Here we are in downtown Mosonmagyaróvár in Hungary, with 350 dentists and a population less than Bury St Edmunds. After Cathy's dental treatment we had to take it a bit quiet for a few days and this is just the place to do it.
However, we did spot a Circus and it was very well done. Lots of animals that looked well cared for doing short stints in the big top - including camels, zeebras, lions, elephants etc.
They also did some high wire acts and a nearly incomprehensible 'funny' act with involved a lot of hitting and kicking up the backside.
A long day driving across Austria saw us in Italy. The place we wanted to stay was closed so a bit of a struggle to find an alternative in the Italian Alps. However, we found Gemona, overlooking the plain, it had many old buildings but suffered from an earthquake in the 1970's. the picture shows a large and impressive statue outside the restored church.
Our next stop was Ravenna, which had a wonderful center, full of 5th century churches with incredibly detailed mosaics.
We had a bit of a mix up at a pasticceria, where we ended up walking out. However, we then found a pleasantly relaxed bar, outside of the core tourist area, where we found our essential food groups - Spritz for Mike and coffee gratina for Cathy
The next day after a run around the park where we had spent the night, we set off for Gubbio.
Th is is a beautiful medieval town, full of white buildings, small streets and lots of steps. A simple snack of pasta and gnochi, washed down with a bottle of the local Umbrian white wine made sure that all was well with the world. As was our camper stop, which was one we had first visited in 'Swifty' nearly 10 years ago.
Gubbio is great for food but as Cathy's teeth were still not happy we decided to move on to Spoleto - or 'Splot' as it became known. The carpark/camper stop was near a main road, had little shade and was dirty. , it was close to the town and we wandered up the steep streets to the center to be greeted by an old car display by the Duomo - could not resist taking a photo of this pair.
We had a very nice lunch at silly prices but in the shade overlooking the Cathedral, it was worth it.
Later that day after some interesting failed attempts at getting a parking place we managed to find a spot in a small hill village close to Spoleto as we wanted to go back and spend more time in the town, but didn't want to spend time in the dusty car park.
Cathy's supper mostly consisted of various tablets but we were getting to the end of these, so hopefully things would improve over the next few days.
Back in Spoleto we had a lovely time visiting some of the less popular places and just soaking up the atmosphere.
After the day in Splot we drove up into the mountains into the hidden valley of Castelluccio di norcia which was over 1400 meters above sea level with a temperature drop from 27 to 11 in the afternoon and soon going at least as low as 4 C in a strong breeze.
We were not aware that we had to drive through the epicenter of the 2016 earthquake but saw many villages with most of their buildings badly damaged and rows of neat, well kept temporary accommodation. In this area we kept finding buildings damaged or closed by the earthquake.
We made our way out of the higher hills (lots of sharp bends and slow roads) to the town of Ascoli Piceno, which had Roman, and medieval many baroque churches. We had lunch in a quaint shop/restaurant which served the classic fried stuffed olives. Good job we got in when we did as about 50 people arrived from a design conference that was being hosted by the local University. It was also a great place for a Spritz and aparetivo.
We now headed south and towards the cost to a Lesina, which is based on a shallow lagoon famous for its eels. However, where we stayed had a small shack that also did rather nice durade. As can be seen by these before and after pictures ...
The area we were is is the Gargano national park - a bit of North Puglia that sticks out into the Adriatic with very few roads and little development. We struggled on to Pescihici, where we again found ourselves in a charming setting with crashing seas within earshot and a short stroll from our Van
Cathy's radar rejected a few candidate restaurants but homed into one that overlooked the bay and provided an excellent, fresh seafood risotto.
Having had the excesses of a lunch out the evening meal was a little less exotic:
The next day, with Cathy feeling much better as her teeth healed we set off on a long journey to Lecce. Beautiful, empty, winding roads to get out of the Gargano penisula followed by a long flat industrial sprawl all the the way to Bari.
I want to go to Splot
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