Apart from the circling thunder storm and some rain we enjoyed our evening in Morano Calabro. There was one motorhome beside us when we went to bed and two when we awoke. Not very Italian of them to park beside us and not make a racket. Today is a driving day, but we may as well have a look at Morano Calabro as we are here.
We walk across the park, behind the sosta to find the Church of St Maddalena. Itโs all locked up. So we continue on.
It doesnโt take long to work out everything in Morano Calabro is either up hill or down. By up or down I mean steps.
More steps…
Finally as we near the top of the town we find the Church DellโAnnunziata. Itโs open so we pop in for a look.
The church has been beautifully maintained, we note the lovely flowers and presume there may have been a wedding or baptism yesterday.
Behind the church and another 20 steps we finally make the Castello Normanno. Originally a Roman outpost, the town was founded in the 2nd century BC. The castello reached it peak in the mid 15th century, before slowly going into decline.
The castello provides some wonderful views across the old town…
…and the valley below.
The castello also provides some shade, half comfortable chairs and some breeze.
We make our way back down through town to the Hymer.
We have some breakfast and ready the Hymer for departure. Making our way down the hill, we turn back onto the freeway for 20 kilometres before turning for the SS 106, the coast road circling the Gulf of Taranto. The instep of the boot of Italy.
An old fire tender makes its way to a grass fire further up the road. Has a bit of a lean as you can see, so left hand turns would be risky.
The hours slip by as does the province of Basilicata and we enter the province of Puglia. We stop for a late lunch on the waterfront in Taranto.
Grottaglie, Puglia, Italy
Finally we arrive in Grottaglie, itโs slightly out of our way, but the parking is free here. The parking attendant points to the corner. (This photo was taken the next morning.)
Once the sun has set we take a walk to stretch our legs. Apparently famous for its ceramic, Grottaglie must have 20 ceramic shops full of all sorts of colourful stuff that would not survive long in the Hymer on these roads.
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