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  • Day 358

    Day 359: East to Apulia

    February 8, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Time to hit the road again! Left the apartment around 9am, grabbed a train to the central station and then the bus out to the airport. Yep, it's rental car time again!

    Pick up was a bit frustrating, because although we got through the paperwork quickly, the lady said to just wait out the front and they'd bring the car around. So we waited, and waited, and waited. The staff were of course just chatting away. Eventually I went over and enquired politely about which clown was running the circus, and was given the car. The car itself is fine (a Renault Captur), but the damage report had literally nothing marked on it! Three of the four wheel rims were heavily scratched, both mirrors had scratches, and three of the four corners of the car had scrapes on them as well. And the inside stunk of cigarettes, but there's not much I can do about that.

    Finally we were away, facing a long drive across the mountains to the south-east coast. Mostly freeway, and the drive was nice enough. Stopped at McDonalds for lunch since it's honestly just the easiest option when you're on a road trip. Italian restaurants and cafes aren't really set up for people driving past, you're more expected to sit down and take your time which can be really frustrating. So burgers it was.

    After about 3.5 hours of driving (and a 20 euro tollway charge!) we arrived at our apartment in Alberobello, south east of Bari, on the heel of the Italian boot. This area is famous for "trullo" houses - limestone houses with conical roof shapes and pinnacles. We're staying in a modern-ish one, attached to a newly built house. Our host wasn't around but her non-English-speaking mother welcomed us and showed us around. She thought I could speak Italian, but I got the gist of most of it - it's amazing how much even with zero effort you can learn just by immersion within a month or so.

    Tired from the long drive, we made a quick run to the supermarket for dinner and then stayed in for the rest of the afternoon/evening. We're staying on the edge of town, and will have a full day exploring tomorrow.
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