We hit the road after a breakfast that included freshly squeezed OJ from Sicilian oranges and fresh cherries from the trees of our landlady. The traffic on the four lane highway was light. We left the highway after Brindisi to have more scenery.
We stopped for a cappuccino in San Cataldo, a small seaside village, in a tiny joint that had numerous old photos which seemed to glorify Mussolini. Very bizarre! The Italians have never come to terms with their past as well as the Germans have.
We arrived at the Villa Conca Marco around 11:30, the reception was very friendly.
A welcome change from Il Casale dei Fornici! After unpacking we headed for the beach. Conca Marco has a semi-private beach with free use of lounge chairs and umbrellas for its guests.
Also Heineken on tap (not free, alas). We spent several hours there, swimming, sunning and snorkeling , then came home to shower up. Conca Marco is located in the midst of olive groves and fruit trees; they were just putting the finishing touches on a large swimming pool while we were there. They also had a donkey on the premises, who periodically made his presence known with piteous braying. Also a friendly little black dog (Signor Cane), who had the run of the place. And many, many small lizards of the sort found everywhere in Italy.
And we had our own private gecko (at times, at least), who hung out in the hallway outside our room:
After our showers we set forth to explore nearby villages. The fortified village of Acaja (sometimes spelled Acaya or Acaia) was interesting,
on the coast the seaside resort San Foca had a beautiful yacht harbor. We opted for dinner back at Conca Marco. We hadn't opted for the so-called "half pension" because we prefer trying out a variety of restaurants on vacation. The meals at Conca Marco are cooked by the Nonna, the grandmother of the resort. Dinner was OK, a massive portion of the typical orrecchiette, grilled pork cutlets, oranges and ice cream, an endless supply of local red wine. Our stomachs were severely stressed due to the sheer volume of food, we resolved to eat somewhere else the next night. We slept fairly well, except for the dogs and the donkey who made their presence known from time to time.
We stopped for a cappuccino in San Cataldo, a small seaside village, in a tiny joint that had numerous old photos which seemed to glorify Mussolini. Very bizarre! The Italians have never come to terms with their past as well as the Germans have.
We arrived at the Villa Conca Marco around 11:30, the reception was very friendly.
A welcome change from Il Casale dei Fornici! After unpacking we headed for the beach. Conca Marco has a semi-private beach with free use of lounge chairs and umbrellas for its guests.
Also Heineken on tap (not free, alas). We spent several hours there, swimming, sunning and snorkeling , then came home to shower up. Conca Marco is located in the midst of olive groves and fruit trees; they were just putting the finishing touches on a large swimming pool while we were there. They also had a donkey on the premises, who periodically made his presence known with piteous braying. Also a friendly little black dog (Signor Cane), who had the run of the place. And many, many small lizards of the sort found everywhere in Italy.
And we had our own private gecko (at times, at least), who hung out in the hallway outside our room:
After our showers we set forth to explore nearby villages. The fortified village of Acaja (sometimes spelled Acaya or Acaia) was interesting,
on the coast the seaside resort San Foca had a beautiful yacht harbor. We opted for dinner back at Conca Marco. We hadn't opted for the so-called "half pension" because we prefer trying out a variety of restaurants on vacation. The meals at Conca Marco are cooked by the Nonna, the grandmother of the resort. Dinner was OK, a massive portion of the typical orrecchiette, grilled pork cutlets, oranges and ice cream, an endless supply of local red wine. Our stomachs were severely stressed due to the sheer volume of food, we resolved to eat somewhere else the next night. We slept fairly well, except for the dogs and the donkey who made their presence known from time to time.
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