A boat trip around the grotto-ridden coastline was planned for this morning, and we hurried our breakfast and walked down to the harbour and around it to the boat. But Paul did not care for the look of the boat, which was an open boat with wooden benches on the deck. It was already crammed with people and I had the feeling I would be squashed in like a refugee. We were assured there were life jackets, but Paul was doubtful about the expedition. It was a very sunny day (for once) and he had the feeling he would either be fried or drowned. And I'm not a great fan of sea caves - neither is he for that matter, having gone into the Blue Grotto in Capri and not really enjoyed it. It least it wasn't an open rowing boat, like the one on Capri, but he had memories of having to lie flat in the boat to get into the grotto, and didn't fancy repeating it. So we left.
We decided instead to take the bus to Peschici which is supposed to be a very attractive small town about 30 minutes drive away. It was some time until the bus, so we stayed in the cool hotel, and left later, going through one of the local markets which was full of very attractive produce.
It was hard to resist buying something. As well as the wonderful fruit, there was a huge selection of cheeses, and I've never seen so many varieties of pasta in my life.
We found what appeared to be the bus station but it turned out not to be, and we had to return to the hotel for further directions before setting off again. We finally found the bus station and bought the necessary tickets just in time. The bus left at a time which bore no relation either to the printed timetable book or to the timetable displayed in the bar which also sold the tickets, but we got in and were off.
The journey was slightly less hair-raising than the coach drive to Vieste, though there were many hairpin bends, but at least we weren't travelling along steep cliffs leading down to the sea. We drove between acres of olive fields
Though sometimes these gave way to the wilder forests of the national park.
When we reached Peschici, we were dismayed to find the bus stopped well outside the town, and we had a 15 minute walk to get to the centre. It was quite steeply downhill, so I didn't look forward to our return.
Peschici is a little smaller than Vieste, and is perched on top of a rocky vantage point above a beautiful sandy bay. The houses are piled on top of one another in a jumble, which makes the streets hard to navigate.
It was built in AD971 as a defence against the Saracens, and there are remains from that time.
This is the entranced to the walled centre of the town. The historic centre is full of a labyrinth of narrow streets, normally full of shops and restaurants; but today, everything was shut.
The streets were steep and the wider ones were paved with marble slabs, though the narrow ones were ankle-turning cobbles.
We had hoped to be able to see the 10th century castle, but it was shut too. After stumbling over the cobbles for a long time, and navigating some very steep stairs, we came out on the road above the lovely bay.
As you can see, we were still a considerable distance above the beach. We continued walking, hoping to find a way down, but we were so far above the beach that, in the end, we just contented ourselves with the lovely views.
This was the charming little harbour. As you can see, there were sets of steps going down, but many of them led to private houses and it wasn't possible to tell except by going down. And if it was somebody's house, you would have to come all the way up again.
We clambered up and down for well over an hour, and never managed to get down to the beach. Eventually, we settled for going back to the modern town for something to eat and drink, and to go back to the bus stop. Once again, the bus arrived at a time that was not advertised, and we went back to Vieste to collapse onto our beds in a state of exhaustion.
This is the last real day of our holiday, the rest is travel towards home. Tomorrow we have to be up by 6 as we are being driven to Foggia to catch a train. It appears we will spend 10 hours in trains and end up in Turin - as long as there isn't flooding on the line!
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