South of Naples

They say that 'Northern Italy has euros but Southern Italy has soul'. It was certainly very noticeable that the south of Italy is far cheaper - for instance, who could resist a delicious Italian geleto that costs only €2 for a super double scoop in any of your favourite flavours?

In the south tourists are thinner on the ground, reminding me of a visit to Siena over 40 years ago, and having it almost to ourselves. 

Tourists clutching 'selfie sticks' were noticeably absent, but there were several delightful groups of chattering, happy, school children in the Baroque treasure trove of Lecce, one of Southern Italy's appealing cities.

A flight to Naples marked the start of our southern journey eventually ending up in what is known as 'Italy's heel'

It was hot - the sun shone brightly all day, everyday from dawn to dusk

Fine wines

and 

good

delicious food was on the menu

freshly made pasta
80% of Italy's pasta is made from the durum wheat grown in this southern region 

We visited and travelled along the coast of the Adriatic Sea

to the 

rocky spectacular Gargano peninsula with it's dramatic geological coastline of caves, grottoes, 

and deserted beaches.

Cities were explored

 and quaint hilltop towns 

An ever present feature were the brilliant colours of both the wild and cultivated flowers

and the Olive groves were laden with blossom

In the next post we discover a link to Cappadocia in  Turkey which we visited over three years ago.