35km covered at an average of 29kmph.... :D
Up to a typically Italian breakfast, resplendant with sweet items and a lovely gentleman waiting on us patiently. Sadly the clouds hvae rolled in overnight, and we patiently wait out a few heavy showers before concluding the only option is to don waterproofs and cutoffs and make a play, or we're going to run out of daylight hours before reaching our intended destination 100km away. Flying on sugar high, we roll down into town to catch up with our newest friends at the local shop, Angiolina having taken a special interest in our adventure. Coffee number two in the American bar, and despite the increasing showers and encouragment from all present in the shop to stay another night in the town of Lagonegro, we somehow find ourselves on the downhill out of town, amidst the thunderclaps and lightening zigzaging across the skies. I'm cruising along with a massive smile on my face as the wind whips through my hair, and the thunder competes with the traffic noise, but Hazel is none too impressed by the giant lorries squeezing past as we fly down the hills to the coast.
We stop for coffee at the usual service station that has become our habit in Italy, and once out of the rain decide that stopping for the day is probably safer than continuing in the storm. We roll into the little seaside town of Praia a Mare however it seems that perhaps our decision was a little premature as it seems that everything has, once again, shut up for the winter!! We finally find a lovely beach front hotel that continues to offer accomodation to Italian workers and German skydivers (?!?!). We drag our wet and miserable selves up to our room to discover, to mine and Ali's delight that we have a sea view and are separated from the sand by a quiet road and a sparsely tree-lined foot path.
I continue to be enthralled by the storm, and watch in delight as the fronts roll in from the west across the sea. The light show is spectacular and I am in awe at the myriad of colours of the sea and sky in its various stages of weather. Ali and I attempt to capture this with limited success, and even Hazel is drawn from the bed to count the time between thunder and lightening in an attempt to gauge the distance of the storm. We wander out during a pause in Mother Nature's proceedings for a lovely evening stroll along the beach, and fix ourselves a hearty meal of gnocchi, which sadly marks the end of our hotel cooking adventures as the gas runs out before we can make the second course!!
Its another early night to bed with big plans for tomorrow, and I think I could safely say one of my favourite days of the trip!!
Up to a typically Italian breakfast, resplendant with sweet items and a lovely gentleman waiting on us patiently. Sadly the clouds hvae rolled in overnight, and we patiently wait out a few heavy showers before concluding the only option is to don waterproofs and cutoffs and make a play, or we're going to run out of daylight hours before reaching our intended destination 100km away. Flying on sugar high, we roll down into town to catch up with our newest friends at the local shop, Angiolina having taken a special interest in our adventure. Coffee number two in the American bar, and despite the increasing showers and encouragment from all present in the shop to stay another night in the town of Lagonegro, we somehow find ourselves on the downhill out of town, amidst the thunderclaps and lightening zigzaging across the skies. I'm cruising along with a massive smile on my face as the wind whips through my hair, and the thunder competes with the traffic noise, but Hazel is none too impressed by the giant lorries squeezing past as we fly down the hills to the coast.
We stop for coffee at the usual service station that has become our habit in Italy, and once out of the rain decide that stopping for the day is probably safer than continuing in the storm. We roll into the little seaside town of Praia a Mare however it seems that perhaps our decision was a little premature as it seems that everything has, once again, shut up for the winter!! We finally find a lovely beach front hotel that continues to offer accomodation to Italian workers and German skydivers (?!?!). We drag our wet and miserable selves up to our room to discover, to mine and Ali's delight that we have a sea view and are separated from the sand by a quiet road and a sparsely tree-lined foot path.
I continue to be enthralled by the storm, and watch in delight as the fronts roll in from the west across the sea. The light show is spectacular and I am in awe at the myriad of colours of the sea and sky in its various stages of weather. Ali and I attempt to capture this with limited success, and even Hazel is drawn from the bed to count the time between thunder and lightening in an attempt to gauge the distance of the storm. We wander out during a pause in Mother Nature's proceedings for a lovely evening stroll along the beach, and fix ourselves a hearty meal of gnocchi, which sadly marks the end of our hotel cooking adventures as the gas runs out before we can make the second course!!
Its another early night to bed with big plans for tomorrow, and I think I could safely say one of my favourite days of the trip!!
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