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**Sorry about that…I didn’t realize the pictures didn’t properly upload. They are all there now!

Amazing!

Really truly amazing…I can’t even begin to describe our days here. The experience of living in a true Italian town, where we found only one person who spoke English, was awesome. I don’t know if I can put it into words but I will try. And the pictures should help.
We stayed in an apartment somewhere in the middle of other residences. I say somewhere because we walked down several alleys and took many turns before getting there. 
This was our view from one of the bedroom windows. There was a goat farm down towards the bottom right. We saw them leave every day, led by one of two men and several dogs. A few “escaped” from their mountain one day and a man on a scooter herded them back to the farm.

A little church was down the way from us. They had mass there the following Saturday night.
 
Part of the castle, while we were on our way to dinner the first night.

The wine area at Il Trapetto, the restaurant we had dinner at the first night. We had just learned how to ask for a recommendation in Italian so we did just that. 
Olive oil made right in the town where we were. I’m not sure how much more fresh or natural you can get.

What the server recommended. The didn’t have pizza but these sandwich subs were cooked in the brick oven. The half-eaten one was mozzarella, tomato, and prosciutto, while the other was a different type of cheese and peppered bacon.

One of many glasses of wine from several bottles. This one was a regional wine from the area we were in, Puglia. 

My breakfast everyday for 5 days – homemade croissant, a delicious Cappucino, small shot of water and fresh juice, either an orange juice mix or a berry mix. It was so delicious.

We took a drive to the Foresta Umbra. The city of Peschici is in the background.

Peschici
Zaiana Beach, where we spent one of our days. 

I brought along my Casbah print bandeau one piece and everyone else was wearing a bikini. I’m talking everyone. It didn’t matter their age or size. I felt a little self-conscious and out-of-place in my one-piece, if that’s even possible. I shall, from now on, always bring two swimsuits…a one-piece and a bikini. I enjoyed myself anyway. It was hard not to.

We ate at the restaurant on this cliff after the beach day. Those are poles to hold the fishing nets to catch fresh fish daily for the restaurant. 
My fresh catch of the day. 
This was also a great place to watch the sunset. 
This was our lunch most days. Our first full day there was a market that
comes every two weeks. We found fresh meats, cheeses, breads, fruit and
honey. I could eat this for lunch daily. The fruit was so delicious.
The Boy could not stop talking about it, or eating it.
We had a washing machine and an “air dryer”. 

L’Orto del Conte – We had dinner here the last two nights of our stay. Loved the view.

Risotto with prawns and clams
 On our drive to another beach we came across a few goats.
 The clock tower at the City Hall that told me the time every 15 minutes. I miss it already.
I hope to get my other photos organized this week. We had a wonderful time relaxing. 
Off to our last stay tomorrow, in Matera. 
Ciao!

/ TravelBella

We flew from Madrid to Rome on Easy Jet without any issues. We took the Express train to Termini station and walked a few blocks to our hotel, Welrome.

Rome has so much to see you can’t do it all, no matter how much time you have. We had time for dinner, suggested by our hotel host, and to walk around for a little while before calling it a night. The following day we bought a two-day pass for the 110 Bus, which is a red, double-decker bus, with the top open. It tours through the city and has stops at the bigger sight-seeing places – The Colesium, The Trevi Fountain, The Vatican and St. Peter’s and The Spanish Steps. We were given disposable headphones and plugged in to the audio on the bus that described the places we were seeing.
Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain.
Then we were off to The Colesium.
We then walked to the San Pietro in Vincoli Basilica, where there was Moses carved by Michaelangelo. There also just happened to be a random original Raphael painting in the tiny gift shop. My camera battery ran out just as I was going to take a picture. And that made me a little sad as our last stop was the Spanish Steps, which was a great people watching place.
The next day we went to The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. (The Boy is in a J Crew Irish Linen Shirt.)
We saw the Vittorio Emanuel Monument during our bus ride the day before and The Boy wanted to check it out. It was truly cool. It holds the tomb of The Unknown Soldier, always guarded by Carabinieri, and the Eternal Flame burns there as well. You can pay to take an elevator ride to the very top for an amazing panoramic view of Rome.
St. Peter’s is in the background on the right.
My favorite picture of The Boy, with The Colesium in the background.
We had a great time in Rome but were ready to relax and “live” in a smaller place, away from the hustle-and-bustle of the big city. Off to Vico del Gargano in the morning.
Ciao!

/ TravelBella

After having a delicious chocolate croissant, cappuccino, and fresh orange juice for breakfast we were ready for a long day of touring Madrid.

The Triton Fountain…we stayed half a block up from here.
Bull Fight – We were attending a bull fight that evening and our server from La Mucca the night before suggested doing a tour of the plaza/arena so we understood what went on during the event. I won’t go into detail but I will say it was an interesting experience and something I’m glad we did. The “costumes” the Matadors and Picadors wear are beautiful. The Matadors have to be in shape because the outfits are so tight they leave nothing to the imagination. They need to have great butts too!
The Plaza del Toros
One of the statues outside the arena
Inside the arena
The Royal Box…sadly this stayed empty the night we attended.
The arrival of the Matadors.
Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid – This was the highlight of Madrid for The Boy. The only thing that would have topped it would have been going to a game in the stadium. There are several self-guided tours daily through the stadium, down to the players seats and into one of the dressing areas.
One happy boy teenager
While searching for the ticket place to pick up our bull fight tickets we accidentally found ourselves in the high-end shopping district, or my version of Heaven. YSL, Prada, Max Mara, Michael Kors were among the few stores I saw. To top it off there was some street art that was nothing but decorated shoes! They lined the streets, up and down several blocks. I took as many pictures as I could of them.
How gorgeous is this Prada dress?
After a full day we were ready for bed. We were headed to Rome in the morning. For the day we bought a single day metro pass and took that every where. It was much easier than trying to figure out which bus to take or have the expense of taking a cab. We took the Express bus to and from the airport.
Ciao! Off to Rome in the morning!
/ TravelBella

As much as you may want your travels, especially abroad, to go smoothly you should expect a hiccup to your plans. After getting through airport security within 5 minutes, I should have been prepared for a problem. Our flights were originally from Austin to Charlotte to Madrid, with an expected arrival time around 7 a.m. Unfortunately, our plane landed on time in Austin but with a hydraulic issue! The mechanic tried his best to fix the issue so no one missed their connecting flight in Charlotte, NC but was unable to do so.

While still in Austin, we were re-booked from Charlotte to Frankfurt (!) to Madrid. I prepared myself for little sleep and a long travel day. But, I forgot to prep The Boy. Oops. He was antsy and anxious and didn’t sleep at all making for a very tired, grumpy teenager who was also STARVING.
I lived in Germany over 30 years ago and when we arrived I searched my brain to remember what I could of the language. Luckily the greetings and please and thank you came quickly. Another delay, albeit slight, and we were finally off to Madrid.
After arriving almost 10 hours after our original arrival time we were only able to muster up enough energy to find a place to eat and take a walk after dinner. We ended up passing on the Flamenco show as we were exhausted.
Where we stayed…
Cute Flamenco shoes were above the bed on the wall. Each room has different shoes.
Where we ate the first night. We could have eaten the appetizer plate alone and been full but we ordered a pizza as well.
More shoes – I found a Flamenco shoe store while walking around the first evening.
That was our Day 1-ish. I’m just happy we arrived safely to our destination.