"Italy Continued, Again"

And so our trek continued.
And my friend, S and I, years on.....

We remember the people, the laughter, the talk; the fascinating dynamics of the group in our bus.....the "organisers", the jokers, the serious travellers who checked history books each evening while others sprawled by a campsite fire and supped red wine.


We remember Rome in early morning, how sunlight glittered on the Colosseum; the back streets of Naples ( us, singing:" Where do you go to, my lovely?") , we talk of a shaded market covered by trees, where we bought grapes and lemons and peaches, where the Italians muttered about our blondeness, stared and whispered and watched.


We remember the glossiness of a plaza in Milan, the steep Amalfi coast where we visited a monastery and talked with monks in cool barren rooms overlooking a shimmering sea.
And we talk of Barletta by the Adriatic, where women in black clutched rosaries and blessed us and smiled wistful smiles.......
And the Town Hall, with its high domed ceiling, its rafters...where we sat straight-backed on high wooden pews beneath musty paintings as the mayor welcomed us with sweet amaretto biscuits, his wine of the region..


And S has photographs of us (a line of grinning grubby colourful travellers ) by the Solfatara of Pozzuoli, north of Naples, visited in the eighteenth century by European aristocrats as part of The Grand Tour. There are 40 ancient volcanoes there and we camped at the very enticing edge of one. ...


AND YES, EVENTUALLY we reached a village called Rappalla in the region of Potenza.
And yes, we were set to work.
Oh yep how hard we worked!
We rose at 5:30 and helped dig ground for the building of a school. At 9, home for bread, peach jam , coffee. Then a blissful kip! Then visits....often we drove to wild Adriatic beaches where we glimpsed the coast of Yugoslavia and talked of Next Year, of The Year After, even The One After That...



***Re picture above: 3 years ago, we visited Southern Italy again.
Very differently!
This time, no jolly bus, merely an efficient flight Gatwick to Brindisi, a small hired Fiat, and a wonderful little house called a "trulli" ( as above), but all on its own in an orchard..... near the Pugliese town of Cisternino ( eastern almost, with white houses lining quiet medieval streets...)
We booked through a great company specialising in holidays to Southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia. Thoroughly recommend it: http://www.long-travel.co.uk/regions/puglia.htm