Pootling Through Puglia

Today we crossed into the region of Puglia, 93km from our last stop. Puglia is the long strip of land 400km from north to south that makes up the 'heel' of Italy. We headed to the most northern point of the region, Gargano E Daunia, or the Gargano Promonotory, boasting some of the finest un polluted sand and see to be found anywhere on the Adriatic coast. Our first stop, Troia.

Wild Camp 32: Troia 

A pleasant spot, free dedicated camper parking with free electricity, waste water disposal and fresh water. We set up camp in a shaded corner of the car park and headed off for a walk into the town. We stopped at the tourist information office and picked up some information on the surrounding areas to help us plan our route and the next few stops. The town was fairly quiet, it looked like a local festival had just ended, as with many places in Italy, August is festival season and most towns hold their own local events to celebrate local art, music, food and drink. We've been lucky enough to stumble across a couple but unfortunately missed this one. Troia is famous for housing one of the most beautiful  Romanesque churches in the region. The cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria dell'Assunta boasts a worldwide unique 13th century rose window. Another piece of information we found out is that Troia actually means 'slut' in Italian. The locals are fairly blasé about the name of their village and believe the towns name probably has it's origins in Helen of Troy. 

The Wild Camp at Troia

 



Santa Maria dell'Assunta

Camper Parking: Zapponeta (20€)

128km north east we reach the Adriatic coast at Zapponeta. There was no wild camp here so we opted for a camper parking site instead. The cost was 20€ per night including electricity, 50 cents for a hot shower (which lasted approximately 2 minutes, no where near enough!!) and the water points were fed by sea water so no drinking or cooking with that. We took Oscar to the beach, he enjoyed running in to fetch sticks and cool down. That evening we had dinner and watched a film, music from a club nearby was playing until 3am so we were both tapping our feet until we finally managed to get to sleep. The following morning we headed to the beach around 7am before it got too hot for Oscar. Jac was clearly still half asleep as he managed to trip on the only rock on the beach and split his toe open. That afternoon we walked into the town where everything was closed for siesta apart from one bar so we stopped for a ice cream before packing up and heading off to our next stop. 

Oscar playing in the sea at Zapponeta

Jac relaxing with a beer

This dog paraded around the campsite in her pants

Wild Camp 33: Manfredonia

32km north along the Adriatic coast sheltered by the Sun Mountain we reached our next stop. A wild camp on the beach front in Manfredonia. There are 6 other campers here and we bag ourselves the last space. We took a walk along the beach with Oscar before heading to a bar opposite the wild camp to use the wifi. Eight beers and two snack plates later we left Albatross Bar. The snack plates were 2.50€ and consisted of cream cheese, brushetta, garlic sausage, a slice of pizza, a salami sandwich and a selection of puff pastry treats. Absolutely amazing! We enjoyed it so much we went back the following morning for breakfast and had croissants and tea, before walking into the town and mooching around the shops and again in the afternoon for another snack plate each before heading off to our next stop. En route to out next stop we found a stall selling pickled vegetables, oils, chillies and Taralli, a circular shaped savoury flavoured cross between a biscuit and a crisp. We bought two packets, original and pizza flavour. 

At the beach before we found the bar

The most amazing snack plate EVER

 

The wild camp at Manfredonia

The stall selling Taralli on the way to Vieste

Camper Parking: Vieste (24€)

58km north we reach Vieste. Again, no wild camp here so camper parking it is. It's pricey at 24€ per night but the showers are hot and unlimited and there's drinking water which saves us a fortune on bottled water which we seem to be going through like nobodies business at the moment. There was a small river running through the site which led down to the sea. There were lots of ducks gathered in the river, mating, which obviously Jac found fascinating although was worried about them getting to caught up in the moment and drowning. The beach was beautiful but packed. There were men pulling entire bikini stalls on their backs along the beach, a man teaching dance routines to overenthusiastic bathers and large families with their own camps set up. Oscar met lots of other dogs, including a Toy Beagle, a Beagle cross and two adorable dachshunds he was in his element. We didn't do a great deal that evening, we had dinner and watched a film ready for an early start the next day.

 

The most amazing bikini stall on the beach



Oscar made friends with these two Dachshunds

 

 

A view of Vieste on the Adriatic Coast

The Adriatic Sea

Camper Parking: Peschici (20€)

We were up and checked out by 8am, we headed up to a vantage point in the edge of the hillside overlooking a bay with an impressive archway. We took lots of photos and headed to our next stop.

 

A quiet bay in Peschici

Peschici

Another camper parking site, full to the brim. We made it to the beach to watch the sunset which was beautiful. The whole beach was lined with sun loungers and umbrellas with little room for anything else. Between Vieste and Peschici there are huge structures submerged in the sea a little way from the shore. They belong to an ancient form of fishing technique named Trabucci, which uses large platforms anchored to the rocks and ropes and pulleys. Some have been restored and three of them are now restaurants. We managed to spot one just off the coast on Peschici beach and when the sun had gone down we could see another one lit up further along the coast. The following morning we were at the beach by 6am, hoping to see the sun come up, we walked to the cliffs edge and managed to get a quiet spot to watch the sun rise. We took some pictures of the fishing towers and sunbather for a couple of hours before heading back to the camper to pack up and head off.

 

Trabucco in Peschici

Trabucco in Peschici

 

Sunrise in Peschici

 

 

An early morning sunbathing session

 

Camper Parking: Lesina Marina (20€)

93km north we reach our next spot. No wild camping so we paid 20€ for one night here. We will definitely need to up our wild camping to save some money after the amount we have spent in the last few days. Low season starts again in September meaning everything is around half the price it is in high season. Even the beer is cheaper, dropping from around 4€ to 1.50€ in low season. We walked into the town which was a hive of activity. The locals were getting ready for a mini festival, Festa Italiana. There were shopping stalls, sweets and savoury food stalls and a bar all centred around an open air stage. We wandered around the stalls selling everything from jewellery to pots and pans, there was a candy floss stall, a sweet stall, an olive stall and an enormous BBQ. We shared some BBQ pork skewers and olive oil with bread, followed by a couple of beers and a Nutella crepe before we left.

 

Camper van chores

BBQ Pork & beer at Festa Italiana

Festa Italiana