• Ella Balagula
  • Igor Balagula
  • Ella Balagula
  • Igor Balagula

South of Italy 2021

A bit of Rome, Puglia (heel of the boot) and the Amalfi coast Baca lagi
  • Permulaan perjalanan
    9 Oktober 2021

    Rome

    8 Oktober 2021, Vatican City ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We landed in Rome, rented a car and went directly to Vatican. We had an appt to see the Sistine Chapel. The chapel was as incredible as I imagined. Another amazing surprise was just how huge and breathtaking Vatican museum is that leads to the chapel. Incredible Rafael fresco rooms and a huge hallway of medieval maps. We rented audio guide but it was long and not very engaging. Instead we should have listened to Rick Steve’s guide on his app.Baca lagi

  • Tivoli - Hadrian’s Villa

    9 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We had breakfast in our B&B and then went to visit Roman Villa Hadrian’s. The villa is from 1 century AD and was the residence of the emperor Adrian. It is absolutely massive and is probably the most extensive well preserved Roman ruins that i have ever seen. The audio guide was very well organized and the sites are incredible so we spent over 2 hrs there.Baca lagi

  • Drive from Tivoli to Matera

    9 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We drove South to Matera which took about 4 hrs. Matera is a city of houses that are built in and around the limestone and sandstone caves. We stayed in Hotel Belvedere which is a traditional cave house with stunning views over the city. Food in Matera did not impress. We have dinner at the Soul Kitchen and joked that it should be called Salt Kitchen.Baca lagi

  • Matera park tour

    11 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    In the afternoon we took a tour with two Paleolithic researchers who drove us to the part of the park that is on private land and showed us many signs of the Stone Age people, such as carved stones. We also saw mode all church carved in the rock - there are 200 churches like that in the area!Baca lagi

  • Alberobello evening

    11 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    In the evening we drove south to Alberobello - the city of “trulli” which are cone shaped houses. Not pictured is a road adventure where our car ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere and we were helped by the nicest Italian family - and all without a word of English!
    We stayed in a traditional trulli, which felt and looked like a hobbit house! We had an amazing dinner of traditional occhiorette pasta and steak with pitching mushrooms.
    Baca lagi

  • Locorotondo

    12 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We drove to nearby Locorotondo which is a sparkling white town on a hill. We walked around and had delicious lunch of steak tartar with burrata and another rendition of oriacheta

  • Ostuni

    12 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We then continued our drive further south and stopped quickly at Ostuni, another sparkling white city, before driving to the heart of Puglia to Lecce.

  • Lecce

    13 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Lecce is a beautiful Baroque town and we took a 2 hr tour in the morning where we saw many baroque churches with incredible rich detail. As with most Italian places, there are layers of history in Lecce and there is a Roman amphitheater underneath the city, partially excavated. We then took a good of Jewish quarter and Jewish museum, which opened only a few years ago, showing rich and forgotten history of the once flourishing Jewish population in Lecce. We then had delicious lunch at Coccina Mamma Elvira - fish and pasta with porcini mushrooms. And we also had local pastries filled with custard - super rich and yummy!Baca lagi

  • Positano and Amalfi

    14 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We drove from Lecce to Positano, breaking the 6 hrs drive with an overnight stop. In the morning, we drove 1.5 hrs and arrived to Positano. After a quick cappuccino and admiring a stunning view from our balcony in Villa Nettuno, we met our driver for the day. Parking and driving along Amalfi coast is quite an affair, so we had a driver take us around the major sights. We stopped by at the Emerald Grotto and took a quick boat tour in the grotto fo see incredible light that sun shines through the underwater tunnel. Then we drove to Amalfi where we visited the cathedral and museum of paper in the medieval paper mill. We even tried our hand at making paper!Baca lagi

  • Ravello

    14 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We drove to Ravello and visited beautiful Villa Rufulo where there are music concerts and festivals in the summer. We then went to villa Cimbrone which is actually a hotel where many celebrities used to stay, Greta Garbo and the likes. But the gardens are open to the public and are stunning, especially the famous Infinity Terrace.Baca lagi

  • Positano

    15 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Today we had delicious breakfast at Casa Bottega and then walked down to Positano pier and beach, to take a ferry to Capri. The weather was a bit cold and windy, unusually so for October, but the wind started to calm down.Baca lagi

  • Capri

    15 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We took a ferry to Capri, admiring amazing views at every corner of the ride. Capri is known as a glamorous island but it also had beautiful landscape. We took a bus to Anacapri, another small town higher up on the island and then took a chairlift up to Mont Solaro for the most incredible views.Baca lagi

  • Evening in Positano

    15 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We came back to Positano, watched glorious sunset from our balcony and had dinner at Da Vincenzo. We loved it so much that we had dinner at the same place all 3 nights that we were at Positano! Incredible home cooking and they knew us, greeting me “Ella!” every time.Baca lagi

  • Walk of the Gods

    16 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today we hiked one of the worlds most famous hikes - Path of the Gods. We took a bus to Amalfi, from there a bus to Bomerano and then walked about 6 km back to Positano. This hike has some of the best views that I have ever seen and no pictures can do them justice.Baca lagi

  • Napoli

    17 Oktober 2021, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    In the morning we drove 1.5 hrs to Napoli where we took a great Airbnb experience tour and then went to Napoli Roman Archeological museum with the best collection of Roman statues and mosaics, mostly from the Pompei excavations. We listened to Rick Steve’s tour of the museum and then did 1.5 hrs walk by Rick Steve’s as well. I fell in love with Napoli - you can definitely feel the grit, and it’s famous Memento Vivi zest for life. We then had amazing pizza in the Pizzeria Da Michelle, made famous by the movie Eat Pray Love.Baca lagi

    Tamat perjalanan
    18 Oktober 2021