Most of you know we have a very shy, nocturnal, committed to Olivia cat named Sport. A few of you have glimpsed her black form dashing for cover. But even I have rarely seen her being playful! Since Olivia has been off on this European tour Sport has come out more and I caught her being a normal cat the other morning. I was so shocked I had to get it on film for posterity! And now, I present, our "other" cat, Ms. Sport...

Some of the Sights We Saw In The South

Tiled dome

close-up

Gate

Bicycle sign on side of busy road.

Another city gate.

These beautiful buildings used to be alongside train tracks. They were rest stops for the travelers who would disembark and have a nice meal here before traveling on. The tracks have long since been moved so this building is on it's own.

A nice picnic after a long morning of wine tasting.

Rick flying one of his models. Unfortunately, another model took a turn in a thermal and never returned. It was sad to watch it fly away but Rick is already at work on the plans to replace it.

One of the many towers along the Adriatic coast.

Leaving Paradise...

Rick

Sue

Cath

Gary...at work on his phone. It was a busy weekend for him and his phone.

A trip across to the Ionian coast. Very sandy and popular.

Weekend Getaway to the South

We stayed in the coast town of Castro, Italy. It was breathtaking. Our hotel, the Piccalo Mundo, was right on the hillside. Multi-leveled. Not handicap accessible. Here is a shot of Rick and our friend Gary walking from the front desk down to the pool level.

Another one of my lovely olive oil pots!

A view outside our cabin of the boats just off shore.

Looking along the cliff wall to the south of our hotel. This is the Adriatic you are looking at.

And to the north. There are various towns dotting the landscape but the coast is rough and rocky. There are numerous grottos, caves, at sea level and so there are numerous tour boats near to shore to check them out.

Lovely gate near our cabin.

The salt water pool at the hotel. What a treat to float here. They use salt instead of chlorine to keep the pool clean.

Dinner at the hotel the first night. Fantastic view but we were all praying for a breeze because the temperatures were still close to triple digits!

Our dinner companions, wine guides and neat friends, Gary and Cath.

Our menu for the evening. We walked away so full!

Near our cabin was a lovely chapel constructed from local rock and surrounded by the lovely flowering bushes.

A view of the morning fishing fleet!

Th bacci court! We kept saying we were going to have a tournament but it was always too hot! Behind the court there was a carved staircase that would take you directly down to the ocean many meters below. Rick and Gary went down for a swim the last morning. They said the water was warm and they never touched ground because it was so deep at the diving in spot. There was a ladder attached to the rock wall to climb out.

Cactus! You see! I told you it was hot! But it is so pretty!

A close up of the happy couple just before departure.

What a nice weekend getaway!

Wine Travels in the South

Rick and I hooked up with our friends, Gary and Cath, and traveled down south to do some wine tasting. We went to the region of Manduria where they grow a primativo grape (zinfandel in the US) and they make fantastic wines. When traveling in the south you must remember that everything closes by 1 p.m. on Saturday and doesn't open again until Monday. Our time was limited! First stop Friday: Due Palme! We got there just at one and they would only let us buy wine, not sample it since they were undoubtedly in a hurry to get home for lunch. So, that is what we did. Good choices!

Saturday we went to Consorzio Produttori Vini. We arrived about 11:30 but they had so much to see that we lingered to enjoy the tasting and the displays. Here are some old olive oil jugs similar to the one I recently acquired in Grottaglie.

Rick next to a cask of 2009 primativo.

The old fashioned way of making wine...

The new hi-tech way of distributing it! Yes, these look like gas stations. Wine by quantity is sold this way. You pump your purchase into plastic jugs! Very practical.

And very popular. While we were waiting to sample wine the shop ladies were busy, busy, busy filling the plastic jugs. Obviously the wine is less expensive when sold this way but just as tasty. The large container on the right of the picture holds 30 liters. The guy who was having it filled told me he doesn't drink it all at one time....sure!

More jugs waiting to be filled at the pump.

We decided to do things the old fashioned way and sampled our wine choices and came away with a few cases.

Pottery Trip

Sometimes I feel like this picture of a guy that was painted on a wall in Grottaglie...especially on a day like the one I was having there. It was super hot and if there was ice cream, cold water or a swimming pool on the other side of the painting then I would have been doing the same as he and trying to get to the other side!

Grottaglie is known for it's pottery. Here is another cool painting on the side of a building.

This is Cath, my companion in the search for the perfect olive oil jug. We had to take refuge in a bar (remember that in Italy a bar serves coffee and light beverages) to escape the heat. Iced cold water never tasted so good!

Acquisition complete. Back at home and holding court in the corner for the time being. It is really waiting for a return to Kent to go next to the fireplace.

Zucchini Parmigiana, Cannelloni, and a Beautiful Sunset

When the girls are away we have friends that take care of us. Monday night it was Cath and Gary and a delicious bbq pork roast and Tuesday night it was Jim and Amory with a cooking class and dinner on their roof. Doesn't this look like a relaxed couple? A little wine, a lot of air conditioning and some good food.

Rick preparing the zucchini strips for the zucchini parmigiana.

Amory adding the mozzarella and sauce.

Can't forget the parmigiana! And Mara's secret bread crumb mixture.

The cannelloni were stuffed with ricotta, shredded zucchini, spices and parmigiana.

Amory's homemade sauce.

More parmigiana....

The roof of their apartment has a fabulous view of the sea.

The results just before they were devoured!

Rick, Amory and Jim. Jim's brother joined us shortly after this was taken.

Sandy, ever watchful!

Sunset over the bay in Bisceglie