Gastronomic heaven!!

The past two weeks we’ve spent thoroughly enjoying being back in Italy, particularly the food.

We arrived in Bari after another uncomfortable overnight ferry ride where we picked up a little Seat Leon which has taken us down the heel of the boot (Puglia), over to the toe (Calabria) and across to Sicily.

We saw some very interesting sights in Puglia, such as Castel del Monte (an octagonal castle built for an unknown purpose), the Trulli of Alberabello (small round buildings with conical roofs made of stone but no mortar) and the Sassi at Matera (caves built into the hills where people lived up to 40 years ago with their livestock).

Castel del Monte
One of the Trulli (Dain's photography)

Susan attempting to be sassy at the Sassi

We had a lovely stay in the hills of Calabria with Raffaele and Franca. We had a wonderful time catching up and really appreciated them opening up their home to us (especially their kitchen!!). It was also great to catch up with Franco & Francesca and their two girls, who kept us thoroughly entertained.

Lara & Giulia perform for the adoring audience
Dain & Raffaele pick apricots for dessert

Sicily has been amazing. We spent a couple of days on the east coast in Taormina, soaking up the sun and walking amongst the lava flows of Etna (far from extinct). We found a magical agriturismo (B&B on a farm) down south near Agrigento with a nice big room and great views of the vines. We’ve managed to track down some of the locations where Inspector Montalbano was filmed down here, including the location of his house.

Dain at a gorge near Etna

Us in the lava flow
Montalbano's house

As mentioned, we’ve really been enjoying the food. Our highlights so far have been a marvellous antipasto consisting of seven entrée sized dishes, including octopus, stuffed calamari & sausage with peas; ALL of Franca’s cooking - tiramisu, apricot marmellata (served with ricotta made fresh that morning), capsicums & potatoes, eggplant and limoncello; and finally the cooking at our agriturismo - just superb.

The beautiful Adriatic

Croatia was one of the countries on the itinerary that neither of us had been to and that we were both very excited about visiting... And we haven’t been disappointed!

We caught the overnight car ferry from Ancona (Italy) to Zadar (Croatia), which was quite an uncomfortable night’s sleep. Arriving at 7am, we stopped off for a coffee (naturally!) and headed to a travel agency to find some accommodation. While we waited for the place to open, a woman walking past asked if we needed a room. After a somewhat interesting conversation (her English was OK, but she kept throwing in German words) we found ourselves in a gorgeous studio apartment, right in the middle of the Old Town.

We spent a couple of days wandering around the marble-paved streets, looking at some beautiful buildings and Roman ruins which were uncovered during bombing in WWII . A rather unique sight (or sound) was the sea organ along the promenade. The waves create pressure that is pushed through the installed pipes producing a variety of different chords. Quite enjoyable to sit and listen while watching the sunset.

Sunset at Zadar (you can just see the openings of the sea organ on the promenade)

A bus trip along the coast brought us to Split where we walked around Diocletian’s Palace and managed to squeeze in a couple of swims. The highlight of our stay was a day trip out to a remote island off Hvar Island where we went to a restaurant and learnt how to cook the traditional meals we were served. On the menu was octopus salad, eggplant bake and fish gregada. A huge thanks to Shane & Julie from Lifejacket Adventures (www.lifejacketadventures.com) for showing us around. We highly recommend these guys if you find yourself in Split.

Lunch

The view from our table

In Hvar Town

After a day-long ferry ride down the coast, we found ourselves in Dubrovnik. It is easy to see why it is called the pearl of the Adriatic. It is a beautiful city, with the Old Town completely encircled by the city walls. We walked along the walls and were enchanted by the different views of the city and beyond.

The view of Dubrovnik from the walls

In all three cities we have really enjoyed having cooking facilities in our apartments as it has given us the opportunity, not only to enjoy our own cooking, but to be able to go to the fresh food markets and get involved with the community. It has been quite an experience trying to communicate with the vendors, but so rewarding. Everything is so fresh, either straight out of their veggie patches or straight out of the sea. Most of the stalls use old-style scales with small weights to weigh the produce.

We’ve still got a couple more days in Dubrovnik to enjoy and then we’re heading for the ‘heel of the boot’.