Good Friday - Drive to Puglia

We left Rome around 1 p.m. on Friday, March 21. We worked long days during the week so we could bust out early for the 4.5 hour drive down to Puglia. The drive consists of driving south until just before Napoli (Naples) and then directly east across the country to Bari (on the east coast of Italy). We were driving to Montepaolo, which is an agriturismo (bed and breakfast with a working farm) just outside of a town called Conversano.

This is Vesuvio (the volcano that erupted and buried Pompeii). We drove past on the north side of it.

On the pass after Benvento (a town), there are a series of hills that are very green and beautiful right now. It also gets some serious wind, and there were a lot of windmills.

After we passed through Bari and Conversano, we got to the small country road that our agriturismo was on. It was really pretty along the way, so we took a few photos.

My shadow with a cherry tree in bloom.

One of the beautiful fields that were bright yellow.

The road that led to the agriturismo. It fit one car. When another car came towards us, one would have to pull into the grass so that the other could pass.

Aaron in front of a cherry tree. We were wishing we were in the area during the season for cherry picking :)

A cool olive tree. The shapes of olive trees can be really amazing.

We got into our room and then checked out the grounds a little. This is the view out our balcony. We also had a nice view into the valley below.

Out in the yard they had a small chapel.

Here I am by the pool. It was covered because it is still pretty cold, but they were running the sprinklers. Can you you see them running behind me? I was thinking that I was going to get wet!

The back side of the chapel and the main building of the agriturismo. The bottom floor is the restaurant, and the rooms are up above. Do you see anyone you know in this photo?

I like this photo that Aaron took.

This is a trullo that is in the field next to the agriturismo. It is a really pretty place.

We relaxed and read in the room while we waited for dinner. Aaron was cracking up because I was laying there with my coat on and had my purple socks sticking out. He must have taken 20 pictures of me like this.

We ate most of our meals at the agriturismo restaurant. There is fixed menu that you eat. This night was antipasto of foccia with tomato and spices and some other antipasto that I don't remember, spaghetti with salmon and tomato sauce, and salmon for the main dish. Tiramisu was the dessert. It was good, and best of all, easy! We had a really nice Italian couple from Bari that arrived the same day we did, and we had a nice conversation with them. They gave us some good advice for the coming days.

Friday, March 21, 2008, Drive from Rome to Montepaolo, Conversano