Tweep Meet In Torremaggiore - Day 1

Torremaggiore

Last Saturday saw us have our third 'tweep meet' with

our 'Twitter daughter' Amy & her BF and

this time we were meeting them on their 'home turf',

Torremaggiore. After throwing a few things into

an overnight bag, leaving Cupcake enough bowls of

dried catfood dotted around the terrace, we set off

on the 3 hour drive into Puglia.

Amy had kindly booked us into B&B Al Castello, literally 

a very short walk from Il Castello Ducale. There's been a

castle on the site since the 11th century, but the

present structure dates back to the 1300's.

Amy & F were busy until 6 pm, then texted us

as they walked up to the B&B before taking us for a coffee -

what else does one do when meeting up in Italy?

Coffee for me, Jasmine tea for hubby

After coffee & a passeggiata, it was arranged that F would
pick us up at 8.40 pm to drive us to Il Ritrovo da Matteo
in San Paolo, where we had the biggest table full of
antipasti - meats, mozzarella, parmigiana, formaggio,
bruschetta, focaccia & more, all washed down
with water & vino rosso, of course.....

Hubby, F & Amy

Il Ritrovo was heaving within minutes of our arrival & nearly
every table was ordering the antipasti - the tradition of eating
a HUGE lunch then only 'light bites' in the evening
is well & truly adhered to in Puglia.

Prendi Un Caffè?

Coffee on the terrace at Il Sogno

I gave up drinking coffee several years ago - I needed 2 teaspoons of

sugar in it, whether it be cup or mug, so I cut it out completely.

On our second house hunting trip to Italy in April 2010, 

I turned down the offer of a coffee from 

Maria at the Agency & opted for a Ginseng - usually sweet enough 

without the need for any sugar.

An Illy coffee in Ravello

But since we moved here permanently, I decided to give

'real' coffee a try.....and I like it!

In fact, I'd go so far as to say I love it -

I now so get where the Italians are coming from

with their 'caffeine fix'

An Illy cup but maybe a Portioli coffee, who can be sure?

A Walk In Santa Maria

November, and we time our afternoon passeggiata for early 

afternoon now that the sunset begins at 4.30 pm. 

Nearly all the bars & restaurants are 'in Feria' - 

taking a well earned break after the summer hiatus, 

before the Christmas season & Notte Bianca is upon us.

It's like walking through a ghost town...

Marina Piccola

A stroll along a deserted Marina Piccola takes us to 

Lungomare Tommaso Perrotti, where we can see Capri, the Amalfi
coast & Punta Licosa

Capri & the Sorrento Peninsular across the Gulf of Salerno

Capri & the Amalfi coast

View to Monte Licosa & Punta Licosa

Only one boat in port this afternoon

We then turn back & walk round to Porte delle Gatte, which reminds us that Santa Maria is still a fishing port

Leave your fishing nets

Just hanging

And walk towards Punta dell'Inferno to stand & watch the sea
awhile before heading back home

November seas

First Pick

Until we rented Villa Caterina in October 2010, 

http://cilentofairytales.blogspot.it/2013/10/villa-caterina.html

I'd never even thought about having a mandarin tree in the garden.

However, there was one in the garden of Il Cenito 

(Villa Caterina stands in the grounds) & 

Caterina had told us we could pick fruit from it

as we wished. So whenever I went to hang 

out the washing, I'd pick a couple of mandarins for

the fruit bowl. 

Mandy, our mandarin tree (yes, our trees have names)

Once Caterina realised this she promptly sent her gardener round 

to pick all of the fruit from the tree - lesson learned: never

believe anything a southern Italian tells you, they 

rarely mean it.

Il Sogno already had a peach tree, a couple of nectarines

& a persimmon, but no mandarin, so the purchase

of Mandy in 2011 was made with considerable excitement.

She's only about a metre tall but this year's

fruit are looking good.

And today, a couple were ready for picking....

so we did.

Lest We Forget

So today's the day we remember the fallen who gave their lives for us.....

but what about those others who lost their lives for us.....

those like my maternal grandfather who only

'joined up' because he was unemployed, was sent to

the front line, promptly captured by the Germans & 

spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

He gave his life for us; he came back after the war a broken man.

I remember he would spend every winter 'on the sick', 

permanently in bed with bronchitis - he'd made so many

attempts at escaping from the POW camp,

the Germans had taken his clothes away.

But although they broke his health, they never broke his spirit.

On his doctor's advice, my grandfather took early retirement

at the age of 64 on the grounds of ill health.

He died six weeks before his 65th birthday.

Today, I will remember my 'fallen' war hero - 

Thomas Clayton.

Daybreak

4 am in November

At this time of year it is always dark when I get up.

No matter how early it is, I always welcome the opportunity to

watch a new day dawning, so today I thought I'd share it with you.

6 am skies above Paradiso

Clear skies above Il Mulino

6.35 am and the skies above the Amalfi coast are blushed with rosy hues

7.12 am & golden rays highlight the mountain

At 7.31 am the sun is just about to breach the mountain

One minute later it comes into view

My favourite moment of this morning's dawn

November

Somewhere over the rainbow(s)

November is traditionally the wettest month of the year here; 

back in November 2009 when hubby & I made our

first joint house hunting trip we arrived in 20+ degrees 

& brilliant sunshine - we were not to see the sun again

for 10 days.

Sunshine & showers

But for the past 2 years, we've not had those November rains - in 

fact, they've been very mild & we've even been able to go to the 

beach for the afternoon in summer attire (not quite bikini 

weather, but wearing a short skirt & t-shirt in November is still somewhat a novelty).

November showers in the Gulf of Salerno

However, those mild Novembers have both been followed

by harsh winters; 2010/11 was the first time we saw

snow on Il Molare, above the Amalfi coast, & that was

something we had not expected to see -  Amalfi's a

sunshine destination! And we had snow on the

mountains close by but not actually on Leila's Mountain.

Then last winter was the coldest for 40 years & we DID

get snow at Il Sogno.

February 2013 & we have snow!

 This first week of November has been mixed so far - Friday

was very summer like & we sat at Marina Piccola with our

gelati, basking in the sun. Saturday saw a mostly

sunny day, with a shower in the afternoon that gave us

the double rainbow in my photo at the top of this blog post.

Then Monday & Tuesday were both stormy days; 

Monday's storm lasted for over 5 hours & as I sat here

on my laptop, I saw a lightning bolt strike in the back garden -

yet another 'first' for me.

A cloudy dawn sky made intense blue by sheet lightning above

There were torrential floods down in San Marco

& we've just heard from Angelo that several houses

in Giungatelle were damaged in the storms.

Maybe that means that this November will revert to

the expected pattern & winter won't be so harsh - 

here's hoping!

Beginning of a November sunset