Cool weather in southern Italy, roads like in Cuba...

The winter sleep mode unfortunately lasted a bit. Not necessarily at the campgrounds, but at the weather (we don't know what is more pleasant...).

We continued our journey on 06.04.2023 towards Bolsena lake (north of Rome). On the way there, we visited the town of Pitigliano. A town built on a tuff stone hill, still located in the region of Tuscany. A beautiful, but also very touristy town. We liked the town with its narrow and small streets very much, but we were surprised that people still live there.

At Bolsena lake, we had a campground that was no longer in hibernation. Heidi was able to take a shower again. Bolsena, a small pretty town by the lake and we had warmer temperatures again. We got overconfident and wanted to sleep in the upper compartment of our Oski again. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the coldest nights we have experienced in Italy so far. In the morning it was a pleasant 2 degrees. The fried eggs from Bognau revived our spirits and we continued on to the waterfalls 'Cascata delle Marmore' (Umbria). Thanks to lucky weather, we were not alone there. However, we were not quite the first in the morning - rather the last in the afternoon. It was still worth it. And since it was Good Friday, there was naturally a vegetarian dinner (we still enjoyed the wine).

Easter Saturday started very damp and cold and unfortunately did not end differently. On the way to L'Aquila (Abruzzo), we were surprised by snow-covered roads, not so cool with summer tires. L'Aquila is a small town that was hit by the earthquake in 2008, which resulted in busy construction activity. It would have been really nice if it had been a bit warmer (we had about 5 degrees) and so we continued towards the Adriatic Sea, to Pianella. We stayed overnight at an agricampeggio with an in-house brewery and we were allowed to taste the range of beers. We would have liked to stay one more night, but the weather drew us further south to Vieste.

On Easter Sunday, after a short stop in the beautiful town of Termoli, the rain stopped and we drove optimistically to Vieste. On the drive, we saw the incredible colors of the Adriatic for the first time and settled into one of the few open campgrounds (even over Easter, this place is very sleepy). The campground was great, right by the sea and pretty quiet. For dinner, we had a tortellini gratin. And since Chregu (Heidi's brother) gave us a snuff tin for the journey, we took the opportunity for an Easter snuff. We still don't know if Heidi's family at home joined in...

But on Easter Monday, we were awakened by a thunderstorm in the morning. Reto - our weather frog - predicted that it should stop raining after 11:00 am, so we got ready to visit Vieste. True Swiss people are of course equipped and yes, we took our rain jackets with us. Unfortunately, we still needed them. But it got warmer and cleared up, and Reto was able to launch the drone.

On 11.04.2023, we wanted to leave early, we visited Bari (a port city on the Adriatic), which Heidi already visited with the women's group on a cruise (anno 2010). But before that, we drove along the coast a bit. Here too, the Adriatic showed itself in its most beautiful colors. The city of Bari is very touristy, unfortunately, we were once again not the first in the morning. Rather the last in the afternoon... But even in Italy, there is park & ride and we made use of it. But we don't know if we had to pay for the bus - we only paid for the parking lot. Bari was beautiful, but we haven't been really happy in the cities very often.

We chose a campground near the trullo villages. So that we can be among the first to visit in the morning.

On Wednesday, 12.04.2023, we visited the trullo villages. These round houses are mainly found in Apulia and provide good protection from the summer heat (if you were to live in them). Beautiful and unique. After that, we headed to Ostuni, the white city. The roads in southern Italy are very challenging. We sometimes feel like we are in Cuba. Holes in the middle of the highways, it requires a lot of attention and foresight. Ostuni is very touristy, but also beautiful. Currently, we are at an agricampeggio in Borgagne (almost by the sea). In the next few days, we will continue towards Manduria. A famous wine region - suits us :-)