Friday 30th September

Up at 7 a.m. and dressed and packed and down to the breakfast in the hotel along with what seemed to be a tour party of Eastern Europeans who ravaged the breakfast buffet in typical fashion!! So fortified we loaded up the car again and set off for the short journey to the ferry terminal. This we found quite easily despite there being scant signs for it. We waited there while a couple of ferries came in and unloaded their trucks, as many as 20 on one ferry. Then it was our turn and we drove on to the ferry with one other car and a few trucks and were soon off across the Straits of Messina on a clear sunny day. 

Mount Etna

Not our ferry but similar

Unknown warship in the Messina Strait

A load of windfarm windmill blades 

An untidy parking job on our part.

Trucks bound for the mainland

The trip took about 45 minutes and we were very quickly off the ship and on the highway north towards Salerno. The drive was uneventful and followed quite close to the coast of the Adriatic. Just before our turn off for our destination of Noci in Bari province, we stopped for fuel and a break, then it was onto smaller roads.

We arrived at our lodging for the night at about 2.30 p.m. and found that we would be staying in a trulli, one of those round roofed houses which are a feature of this part of the world. The small house is beautifully appointed and has wonderful characteristics. The reason for choosing this particular place was the proximity to the restaurant Antica Locanda in the town of Noci. We had dined there in 2009. The proprietor Pasquale Fatalino is a resilient of a Slow Food award and his meals are legendary. Since were there last he has been awarded Michelin status on several occasions. .

Our accommodation at the trulli was spacious and the farm on which it was situated has horses and other animals as well as having a small swimming pool and area around d it for relaxing.  All of it is in the local style.

Our AirBnB Puglia style

After a rest we took off for the town a 10 minute drive away. We parked in the town square and soon found the restaurant again which had hardly changed at all. The set menu for euro 40 is just amazing with multiple antipasti appetizers, most of which were vegetarian, followed by three meat dishes followed by fruit and dessert. A liter of the house, local, Primitivo wine washes this down perfectly. Mr Fatalino came over and MAC was able to explain to him our previous visit and he beamed in pleasure. At the end we had a photo with him. The restaurant was mostly full of local Italians who seemed to know everyone and the wonderful background sound of there conversations was part of the delight of the place. In Italy, they have not lost the art of conversation, nor have they buried their heads in their cell phones. Even a younger couple on what seemed like a date actually talked to one another, something almost unheard of in New York restaurants!! What they talked about, I do not know but talk they all did, not in a loud way but always earnestly and with hand gestures! 

Antica Locanda

Very much more than adequately fed, in fact close to food coma!! We left and drove back to the hotel for a quick collapse into bed.