11 - Vieste and Relaxation

This is going to be a very short blog. We know that our followers (or “Jelissites”) eagerly wait for each new blog entry detailing the exciting adventures we are having on our European road trip. We therefore don’t want to disappoint, however writing an interesting and “witty” article on our time in Vieste is at the limit of my creativity.

Do not misunderstand, we actually really enjoyed our 5 days in Vieste. We had a new apartment about 5 minutes walk from the beach with a good kitchen and peaceful surroundings. More than anything, we were thankful for a quiet place to sleep having had a few sleepless nights in the middle of Otranto. These amenities lead to us essentially spending 5 days lounging around at the beach and taking advantage of the kitchen to eat in, meaning chronicling our time in this part of the trip does not make for an interesting read.

Leaving Otranto, we moved up the coast of Puglia and into the Gargano national park. We made 2 stop-offs en-route, firstly at Monopoli where we found free parking, however could not find the short man in the top hat to collect our €200 for passing go. We had a quick coffee at the harbour and walked the old town which had a sleepy but nice feel to it before moving on to the significantly less sleepy Polignano a Mare. Here we were met with all of the other tourists that scour instagram for picturesque coastal holiday destinations. Polignano is probably most famous for the restaurant cut into the cliff face. Unfortunately, given our lack of constant income and no lottery wins to speak of yet, this was well out of our price range. The tight streets increase the feeling of them being overrun by tourists and we were quite happy to be on our way after finding a local Focacceria and Pasticceria for our lunch.

Vieste is a coastal town in the Gargano national park on the east coast of Italy. It felt like a genuine Italian holiday town where we heard no English being spoken at all. We did hear a few German tourists around, however the long and wide sandy beaches meant we didn’t have to worry too much about finding a spot on the sand with our beach towels.

We were able to take this time to focus on our diets (including vegetables and not just pizza and pasta) and log a couple more runs along the beach promenade. Unfortunately the beach promenade is paved in a similar style to many of Italy’s roads and I took a tumble after catching my foot on an uneven slab of pavement while trying to keep up with Melissa. After cleaning up in the salt water, luckily the only long term damage is to my pride.

We were sure to walk into the old town each night to get Melissa her gelato fix for the day or to indulge in the local “Cornetti” which is essentially a croissant with sugar and a filling of your choice (vanilla custard for me, Nutella for Melissa). One thing to note about Vieste is that the police and traffic wardens are militant and have clearly struck up a lucrative arrangement with a local towing company. We would wander back to our apartment, watching the police walk from car to car placing tickets in windows and instructing the tow truck which car they should whisk away next. With Trevor safely tucked away in the private car park of our apartment, we were happy to have spent some lazy days reading and lounging on the beach with very few worries on our minds.

The next stop for us is the Abruzzo region in central Italy and a little-known small town called Sulmona located inland in the mountains. This is one of the few towns that I picked, despite a sceptical Melissa who would likely have preferred to stay by the coast. Fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint or I might be looking for a new travel buddy.

J & M