We travelled over the hills from our overnight stop in St Giovanni Incarico to the Adriatic coast. The scenery was yet again awesome. As we went east it looked more dry and arid and the temperature rose. “It probably doesn’t rain so much here” I said. That was on Saturday. Sunday brought thunderstorms and heavy rain, which cleared by 4pm so hurrah! – we headed for the pool. Lovely! Today, more thunder and light rain and feels cool at 21 degrees C.
Unfortunately the stormy weather doesn’t deter the biting insects here in our woody glen – 20 bites and still counting!
Did a couple of bike rides today as we were in need of a bank machine & few provisions. First bank machine didn’t like our card and we couldn’t find the supermarket…
Returned to campsite and had a chat with Christiana at the reception, who was lovely and gave us some helpful information about the whereabouts of another bank machine and supermarket in the town of Fossacesia.
Set off again in late afternoon and made the long climb up to Fossacesia, hoping the black clouds were not coming our way. First bank machine was out of order, and we were beginning to get a little worried. Thankfully the second bank machine accepted our card. A happy hour was then spent in the supermarket trying to find the essentials we needed. The lady at the delicatessen counter was very patient with my attempts to speak Italian but we laughed and gesticulated and I bought two types of cheese, one of which she assured me was “moo cow” – but I’m sure they will taste good! I wish I could speak Italian though – it’s frustrating and embarrassing being unable to communicate.
We arrived at a campsite in Torino di Sangro after a really great scenic drive over the mountains (I never realised just how mountainous Italy is). We’re on the adriatic coast. Yea! The campsite is on the side of a really steep hill. The van struggled to make it up the “road” to camping area.
The campsite had a few people staying; practically all Italians but for one Dutch couple, but almost everyone had left by Sunday night. A really nice campsite, whose glory days were probably 35 years ago. “Rustic” would be a good description. We had mainly crickets, ciccadas, and small lizards for company.
Our spot in the shade (of the thunderstorms)Local lizards – they’re everywhere
It was a really lad-back site: what it lacked in facilities, it made up in character. The staff could not have been more helpful, extending the hospitality to shuttling my windsurfing kit down to the beach & back (but it wasn’t windy), and out to the shops to get supplies (graciously declined as we needed to set out to find a bank machine anyway – they didn’t offer to pay everything for us).
The site was mostly bungalows / mobile homes – almost all of which, as I mentioned, were empty & a bit neglected-looking. But… Apparently, the site is completely booked out after the 19th July and for the whole of August.
Also strange were some of the small rental “bungalows”: These are like tiny, cylindrical hermit/hobbit homes, barely large enough for one person. I’d have looked to take a peek inside one but they were all locked up.
One of the roundhouses / hermit bungalows
The bougainvillea added great touches of colour, as did the grassed sun terrace. Good pool, too.
BouganvilleaA decent sized poolOoh, look: there’s an Adriatic sea
We set off on our bikes 3 or 4 km into Fossacesia Marina where there was a bank machine. No bank; just a small building housing an ATM. Insert your card to gain access. It was air-conditioned inside. Delicious. I stuck my card in, entered my PIN & it regurgitated it. I tried again. Same result. Oh well, let’s live without money for another day. We had enough to buy a beer at the bar.
Monday, 15th:
Cycled in Fossecesia itself – which is not on the coast. I may have mentioned that Italy is mountainous? Well Fossecesia is not up a mountain, but it was a serious climb up to it all the same. We’d been reliably informed that there was not one, but two bank machines in the town. And a supermarket. Yay! Money & food!
Glad there were 2 bank machines; the 1st one didn’t work. Seems to be a theme developing?
Italian supermarkets. Since we’ve been in Italy, we’ve been on the lookout for the elusive Carrefour/LeClerc type of place. One where you can go in and buy everything you might ever want. Thus far, we’ve failed to locate such a thing. Italian supermarkets are like a small Tesco Express, but less well organised. However, and unlike Tesco Express, they all have a fresh meat and cheese counter which in turn has led to some interesting broken conversations and sign-language. But the range of products is very narrow. We’ve not been able to buy washing line (got forgotten about in our hasty departure), nor matches, nor one of those long-nosed gas lighter thingy’s for lighting the cooker. In fact, it seems that supermarkets aren’t allowed to sell cigarettes or associated items. Shopping, therefore, is very time-consuming. There’s also only so much you can carry in a rucksack when you’re on your bike. Also, finding a supermarket with a car park is a challenge. This makes it difficult for us to park anywhere close by with such a big vehicle.
So on Tue, we departed for pastures new, keeping our eyes peeled for the elusive supermarket. We found one in Vasto, and found a big enough parking place within 100m. We weren’t sure if we were legally parked, so I volunteered to stay with the van whilst Joy did the shopping. Success.
I really can’t figure out what’s going on with the weather: wherever we’ve been, we always seem to be subjected to thunderstorms. Whilst we didn’t get hit by one at Lake Garda, we could see them all around. When we were in the Appennines, we had several – plus heavy rain & a serious temperature drop before we left. In fact, it was the main reason for leaving to head South – the forecast being so unsettled.
We made an overnight stop SE of Rome. There was a thunderstorm, though we didn’t get wet.
We’re now on the adriatic coast at Torino di Sangro; SE of Pescara – where the sun always shines. I’m writing this in a thunderstorm. It’s not exactly teeming it down with rain, but it IS raining. OTOH, the temp is around 25 degrees so it’s not all bad! However, we DO need to cycle up to Fossecesia where – I have been led to believe – there is a bank cash machine and some shops; both of which are fairly urgently needed. And it’s raining.
It is allegedly supposed to improve from tomorrow. Bring it on!
