It’s good to be on the mainland and in search of new adventures in Italy. After our quiet night in the sosta by the beach we found a penny supermarket and stocked up. Moving a meer 20 minutes down the road to another beach. We were parked up for the night with four german campers. The stunning beach deserted at this time of year apart from stray cats and dogs. The germans feeding the cats whilst we feed the dogs. Not skinny they get feed ok, we think. Friday we decided to go inland for a change of scenery and headed to a national park called Bosco delle Pianelle. The drive there took us through the town of Massafra. Looking more like an arab style town than an Italian one. It kind of stands out against the old italian ones we have been seeing . As you drive in and out of the town, white stone walls line the edges and the surrounding farms. As we drove to the national park we climbed up above the hugely flat lands below. Arriving at the visitors centre we parked up and asked if we could stay. The guy spoke good english and said no problem. So after we settled in we decided to go for a little hike. We started off down a well signed path and met one of the workers there. He suggested we do a circuit out to the trulli house and a little further to the panoramic view. Following 1a, 1c and 1b tracks as suggested, he said it was well sign posted. It was supposed to be a 3.8 mile circuit. We started off good finding the first path and signs, took a slight detour out to a road and back. Found the trulli and the view-point, then it started to go pear-shaped. The trulli was only partially standing but still our first that we would see over the coming days. The view point was worth the extra couple of minutes. But the weather decided to start raining as we turned to come back. We are known for getting lost, as we have done nearly every time we go on a hike. The guy had told us 1b linked around so we decided to head back, by continuing the circuit. Not only was this more exposed than the previous trail, it seemed to go further and deeper into the park with no sign posts in the direction we were going. We just had to carry on. The trails we had walked on, all showed signs of wild animals digging up something. I had visions of wild boar charging out at us as we attempted to navigate out of the park. Finally we found a path that came out at 3, not 1a,b, or c. Making it back to the van we think we ended up doing about 5 miles + (around 8km +). The night was fairly quiet parked up by ourselves and this morning we decided to go to Locorotondo. Known as one of the prettiest towns in Italy. The drive there was filled with trullis for miles. Nearly every house had trulli attached or built with that style. Pointed round roof’s ,with what looks like little crosses on the top. Locorotondo is beautiful the little streets with the archways. The little alcoves and white stone buildings. Stunning balconies, like you see in the movies with flower boxes. The historic centre in a huge circle. It’s where Locorotondo gets its name. After Locus rotundus, circular place. It dates back to the 12 century and it visually stunning as you drive up from below. We parked by the football stadium and its only a short walk to the centre. Later today we will move on to a place on my bucket list Alberobello to see the trulli villages. Before we head to the coast once again.
Wanderlust Craddocks 