Sat – Tue, Jul 12-15.
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.
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.
The bougainvillea added great touches of colour, as did the grassed sun terrace. Good pool, too.
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.
Now, further S down to Gargano…