28 Sep 2018 – Lecca To Gagliano del Capo

Tue: last morning walk around Lecca while PP&KK at cooking class. Plazzo delCelestini and La villa comunale

Obelisco outside the wall,  PortoNapoli, gate by the University.

PortoRudiae by SanGiovanni Battisla restorations

Artsy street –ViaGiuseppe-Libertini where I managed to find an anniversary gift for P&I’s anniversary.

Lunch with Ian@St Patrick across from our Personé B&B which do provide an decent breakfast spread.

1500hrs headed South to Gagliano del Capo. Except for the stretches in and out of the build-up areas, app 70km 1+hr drive was OK in spite of the windy conditions. Found our accommodations Dimora Sant’Elia for the next 5nights and thank goodness a foc carpark less than 1min walk away.

Bought grocery and fish at the fishmonger, both places less than 5mins walk away. Enjoyed my fried mackerel, but the others thought it to be on the fishy side, not sure what the other 2fish were, but I thought them to be on the muddy-side!

Wed: early coffee@QuartaCaffé, around the corner, so far the best coffee&fresh Cornetti I have had in Italy. This will be my regular coffee-joint for the rest of the stay here.

P&I drove the car to Avis BrindisiAirport as they were not comfortable with the bump in the tire. K&me attempted to walk to the coast but got lost, so decided to take an easy day for the laundry. All’s well that ends well, another car and we will be on the road again. Good dinner@Sudest.

Yummy 3 course meal with an excellent wine to go with it. The octopus&potatoes from the starters were the really good, and it is just a 2mins walk from our accommodations.

Thu: coffee at our usual joint with a perfect clear blue sky for driving along the coast. S Maria di Leuca, the Basilica and the lighthouse and the meeting between 2blue seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian.

Towards Marina diNovaglie on the only bridge along this drive. A walk down and up 150×2 steps. The choppy sea was churning into the cove and to the rugged cliffs, not a place to swim in spite of the clear beautiful blue water. To our horror, we saw this pregnant mother with her toddler and the father who thought it OK to climb around…

Grosse Verde

Lunch@Ristorante Il Villino, Santa Cesarea Terme – beautiful ambiance in this family-run restaurant.

Tasteful starters and a wine complimenting every bit.

Seafood linguine and for dessert, a piece home-made sinful moist rum-soaked chocolate cake to share with PP.

Built between 1894 and 1900 by the will of engineer Giovanni Pasca, Villa Sticchi is one of the most important expressions of the Moorish style.

Otranto –  imposing castle, thick perimeter walls and robust towers built after the town was liberated from the Turks in the late 15th century dominate much of the town, giving way to a small port of turquoise water.

The delightful Romanesque cathedral, dating back to 1088 and boasting extensive 12th century floor mosaics.

Fri: Corigliano d’Otranto farmers’ market with Ian looking rather tired and I am feeling the same. Could not resist getting (in spite of the long lines) some chicken wings and ribs to taste and they were delicious.

Castle in Copertino, closed! Drove thru’ Nardo, not too much to see or maybe we were not sure what to see? Easy afternoon back in the house to relax before dinner in a castle!

Quite an experience finding Castello di Ugento – having difficulties to park due to some festival in town.

Unique to be in a castle with a newly renovated a glass floor which PP refused to walk on!

https://castellodiugento.com/

Credit card problems on their side and PP pix tells it all where the patience of these 2grumpy old men are concerned 🙂

Had to get PP to stop by the lay-over to take a shot of the castle the next day! Not a good shot, but the best I can do when miles away with a camera like mine! Looked like someone from the car had fun with their iphone too 🙂 🙂

A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent – Jerome Lawrence

24 Sep 2018 – Drive From Matera To Lecca

Sat: The Church of Santa Maria di Idris, also known as Santa Maria de Idris or Madonna de Idris, is located inside the rocks. It is a cave Church, that is carved into the rock. Santa Lucia alle Malve, another cave Church and photography was not permitted in both. And these amazing frescos will not be able to survive as time goes by.

http://www.italianways.com/the-rupestrian-church-of-santa-lucia-alle-malve/

Drinks@KeivCafe and got some take-away food for later – view to the caves across the ravine. Should not have had any alcoholic drinks, especially when waking on sunny days! Had a headache the rest of the afternoon and stayed indoors 🙁

All’s well that ends well and things have a way of working out on our last supper in Matera without any betrayal kiss! A yummy and delightful evening dining outside the B&B room and did not have to walk far to the bed to get a good night sleep before driving off tomorrow.

Sun: got up bright&early to clear sky, unlike the last 2mornings where the fog did not clear until after sunrise. Had to take a walk towards St Agostino as that is the only direction we did not venture to.

In time for a beautiful sunrise – what a amazing way to give thanks for this wonderful stay. Thank you and good-bye Matera. 

The car was delivered to the BB costing EUR40 S$64 to valet park in a garage for 3nights in Matera. Headed towards the coast, Alberobello to see the trulli/conical stone huts. It was an enchanting place and another UNESCO World Heritage site. Some of these huts are found amongst the olive trees of the Valled’Itria countryside and in Alberobello there are 1,500 of them in the entire town.

Interesting huts and was also introduced here to this instrument Handpan which I heard it somewhere, but nothing like these tranquil sounds by Hunza. Bought a CD

A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Delicious fresh seafood lunch@Miramare da Michele, Torre San Sabina by the sea.

A short stop in Ostunni but was too hot to walk to the top, especially after a slight stressful mishap on one of the car tires!

Veggie dinner@ShuiWine in Lecca before retiring to our B&B@Personè

Mon: somewhere out there (Santa Maria de Idris/Matera & Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazia/Lecce) we are all under the same sky and moon. To all who are celebrating and where ever you may be – Happy Mid-autumn Festival and enjoy the Moon-cakes.

Took a short solo night walk@Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazia/Lecca for some quiet time and somehow felt this inexplicable calm serenity while praying in the square. Returned early next morning to for this card.

Lecce is a historic city with a pop app 95,766 (2015) and had a theater and an amphitheater. The Roman Amphitheatre is in Piazza Sant’Oronzo, the core of the city and no one knew of its existence until the construction of the building of the Banca d’Italia (Bank of Italy).

http://www.stayciao.com/blog/the-roman-amphitheater-in-lecce/

Duomo di Lecce; Cattedrale dell’Assunzione della Virgine (1141) with the principal entrance on the northern façade, which is considered to be a masterpiece of Baroque art.

This must be olive oil and paste heaven@Valentine. Later to discover that their prices are way above others…

Built in the 2ndCentury AD, the Roman Theatre was forgotten for a long time, covered by gardens and palaces and absorbed by the 18thCentury city, until it was rediscovered in 1929.

Also an interesting museum there – the paving rocks of the Via Appia, a reminder to the years of AppianWay in Dublin/Ireland!

 A walk out of the historic district to discover that MuseoCastromediano does open until after 1400hrs; (KK returned alone later to discover that what he wanted to see were not there!). Hot stroll along VialeFrancescoLoRe to stumble upon lovely Morrish style buildings.

Had to stop for cold refreshments outside one of the historic gates.

Back into the wall to the historic district by PortaSanBiagio

Museo Archeologico Faggiano – a private building open to the public with long historical-archaeological evidences – highly recommended if archaeology is your forte.

http://www.museofaggiano.it/en/how-was-born/

Late lunch@FratelliLaBufala – 1st course-mussels with pasta and 2nd course-shrimps& calamari, lightly breaded+one bite of dessert – decent food. Too heavy a lunch for another big meal.

A small plate of the tiniest meat balls cooked in wine sauce somewhere outdoor? with a good saxophone player and an evening stroll ended this last night in Lecce. Too dark to take pix, took another stroll to the same street the next day to capture some shots – The Teatro Paisiello and could not find a name for the other baroque building which looked like some private residence?

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness – Alexis de Tocqueville

21 Sep 2018 – OSL-FCO-BRI

Sat&Sun: needed this weekend to gather my thoughts before heading to Italy. And also feeling blessed that family+friends are all safe after HurricaneFlorence and TyphoonMangkhut.

Mon: coffee with Ingrid@Åpent Bakeri@Damplassen and a trip to Kolibri to see what they were selling for their dinner of the day. Quite pricey for the apple-chips and the dinner of the day!

Tue: lunched@Bicks before picking #6 from school. The tram to the train station to catch the AirportX. NorwegianAir OSL-FCO-OSL S$275

Snoozed on the uneventful 3+hrs flight on NorwegianAir arr into Rome-Flumicino FCO app 2130hrs. On transit in FCO for the evening.

New grounds to explore and not staying in the Hilton, just took a covered-walk there on this rainy night to kill time instead of paying for a bed for the night!

This Italy trip will be on the SE, the Puglia area around the heel on the map. Starting with Bari, will be driving towards the south towards Lecce.

Wed: checking into RyanAir bright&early was an appetizing&culinary sight with all these foods to salivate after the security-check.

Welcome back to Italy – has been a long time ago since my last visit. Soaking in the delightful coffee bars’ ambiance and the emotional Italian language ie living in the moment and going with the flow!

On schedule 45mins flight from FCO-BRI EUR25 S$40 – do not remember when I last was on RyanAir but did remember printing out my boarding pass (tkx to May) to have with me or there will be quite an expensive extra charge NOK600 S$100!!!

Met with the Puddeys who arr 2hrs later from London on BritishAir.

Picked up our rental car@Avis BRI airport, upgrading from what was provided to a bigger car to fit in all the luggage!! Quite an experience driving to the heart of the historic district where our B&B BorgoSanNicola was conveniently located next to

the BasilicaDiSanNicholas. 

Poor Ian was not feeling himself after catching some bug during their Alaska trip. PP&I did some exploring around Swabian Castle,

the historic district and watching life goes by…

Walked on the wall by the seafront to the non-historic district and for some reason, these colourful flowers got me to think of the movie The Bridges of Madison County (1995) where Francesca (played by Meryl Streep) said that she was from Bari – have wondered then where Bari was, now I know.

Tasty seafood spaghetti&risotto dinner@Frisa&Co.

Thu: was lucky to get a parking space just across the road by the sea from where we were staying costing EUR1 perhr and foc after 2030hrs – paid EUR8 total. Driving around the historic district is no fun, glad that we found the best parking spot possible.

PP&Ian got baptized by the pigeons 🙂 and I am not the only one laughing about it 🙂 🙂

Fruit shopping – small pears and fresh figs were juicy&sweet. To the airport again to pick up KK arr from CPH before continuing app 60+km south and inland to Matera.

Navigating into historic Matera was a nightmare but we managed to find our way to Al Terrazzini, our accommodations  and again in the heart of this fascinating place. Leaving the car at some garage for our stay 3nights here, phew!

Artsy ambiance – Vicolo Cieco Salsamenteria just around the corner. According to the gang, the take-away sandwiches were nothing to write home about – did not taste any, had Ian’s left over dinner earlier in the car after the nerve-wrecking drive to look for our B&B. Taste a bite of the ham with fresh figs and it was good for me.

Time for relaxing and pre-dinner drinks in the room with a view after short tropical downpour.

Dinner@RistoranteDaNico – had the PappardelleTartufo/paste with truffles and it was yummy. PP’s sausage was one of the best I have tasted, Ian’s beef was excellent, KK’s pasta was OK and all the veggie side-dishes were good.

Fri: TGIF, decent breakfast spread before exploring CittàSotterranea=UndergroundCity,  Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its historical center Sassi/Stones, is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1993.

A walk about the SassoBarisano area with much to see

Casa Noha where an interesting video – The invisible Sassi. An extraordinary journey through the history of Matera conceived by GiovanniCarrada and projected onto the walls, ceilings and floors of the rooms, offers the visitors a complete reconstruction of the history of the city from its origins to the present day. A must watch if you want to learn and understand about Matera.

Short siesta before meeting our excellent private guide EUR120 S$192, Anna-Maria who brought us down the MateraSotterranea: il Palombaro lungo – the Cathedral of Water, a large cistern under the old part of town. The water-marks are quite an art.

Duomo di Matera Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Bruna e di Sant’Eustachio – the most important city monument reopened in 2016 after 13yrs of restoration. Could see our room (even the laundry hanging out) from here – no kidding!

http://www.italianways.com/materas-wonders-the-cathedral-re-opens-to-the-public/

Casa Grotta di VIco Solitario – home-cave decorated with original furniture and tools of the time when it was inhabited.

Views from Sasso Caveoso to the caves. Battery in camera when flat, pix from iphone here and below

Dinner@RistoranteFrancesca – PP&KK had mixed grilled, Ian chose the lamb and I had the sausage paste.

The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see – Gilbert K. Chesterton… And I consider myself both a traveler and a tourist 🙂 

14 Sep 2018 – Coincidence Or Synchronicity??

Mon: landed in TOS on this beautiful blue sky with temps 24.4ºC/76ºF measured at the Meteorological Institute. This is the highest temp ever measured here so late in the year. Tkx to Claire for meeting me@the airport after an uneventful 1hr45mins flight from OSL.

http://norwaytoday.info/news/new-heat-record-tromso/

Could not have asked for better weather – this is the 1st time I have seen so little snow on Tromsdalstinden. Sitting in Claire’s living room, totally mesmerized with memories of this similar views from TOS days in the 1960s&70s.

The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go – John Muir

Stein in the meanwhile (since we last met 2yrs ago) has given up his regular 9-5 job and has turned fishman – good for him and for our fresh seafood dinner.

Tue: bus26 to the Fjellheisen hoping to get up to Fløya by the 1000hrs cable-car and walking down. Huffda/alamak it was closed for maintenance and this was not stated when I checked online last night!

Change of plans and decided to find this famous Sherpas’ Steps from the cable-car station to discover that it was quite a walk to get to the first step…

https://www.visitnorway.com/media/news-from-norway/norwegian-mountain-trails-are-being-built-in-record-time-by-sherpas-from-nepal/

By the time I got to the first step, I knew that it would have been unwise to attempt those 1,000steps up and another 1,000 down again with no water or food (was planning to get some snacks&drinks@Fløya), in addition, having to rush back to make dinner.

The beautiful views from the first step was a good place to give some thoughts for all who lost their life on this day 9/11 17yrs ago.

Also a time for reflecting on all the blessings in life.

A slow walk down and headed back to town following the roads away from Fjellheisen  which will lead to me the church to cross the bridge. As I was soaking the in the views, I heard someone calling my name and looking around to see that there was no one on the roads but me, turned to see where the voice was from! Did not even know that Nils&Guro live here. Tkx for tea, Guro and last time I saw her was at least 10yrs ago! How coincident can this be, not so alamak/huffda afterall!

Down to the church, under&over the bridge and into town.

Yummy fish-soup for lunch@Dragøy with this 90kg Halibut, but just the head was there for display (to later discover that it was Stein’s catch of the day!). Shopping@Vinmonopolet@Nerstranda. Of course sherry is a must for me to cook with, especially now that I do not drink 🙂

A stroll thru’ town as the blue sky appeared.

Great to catch up with Hazel&Richard who are just back from their 6months stay in Ireland. Discovered this local Mack brew Ginger Beer – actually made from apple juice, flavoured with ginger, probably considered a kind of cider (alcohol% 3.75% – 4.75%), liked it.

Made Chinese-steamed fresh fish from Stein’s catch and a fusion shrimp wild-rice dish.

Wed: tkx to Stein for driving me to Pedersens Bakery which was in town many moons ago but now is relocated away from town on Ringveien, north of the island. Ordered 5Napoleonskake for tomorrow lunch as they are Ellen’s favourite and bought Grønn Genser=GreenSweater (light sponge with cream, apricot, vanilla cream&walnuts covered with a thin layer of green marzipan) for today as it is my favourite from this bakery.

https://www.pedersen-bakeri.no/kaker/

Got to see Claire&Stein’s cute boat while in the area. Just can not get enough of the nature here – even a simple natural stone wall to my eyes is amazingly beautiful.

On the way to Kvaløya from the airport and poor Morten had to stop the car as I could not resist taking all these pix  and with him surrounded by Tromsøpalme.

towards the mainland+TOS and the opposite direction towards Ersfjord

Edited 18Jan2019: appreciations to Morten for the above shot – trying to get shots towards Ersfjord

Tkx to Laila&Morten for yummy Bokna (half-dried cod, special for N Norway)+fresh produce&potatoes from their own garden@Kvaløya where they have an old charming farm (now converted to present-day living) app 45mins drive from town.

Great to catch up with Magnus&Ellisiv.

Thu: appreciations to Cathrine for delicious smoked-salmon lunch@her lovely home with Ellen, Nils and Sanna. Glad to see Ellen enjoying her food+Napoleonskake.

Tkx to Nils for a delightful evening with Claire for the performance of Richard Tognetti and the NOSO/Nordnorsk Opera og Symfoniorkester@KulturHuset. We really enjoyed the contemporary piece, Vox amoris – Fantasia for violin&strings by Peteris Vasks. And that is unusual, as contemporary music is not my forte!

Fri: TGIF and a good weekend to all. Pix of the town in fog and preparations for the winter with their roads. Hope that the snow this winter will not be above the white-marking on the pole! Tusen takk to everyone who has taken time to catch up with me and to  Claire&Stein for putting me up and putting up with me. Flying off with a very heavy heart but hope to be back again in 2019.

10 Sep 2018 – Off Again

Sat: #6&B+MooseEgil are off to camp and I am crossing my fingers&toes for the sky to clear for them. Looking much forward to hearing about his adventures tomorrow.

The pouring rains here this early morning was getting me to rethink about going to Markedsdag@Bogstadveien but as it got to a drizzle, decided to go.

More convenient when M&B’s apt was just around the corner by the clock! But that was a couple of years ago!! Was there by 1000hrs and out by 1200n when the sky changed from grey to blue and the crowds turned up. Like walking on this street when it is closed to traffic, but must be careful not to trip on the tram-lines.

Eyeing the security guards, I would imagine that some younger females would not mind being arrested 🙂 Got my usual paella for lunch NOK100 S$16 for a bowl and had to drink gallons of water the rest of the day! Moods of Norway has gone under and Marimekko has relocated. These are the 2stores with quality merchandises I would look for good buys.

Got some decent bargains, the price of this honey has not changed NOK200 S$32 and I still prefer the honey from the berry bees, just hope that the rest of the family has the same taste! All in all spent less than NOK1,000 S$165 this time round.

https://amylamsg.com/2017/05/08/markedsdag-2017/

https://amylamsg.com/2016/09/12/markedsdag-2016/

This is the last weekend for HungryGhostMonth, paid respects@VestreGravlund to Emma (1898-1981) and JohnK Hald#3 (1923-2008) with fond memories of them who have accepted me into the family with open arms when I first met them in the 1960s and have graciously made me feel welcomed for every visit.

This must be the most interesting iron gate I have taken a pix of. The reality is actually just an ordinary lovey iron gate, but somehow both pix taken strangely turned out looking 3D like – optical illusion reminding me that things aren’t always the way they appear.

Sun: presentable presentation, food so-so, service certainly needs improvement here. The quail was on the tough side, #6 can not get enough salmon sushi and May had the tom yum seafood soup total costing NOK466 S$76. No intentions to return to this location. Movies Incredibles 2 to end a tiring day for #6

Mon: off again and this time to Tromsø for the week. 1st time@OSL airportGateC enjoying the sight&novelty of it.

The weather forecast for this coming weekend in SE Asia and SE USA do not look like there will be blue skies! But then where MotherNature is concerned, only she can decide what will really happen&when it happens. In the meanwhile, it would be wise for ppl living in these areas to take precautions.

Prevention is better than cure

Computer models indicating a monster TyphoonMangkhut to hit SE China coast area around 16Sep and HurricaneFlorence might be a threat to SC/USA.

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/florence-poised-to-become-monster-category-hurricane-and-head-toward/article_eb16f6c4-b28c-11e8-bb8f-4f6621491178.html

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less― Rick Warren 

7 Sep 2018 – Bday Month For Many

Mon: another train ride bright&early, appreciations to Roar for sending me off@Heimdal station. Another beautiful day with blue sky thru’ Dovre Mts&Gudbransdalen on this 6+hrs train ride back to OSL.

Tue: 4decades have gone by when the land of the Mid-Night Sun, now more known for the Auroras welcomed the birth of my 2nd-born! Happy 40thBday to May – Tromsø/Norway (where she was born), USA (CA,FL&NY) until her late 20s and now back in her birth-country with her partner&their 7yrs old son.

Surprised by neighbours+kids with a special apple cake+champagne bright&early – good of Bjørn to pull thru’ this one, she has voiced that she will be having a crazy day with work and will not be celebrating the actual day. Mexican take-out dinner by request of the Bday girl – Cielito (pix downloaded), good food, but would have been better eating there, especially for the nachos which were on the soggy side when consumed as take-away.

Made a blueberry pie and the only time I do so is when I can pick wild blueberries and when I can get Norwegain Tina unsalted butter and fresh cream, otherwise the taste is not how I like it. Forgot to take pix this time round! The last time I baked one was in 2011 and this one is similar and tasted just as good.

https://amylamsg.com/2011/07/25/not-the-norway/

Wed: 7yrs ago, was blessed with my youngest #6 grandchild. Today, am still blessed and he is an adorable 2nd Grader who manages to communicate both in Norwegian&English. Happy 7th Bday Olai, who was so excited that he was awake at the crack of dawn. His latest favourite snack, homemade apple chips and this is a good year for apples. Even I who is not a fan of dried fruits like them.

The magnets of the 50 USA states I have been collecting over the years were well-received, was afraid that he might find them boring. Believe it or not, request for his Bday dinner was salmon sushi from Alex Sushi (pix downloaded). So while I made Bourbon Salmon for the us, he had take-away salmon sushi.

Thu: #6 Bday party and boys will be boys – with 11 of them in a small space, best to be not too near 🙂 Glad that all the paper-wear mailed in Jun have been received in good condition – considering the cost to mail them from the US!!! Fun time was had by all with music from Cubby Chucker’s Limbo&Twist – good job from M&B.

https://amylamsg.com/2018/06/23/summer-solstice-2018/

New game received – La cucarache (Spanish), Kakerlakak (Norwegian) – not sure how this Cockroach board game got translated to Bugs In The Kitchen. And guess who is the cutest bug in this Norwegian kitchen 🙂

According to #6, this shuttling Hexbug might be too quick for an older person like me and he might be right – lol

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age ― Sophia Loren

Fri: TGIF and and good weekend to all. Looks like MooseEgil is back for a revisit! It must have enjoyed its time with us so much last year. Started the revisit shopping and having dinner@Storo Storsenter. Tkx to May for dinner@BambusSushiNoodles. That boy sure likes salmon sushi!

https://amylamsg.com/2017/09/04/a-first-grader/

People Who Know How To Pose With Sculptures – these are so clever. Tkx to Steve Reno for sharing these on FB. Hope that they have also put a smile 🙂 on your face.

The catch phrase for the day is ‘Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile – Harvey Ball

3 Sep 2018 – Around Trondheim TRD

Fri: good morning, TGIF and the last Fri for Aug with this beautiful sunrise from Byåsen.

Started the day on the 1100hrs boat to Munkholmen, a small island of 13acres which lies app 15mins by boat outside Trondheim center. 1st time on this island and could not have asked for a more beautiful day on the fjord and a walking around the island is FOC.