Two Guys & a Car in Italy(Part 4)

As I move along onto the next leg of our journey across Italy I do want to point out, if not already known, this is a trip that took place nearly two years ago. It was the first significant step in taking my derailed life and putting it back on track.

So off we go to the southeast coast of Italy…….come along.

After a stop in Joe’s mothers town and a visit to an ailing Aunt, we hit the road again with Polignano a Mare our next stop. This is a beautiful town on Italy’s Adriatic south coast. The contrasting cliffs against the aquatic dance of colors of the sea makes for some incredible scenery. Here are just a few pictures to gaze upon.

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  Yes….. palm trees!!

The other aspect of this town was the quality of food for the price. Every piece of fish you ate tasted as if it was just kissed by the sea. Fruits and vegetables still carried the scent from their vines or their branches to your plate. We had a delicious lunch and a bottle of wine for the price of two Frappuccinco’s at Starbucks. 

The sign may say Typical Food, but there was nothing typical about it, other than it was amazingly fresh and Italian!

  

I could post an album of pictures from this town and one is more beautiful than the next.

We also enjoyed a dinner one evening in a restaurant that’s built into a cave. It’s called Grotta Palazzese, part of the hotel by the same name. This place doesn’t serve typical Italian food. It’s menu is based on Apulian cuisine with again nothing but the freshest ingredients.  This is a unique place to dine and for this one you will have to shell out a bit more to experience it, but in my opinion it’s worth it. 

Some contemplation time…….

 

While staying in Polignano a Mare Joe planned to visit an old friend in the town of Conversano.  So off we went for another drive to meet Joe’s friend and his family. Seems at one time, they all lived in Queens in an apartment above Joe’s family’s home. 

As we pulled into this town, once again the feeling of being in some foreign film overcomes me. I  feel like I should be speaking with an accent, wearing a trench coat, and smoking a cigarette. All of which I don’t have or do. 

Somewhere in between visiting a museum, the home of Joe’s friends children and a smellicious bakery, we enjoyed another awesome dinner in a very cool restaurant hidden in a small alley in Conversano.

I still remember listening to this man tell stories and watching his eyes light up. He spoke only Italian and while I didn’t understand much of what he was saying I did somehow understand his stories by watching his face and his eyes and feeling his passion. I remember him looking at me several times and some how we communicated without doing it verbally.

At first I thought maybe again it was the wine making me think this was the case. However, when the night came to a close and it came to saying goodbye he grabbed me and gave me the warmest hug that let me know it was a pleasure that we got the chance to meet.

It was another step in my soul coming back to life. I could REALLY feel things again.

I will leave it there……boy this trip was long. I have stops in Matera, Alberobello, Taranto, Vietri Sul Mare and Castel Gandolfo still to share.

If you’ve come this far…..thank you. More to come. Sunshine always!!