Day 3, Monday October 13, 2014
Today we make our way to Hotel Seggio in Vieste on the Gargano Peninsula (the spur on the boot) with a stop at Tivoli to visit Hadrian's Villa.
Our first stop of the day was at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. When Hadrian was emperor in the 2nd century AD, he had this villa constructed as a retreat to get away from the stress of living in Rome. The villa was constructed on 250 acres and consisted of 30 buildings. Much of the villa is remains unexcavated. During the later years of Hadrian's reign, he lived in the villa permanently with a large court of people. Many marble statues of Antinous have been discovered. Antinous was Hadrian's deified lover. Hadrian's Villa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We arrived in Vieste late in the day in time for a quick look around town and our group dinner.
Our first stop of the day was at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. When Hadrian was emperor in the 2nd century AD, he had this villa constructed as a retreat to get away from the stress of living in Rome. The villa was constructed on 250 acres and consisted of 30 buildings. Much of the villa is remains unexcavated. During the later years of Hadrian's reign, he lived in the villa permanently with a large court of people. Many marble statues of Antinous have been discovered. Antinous was Hadrian's deified lover. Hadrian's Villa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We arrived in Vieste late in the day in time for a quick look around town and our group dinner.
Pictures of Hadrian's Villa.
Pictures of Vieste and group dinner.
Day 4, Tuesday October 14, 2014
Today we walked to the harbor for a boat ride. After that we had a pasta-making demo and lunch together. The day ended with free time afternoon and dinner on our own in the evening.
This morning we took a boat ride to see the grottos eroded by the sea. We had a great view of Vieste with the white limestone cliffs from the water. Along the shore are fishing platforms called trabucchi. They used enormous nets to haul in the fish. Each platform could feed a family of four with fish left over to sell to the village. It was an impressive boat ride and the grottos were unexpectedly beautiful.
We got back from the boat ride in time for a cooking demonstration on making different types of pasta by hand. The cooks were very adept at making the various pasta and it was very interesting. The best part was eating the pasta after the demo. Yummy!
After the cooking demonstration and lunch we had free time to wander around Vieste and take in the sights. We wandered around the town and took a walk on the beach before heading to dinner for some seafood. At dinner, we met a couple of people who were very interesting to talk to. One individual was from Germany and the other from Russia.
This morning we took a boat ride to see the grottos eroded by the sea. We had a great view of Vieste with the white limestone cliffs from the water. Along the shore are fishing platforms called trabucchi. They used enormous nets to haul in the fish. Each platform could feed a family of four with fish left over to sell to the village. It was an impressive boat ride and the grottos were unexpectedly beautiful.
We got back from the boat ride in time for a cooking demonstration on making different types of pasta by hand. The cooks were very adept at making the various pasta and it was very interesting. The best part was eating the pasta after the demo. Yummy!
After the cooking demonstration and lunch we had free time to wander around Vieste and take in the sights. We wandered around the town and took a walk on the beach before heading to dinner for some seafood. At dinner, we met a couple of people who were very interesting to talk to. One individual was from Germany and the other from Russia.
Pictures of boat ride.
Pictures of Cooking demonstration and lunch.
Pictures of free time and dinner.
Tomorrow we make a stop at Alberobello to visit "trulli" houses and sample some local wine, meats and cheeses. We then continue on to Matera, our final destination for today.