On the Wednesday before our week in Puglia, Mr Cooper and I got on the train, and descended upon the Historic Dockyards again. This time, we had refined our visit to an hour or so on HMS Warrior, followed by a harbour cruise.
I love The Warrior, especially the fact that you can wander around her at will. And the weather was beautiful, what better way to spend a Wednesday morning?
Whilst we were on deck, we heard the sound of a brass band playing, and getting nearer.
The brass band was on the deck of HMS Argus, a big Naval hospital ship as she returned to Portsmouth from Africa.
Nobody was waving from this vessel, they were all standing to attention on the decks.
It is sometimes easy to overlook the importance of Portsmouth as a Naval base, but not when you are standing on HMS Warrior, witnessing this spectacle.
After that it was time to join the harbour tour, but not before taking an artistic shot of me in my holiday dungarees, and my amazing holiday crocs. After years of being dissuaded to buy a pair by my loving sons (they kept pointing out the type of women who were wearing crocs) I decided to break out, and join the ranks of middle-aged croc wearers. Retro turquoise, what a treat!
There are two things that are really good about a harbour tour. One is, that it is very informative about all the ships that are in dock. The other is that it then goes over to Gunwharf Quay, where you can alight for a spot of lunch, and a little light purchasing (today, a lightweight green waterproof jacket, to match my holiday shorts. The last item needed for my Puglia wardrobe)
Friday saw us back on another train, this time heading for London Victoria, and from there to London City Airport, to stay overnight in the Travelodge nearby.
The view from our window was of the runway. It was fascinating to watch an assortment of jets and passenger planes land and take off, one side of the runway being a stretch of water, the other a busy road. Quite a surreal setting.
And on Saturday morning, we discovered what a great airport nestles in this surreal setting. Minimum queueing and fuss, a good choice of breakfast, and a small but perfectly formed range of shops.
And, when you take off, the ascent is so steep, and the view of London, so spectacular.
Onwards to Rome, then aboard another Air Italia plane to Brindisi, then into the hired cars to the very bottom of Puglia, to a village called Torre Vado. We were too late to stock up at the supermarket on the way down, and I must admit, as Mr Cooper and I sat in the back of car number one, admirably driven by Rachael, we were both envisaging an evening where there was either black tea, tap water or gin on offer, full stop.
After an hour and a half driving through the darkness, we arrived in Torre Vado at 9 pm, to find two shops still open, full of amazing fruits, cheeses, wines, bread etc. Gone were the thoughts of a slightly miserable evening as we bought provisions for that evening and the next morning.
The villa was amazing, and the most beautiful accommodation I have stayed in. We didn't fully appreciate this though till the morning. The villa was on three layers, with many little stairs connecting various terraces. The only time we were actually in the villa was to cook and to sleep. The rest was spent on the large terrace overlooking the olive groves leading down to the sea, or sitting in the outside dining area, doing the same as darkness fell.
Plus add to that the infinity pool, and we were all getting very excited about the week ahead.
The four youngest members of the party were mainly pool-based during the day, with the odd beach excursion added to this.
Of the four older members left, two opted for a combination of sight-seeing, pool and beach, and the other couple opted for beach and local bar. Can you guess which couple we were?
Below is a picture of Mr Cooper engaged in one of our favourite holiday pastimes. Lunch, with beach either side of it. (For me, always squid, salad and grilled vegetable, and for both of us, always beer)
And here is the local beach, expertly taken by me standing waist deep in the Mediterranean, what a hardship! It was a very small beach, but as it was not in the school holiday period, there were really us and a few locals there. So, here began 6 days of a combination of sunbathing, swimming, reading and lunch, with quite a bit of dozing included.
The beach art was fascinating. Mr Cooper and I thought it seemed to say that visiting Torre Vado will ensure your have a really big erection…….
And if you have to go to the loo on the sand, somebody will be there to clear it up for you.
We thought we were really funny, but apparently we were not, we were very silly and childish.
Well, another thing we have in common then.
What with swimming and dozing, I did manage to slow down my reading. Always a good point, as I had only four books with me. Of the two I completed, this was my favourite.
On this holiday, there were 4 people all aged between 30-34, 3 more, parents of 3 of them all being 62. And me. And, at the tender age of 53, I was a bit surprised to be lumped in a group called 'the oldies'. Hang on, my shorts are bright green, my crocs turquoise, my toe nails bright blue……….this was not an accurate description of me, surely?
But the above book which follows several generations of the same family, so tenderly describes aspects of growing old, and also the perception the young have of the old. At the bottom of this blog I am including an optional to read passage from the book that I found so moving.*
And as well as reading, I spent a little time each day sewing ready for the 'memory cushions' project.
Here I am with John and Sam again, but now fixed onto fabric, with blue beads
and embroidery stitches suggesting the sea.
And in the evenings we had our own 'Couples Come Dine With Me', after a jolly good gin.
Bruschetta, risotto, tonne e fagioli, melon with prosciutto, and they were only some of the starters!
As the only thing we hadn't eaten by Friday evening was a pizza, we went out to a pizza restaurant in the southernmost town of Leuca.
'Would you bring us a selection of starters?' Werner asked, as we were deciding which pizza to have.
Well, after carpaccio di tonne, octopus and potato stew, tuna tartare, seafood salad, mixed fried fish, fresh anchovies, mussels with a broad bean puree and deep fried cheese and olive balls, we were not quite so ready for the brilliant pizzas they gave us. But we munched manfully and womanfully on, till we were completely fully.
Then we drove back to the villa for the last night, too full, and so sad to be leaving.
Here is the final photograph I took on Saturday morning, before we left for Brindisi airport.
And yes, the sea really was that blue. But what the photo does not show is that it is also 35 degrees C!
As well as being surrounded by olive trees on the hill where we stayed, when we drove to Brindisi, this time in the daylight, we found that almost the whole countryside was planted with olive trees.
So I will end with a lovely painting which was hanging in our bedroom.
We had a lovely week in Puglia, full of lovely things; our fellow holiday-makers, amazing food, long lunches, beautiful beaches and swimming in the Mediterranean sea. And always, the backdrop to all these happenings were the olive trees with their twisted trunks and leaves both dark and silvery.
Well, back to work tomorrow, and back to rain today!
At least we can look forward to planning our next holiday, whilst now eating mainly fruit and salads.
I hope you all have a good week ahead filled with sunshine as well as rain, and I will see you all again soon. Till then, have fun with waterproofs and umbrellas!
* 'Abby had a little trick that she used any time Red acted like a cranky old codger. She reminded herself of the day she had fallen in love with him. "It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon," she would begin, and it would all come back to her - the newness of it, the whole new world magically opening before her at the moment when she first realized that this person that she'd barely noticed all these years was, in fact, a treasure. He was perfect, was how she'd put it to herself. And then that clear-eyed, calm-faced boy would shine forth from Red's sags and wrinkles, from his crumpled eyelids and hollowed cheeks and the two deep crevices bracketing his mouth and just his general obtuseness, his stubbornness, his infuriating belief that simple cold logic could solve all of life's problems, and she would feel unspeakably lucky to have ended up with him.'
No comments:
Post a Comment