Day 71 & 72 Thursday & Friday 26th - 27th October 2023 - Gargano National Park - Vieste
Spent just under an hour there and then back on the road, the isthmus of land contained, but the salt flats turned into fertile wetlands, and a number of vegetable patches under cultivation. As we got closer to the Gargano Peninsula, we started to climb hills, which turned into mountains and more tunnels ! This part of the drive became very scenic, although slow due to the winding roads. National Park, forests and steep drops down to beaches every now and then.
We arrived in Vieste at around 13:30 and after refuelling the car. drove out to our accommodation for the next two nights, Agristourismo Azzarone, a farm stay on a working olive farm and vineyard. We thought we would try something completely different from the Centro Storico towns ! They also have a restaurant on site serving up products they have either produced on the farm, or that are local to the area. Luckily the restaurant was open the night we arrived, so didn't take too much to convince us to indulge, even though we had just been to the supermarket and purchased some chicken and salad we were going to cook and prepare in our room. Our room has a terrace kitchen so chicken is now on the menu for tomorrow night.
First off, fresh bread with olive oil and dried tomatoes, the olive oil is so nice and a product of the farm. The bread didn't last long before we asked for more. Main course we shared a orecchiette pomodoro, and grilled lamb chops and baked potatoes - Yum Yum. Sweets - tiramisu and molten chocolate cake and icecream. It is up there as one of the best meals we have had this trip ! Graeme had some Montepulciano, a red wine made onsite as well which was very delicious - and all reasonable priced.
Next morning (Friday) we arrived back at the restaurant for our 8euro breakfast. Home made cakes, croissants with jam, eggs and crispy prosciutto, coffees, fresh fruit, juice and more bread ! Wow - didn't need lunch!
After breakfast we headed back into Vieste and explored the old town and coast. Vieste is very much a summer holiday destination, with numerous camps and holiday villages all around the town. They, along with a lot of shops and businesses are closed leading up to winter, so our walk around the old area, encountered more buildings having refurbishment and repair work done on them then many actually open for business. This didn't worry us at all and in fact made walking around a whole lot easier without crowds. At many vantage points high up around the perimeter walls of the town, we were able to view both the newer town's white sandy beach and in the other direction the open ocean.
In the afternoon we drove out to the Umbria Forest in the national park and walked a trail for just under 2 hours. It was a very peaceful and enjoyable walk through the forest listening to the wind rushing through the treetops. So now, back at the olive farm to update our blog, cook our dinner and look forward to breakfast tomorrow morning. We should add being out in the country side makes for a very quiet night for sleeping.
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