2

We had a lovely couple of days in the Puglia region (the heel of the boot of Italy) visiting pretty towns and villages and beaches with warm, clear, turquoise water, and continuing to sample the delights of Mediterranean gelato!

Another beach…another chance to leap off the rocks!

Monopoli was a lovely town with large, interesting artworks all along the pier…and, in my opinion, the BEST gelato in Italy!

Along the way, Zara bought some cat treats to help her befriend all of Italy’s cats!

The UNESCO town of Alberobello is filled with trulli, typical limestone dwellings found in the Puglia region. Dating back to the 14th century, trulli were usually constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as permanent dwellings by small-scale landowners or agricultural labourers. We saw trulli scattered all over Puglia, but the concentration of over 1500 of them in Alberobello was a remarkable sight (espcially as the sun set and the lights came on).

Trulli were built using a dry-stone wall technique (using no mortar or cement) and were made of roughly worked limestone boulders collected from neighbouring fields and rock outcrops. The buildings were usually rectangular with pyramidal, domed or conical roofs built up of limestone slabs. The roofs of the trulli often had mythological or religious markings painted in white ash, and had a a decorative pinnacle to ward off evil influences or bad luck. Water was collected via eaves at the base of the roof which diverted water through a channelled slab into a cistern beneath the house.

Our final stop in Puglia was Taranto, an ancient Greek colony.

We then took a detour to the inland city of Matera – Europe’s oldest city. With a history of continuous occupation dating back to the Palaeolithic Age, the city began as a complex of cave habitations excavated into the rock faces.

By the end of the 18th century, these caves had been burrowed significantly deeper and expanded into homes for families of farmers and artisans, complete with intricate facades, cisterns and water systems. There were churches and other community spaces, all connected via a network of paths, stairways, and courtyards. These settlements were named the Sassi (Italian for ‘stones’) whilst the flat land above, inhabited by the affluent upper classes, was known as the Piano.

Sadly, by the 20th century, the Sassi had sunk into desperate poverty – the dwellings were overcrowded and riddled with disease (particularly malaria, cholera and typhoid). Families with 10 or 12 children were living in small, dark, unventilated spaces, often cohabitating with mules, chickens and pigs – food was scarce and children were illiterate. By the late 1940s, the Sassi had become known as ‘la vergogna nazionale’, the disgrace of the nation and in 1950 the then Prime Minister of Italy ordered the relocation of the entire population of the Sassi, some 16000 people, into new public housing in the developing modern city. The ancient settlement lay abandoned for years, until a competition was held to decide what to do with it…the winning idea was to bring the caves back to life! In 1986, a law was passed to move people back in – and the government encouraged the Sassi’s reoccupation by subsidising restoration work. Artisans moved in, setting up workshops, while bars, restaurants and boutique hotels started to appear.

There was a lack of services, like grocery shops and chemists, so there was little demand for locals to live there. But with a UNESCO designation in 1993 (calling it “the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem”) and the ‘Città dei Sassi’ declared as the 2019 European Capital of Culture, the population (and tourism) increased swiftly, and now around 3000 people proudly live in the Sassi.

From there we made our way to Tropea (towards the toe of the boot). The water was still warm so we loved being by the beach and lingered longer than we had expected. It was the first waves we’d seen for a while so the kids played and played and played in the waves!

One day we found a calm beach and swam out to a cave around the coast. Once again the water colour was just breathtakingly clear and turquoise.

The kids hunted for somewhere to cliff jump but the waves were just too wild!

We were close to Sicily and from Tropea we could see Stromboli – one of Sicily’s seven offshore islands and one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. We took a boat trip out to Stromboli to play on the black sand beach.

Stromboli has been in a state of almost continuous eruption for the past 2000 years, with many eruptions throwing lava and ash into the air throughout the day.

The sun was setting as we left Stromboli allowing us to clearly see the volcanic bombs of incandescent lava exploding from the erupting vent. It was an incredible sight! (the wee video below is worth watching to hear our excitement on one of these occasions).

We also went for a rare meal out in Tropea – pasta at the cheap and cheerful Casa Spaghetti and then dessert at a busy pizza joint. I had a delicious tiramisu and a really lovely limoncello, the boys had a gelato tartufo (a dessert that originated in this area), and Zara had a chocolate Nutella pizza! She fulfilled her dream of having pasta for breakfast in Italy by eating her leftover spaghetti bolognese the following morning and had leftover pizza for morning tea!

Heading back up the coast we stopped at a beach called Spiaggia dell’Arcomagno with a rock archway protecting the beach. During the summer there is a walkway over the cliff to get to the beach but in low season the gate to the walkway is locked. Undeterred, we decided to swim around the rocky headland to the beach. There was a bit of a swell and we could see it would be over 1000 metres of swimming in total in very deep water but we were confident that the kids would be ok. Wow, what an awesome reward for their effort – the rock formations were marvellous and it felt even more special that we had made our own way there!

The kids play together so well, but the beach is a place where they can really get into their own imaginations – Lucas is always throwing, building, jumping, climbing, and Zara will find ‘friends’ (a pinecone, a rock, something washed up), play in the shallows, or make up dance/tumbling routines.

We played on this little beach for ages but all too soon the sun was going down and we still had to swim all the way back through the archway and around the headland. It was such a fun adventure.

Our next stop was Parco Nazionale del Cilento for a walk to the World Wildlife Foundation protected Bussento Caves and surrounding oasis (including an old mill). We wandered down the old mule track to the lush river valley below as lizards sunned themselves on the rocky outcrops.

Further north, we had a lovely morning at the top of the crater of Mt Vesuvius, another of Italy’s four active volcanoes. Whilst it wasn’t as spectacular as Stromboli (or looking into Red Crater in New Zealand), knowing that it was responsible for destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum, and that it is overdue to erupt again, certainly made it something to respect.

We then spent all afternoon and evening walking around Pompeii. What an amazing culture and society they had, and what an incredible archeological discovery!

We all had our favourite aspects – Zara thought the pedestrian crossings were so clever – they ensured that the pedestrians’ feet kept dry from rainwater, and clean from the filth, debris, and animal waste that accumulated in the streets, but the stones were also placed at a particular distance to allow cart and carriage wheels to pass through without issue.

Also on the roads, Logan was fascinated by the attention to detail of the curbs and drains, and also with the rainwater collection.

I was amazed by the thermopolium, essentially ancient fast food restaurants, where they would make a quick stop for hot, ready-made food and drinks at the many counters lining the streets, especially prevalent in the ‘theatre district’ (which was also incredible).

Lucas was impressed by how much effort has been (and continues to be) put into the excavation and restoration – days and weeks and months of work for very small gains, but such important work too. 

We had a few more days back on the beautiful Amalfi Coast for some last swims and all things delicious. Somehow we came away with no photos of old Italian houses perched precariously on hillsides between rows and rows of lemons trees but there were many gasps at the beauty of it all (and a few held breaths when the road was ridiculously narrow!).

Our next (brief) stop was Florence and our free Park4Night camping spot came with a beautiful view over the city – so pretty both during the day and in the evening.

The Santa Maria del Fiore (also known as Duomo di Firenze) has such a presence in Florence – stunning from afar and increasingly majestic as as you make your way through the twisting narrow streets towards it.

As expected, Lucas absolutely loved the Leonardo Interactive Museum – a hands-on experience of the creative brilliance and exceptional intelligence of Leonardo Da Vinci.

One of Zara’s ‘non-negotiables’ on this trip was a visit to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. She was really excited to see it and was suitably impressed. It’s really quite incredible the lengths that they have gone to over the past 800 years to stop the tower toppling over! The kids laughed and laughed walking up the steps as, due to the lean, the steps are worn down depending on the side of the tower. It feels like you are walking downhill as you circle around to the low side (so you naturally walk out to the outside edge of the step) and then it becomes steeply uphill as you circle back to the high side (so you naturally walk back to the centre of the step).

We jumped on the tourist wagon to take some “holding up the tower” photos…

Once we were finished sight-seeing in Pisa, it was time for Team Akers to split up – Logan drove the campervan the 1800 kilometres back to Nathan, Michele and Enzo’s house in Hoyland, UK (a MASSIVE thank you to them for trusting us with their amazing home on wheels) and Keryn, Lucas and Zara took the train to Rome! Logan and I have previously visited Rome but the kids really wanted to go there so it made sense to divide and conquer.

Our first day in Rome was spent at the Vatican City – beautiful St Peter’s Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, and the incredible Vatican Museums.

I was really impressed at the kids’ stamina for waiting in queues (according to Zara we waited 1 hour 2 minutes and 10 seconds to get into the Basilica – thank goodness we had booked tickets weeks ago for the Museums) and for appreciating the artworks.

Zara and I had a family audio guide at the Vatican Museums, which was a great way to keep us moving, but even then we spent nearly 5 hours there – that’s a long time for a growing 14 year old to go without eating! We all had our favourites – I loved the tapestries, Lucas loved the Gallery of Maps and Zara loved Wenzel Peter’s large painting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden depicting over 200 animals. Of course we marvelled at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the ‘Scala Elicoidale Momo’ Bramante Staircase.

The next day we had tickets for the very first time slot at the Colosseum – an early start but so worth it for views with few people. It really is such an incredible structure and a little bit mind blowing to think of the activities that went on there. The kids were intrigued to learn about the Gladiator duels and battles but were understandably less enthusiastic about the animals hunts. After so many special animal encounters over the past few months, it was hard to imagine those same animals (hippos, bears, lions, elephants, crocodiles, leopards, ostriches…) fighting to the death on the arena floor!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. It was a lot to take in but we all enjoyed dipping into the fascinating history and admiring the incredible structures.

To finish off our time in Rome, we did a pasta cooking class! It was such a wonderful experience and so much fun! Our instructor was the delightful Lucilla and, together with her husband Renzo (who poured the wine and did all the cleaning up as we went along), she was a splendid host. There were 5 of us in the class and Lucilla and Renzo made us so welcome in their cosy home in a beautiful old building. We made a traditional Roman Amatriciana sauce with fettuccine, and ravioli with ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, lemon, nutmeg and mint filling. Both dishes were delicious, especially the Amatriciana – our budding chef Zara is looking forward to making it at home!

Our final stop in Italy is Naples, simply because when we booked our Round the World tickets it was the only major hub in Italy that worked with our allowed maximum of 39000 miles. Logan flew in from Manchester whilst the rest of us caught the train from Rome. This marks the end of our time in Europe – it has been an absolute blast! So many adventures and so many special memories. From here we fly to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as we end our world journey in South East Asia. We are super excited for a total change in culture and know that many adventures await!

PS Zara decided that life without Blankie Bear was too hard and the menagerie of other little friends just aren’t the same so…introducing Blankie Bunny!