The Unassuming South East Coast

Yesterday we drove from Italy's 'spur' to a little town called Alberbello. The spur was not a planned destination for us, but i found a campsite there that was open (which has been a problem as of late) that looked like it had an amazing beach, so we went. It was a huge resort campsite right on the beach, and it was almost deserted so we had a choice spot. It was so nice to be on the ocean; although it would be nice to be in a bit busier atmosphere to meet people.

The drive south along the coast of the spur was absolutely breathtaking. The two towns close to us were Peschici and Vieste, and they were stunning; white washed, built up all on hills, and overlooking the ocean. The drive to Alberbello from the south of Vieste rivaled any I have ever seen as far as beautiful coastline is concerned. If you are lucky enough to have seen most of Italy I would absolutely recommend visiting this area for something a little quieter and undiscovered by tourists. I should mention that this area has plenty of hotels, campgrounds and services, as Italians vacation there in the summer.

On our drive south near Bari we encountered our first Italian prostitutes. These women are on the most random outskirts roads far away from any city centre just chilling at pull offs or the side of the road. We were very confused by them at first, especially the group of women wearing bikinis waving stop signs, but I looked it up and apparently prostitution is very legal here. Who knew.

The town of Alberbello and area surrounding it have these little homes made of stones called Trulli houses. They look quite quaint and are unique to this area. We camped near here and the campground had a pool and real toilets. It was a treat.

Except for two days in a hostel in Munich, we have camped every single night for almost 3 weeks now (one night sleeping in our car). It's an interesting life and very different from how we camp in Canada. Back home I would scoff at paying for a site or staying somewhere with showers and real toilets and wifi. Now when we get those things I am so happy. I don't think I will look at the people in provincial sites back home the same now; They just have a different agenda than I normally do.
For the past 4 nights our air mattress had had a leak. We found one for sale but it was €50... and as we don't know how much longer we will be camping for we held off on buying it. The longer the Micra lasts and the more we continue to camp the more I regret not buying it. Camping supplies, as most things here in Italy, even food sometimes, are not easy to come by because we don't know where to go or how to ask. The farther south east we go the more we notice a language barrier and a much longer siesta (where everything is closed mid day).

I think we have a pretty big adventure ahead of us in the next couple days.

Gen