dinsdag 5 augustus 2014

Italian adventures

I love Italy, the food, the language, the beaches, the weather, the architecture and the people. I've been to Italy four times already and ever time we go to a different part of Italy and you see a whole new Italy. This time, we went a couple hours south of Rome to the coast. Not a very wealthy part of Italy, but still very beautiful and the food is good anywhere you go. 

The first week we had a little house, on top of a hill on the west coast of Italy, with beautiful surroundings. Our house was close to a little idyllic Italian town, with busy beaches and an even busier shopping street. The weather was great most of the time, although one night we had a huge thunderstorm and it just poured down. Though I've got to say, it was pretty amazing to watch the storm while we were sitting in the car in the harbour. Driving home over the streets that became rivers is a different story. 

In the harbour
From the cape 
During the first week we also visited an archaeological site, kind of like a little Pompeii, called Paestum. Compared to Pompeii it was very small and there were not a whole lot of buildings still standing. But the buildings that were still there were big and in good condition. 
Paestum

Paestum
Paestum
A little break, while we were on the road
The second week we stayed on the east coast, and a one minute walk from the beach. The area had way more towns around it than the first spot we stayed. So a lot of the time we were wandering through cute Italian towns, shopping and eating Italian food pretty much all day long. 
Brindisi, though it kinda looks like LA

On the beach

In the area that we stayed they have these buildings called ''trulli'', they are house build without cement or anything of that kind. The reason for this is that when the king came to visit, the landgraves had to pay taxes per house that was on their land. So one of the graves came up with the idea to build without cement so when the king came they could quickly break down all the houses and build them up again after the king was gone. Especially in Alberobello there are still a lot of these ''trulli'', two whole neighbourhoods full. 
Alberobello
Alberobello
We also went to a little town called Matera, where you can see a whole bunch of old cave houses and the town its self, which is partly build in the rocks as well. It's a nice town, but also a whole work out to walk to the top of the town, though the view you get is worth it.
Matera
Old cave houses in Matera
So now I'm back in the Netherlands from Italy to spend some time with family and friends here since about two days, but not for long, because tomorrow I'm taking of to Switserland! I spend two weeks with my family in southern Italy, laying on the beach and getting tanned, but now it's time to unpack and quickly pack again and I'm of for my next trip.