Destination: Ponte Nina
I had a wonderful sleep and was woken at 5:30 the following morning by the most glorious sunrise streaming through the front of my TentBox. It had been such a great decision to leave the porch door rolled up!
Honestly it’d be worth staying at Camping Colombia purely to be woken this way, it was incredible!
I got out of my TentBox to take some pictures, and noticed that Giovanni was already up and about, and looked like he was heading out.
He came over to say his cheerios and presented me with a quite unexpected and lovely gift. We’d chatted briefly about the local wine the night before, and he’d brough me a bottle, so thoughtful! I’d had such a lovely albeit short stay in Montegiordano Marina, the coastline was beautiful and the people were incredibly kind.
Another place that is due a return visit for sure.
My plan for today was to head up the Adriatic coast, taking in a couple of interesting towns on the way.
Stop 1: Matera
My first destination was to be the city of Matera which hosts a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Atlhough Matera the city is quite modern, there are parts of it that are ancient, having been based on the site of a prehistoric settlement. I was particularly interested to see the ‘Sassi de Matera‘ which includes the ancient town and areas of cave dwellings, dating from the Paleolithic era. This makes Matera one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, and certainly the oldest in Italy.
The drive from Montegiordano Marina was easy enough. So when I arrived on the outskirts of Matera, I was completely unprepared for what was about to happen next. This is a warning to anyone in a large vehicle … do not attempt to drive through the ‘old town’ under any circumstances!
I would 100% advise finding some parking outside of the old town and taking a walking tour. Trust me on this, I really wish I had known to do this before I arrived, because once you’re in it there’s no turning back.
You don’t get much of a clue before you drive into the maze of ancient cobbled streets lined on both sides by tall unforgiving buildings. As the ever narrowing passageways were built for small carts and foot traffic they are not really suitable for modern vehicles. The entrance to the old town is via a very tight one way street that brings you very suddenly to the ZTL point. As there is no way to turn round or back out, if the ZTL is active, you are in a bit of a pickle!
Unfortunately I was so flustered by this and the flashing ZTL signs, I didn’t realise that my video was not recording. So apologies for my lack of visuals on this, you’ll just have to take my word for it being totally worth the anxiety, or alternatively search on YouTube for videos like this one.
It is absolutely amazing and every bit as mind blowing as it looks on the many online videos and articles! The ancient town has been really well preserved, and if I’m honest I can’t believe they allow any traffic at all. And the cave system I had wanted to see was very clearly visible as I picked my way through the tiny streets. I just wish I had organised myself better, and got out of the car to enjoy it fully.
Next time … definitely.
Stop 2: The Green Highway
Having navigated my way out of Matera I headed for the coast. After a quick pitstop in Bari, to stretch my legs and get some air, I was soon back on the road again. I had a long drive up to my overnight stop and wanted to make some headway so decided to cut out some of my preplanned stops.
But it was very warm, and the road seemed to just go on forever. Before long I started to feel a bit tired so I pulled over at a car park on the side of the coastal road. Walking down from the car park, towards the small beach of Spaggia Casarza, I made an amazing discovery … The Green Highway!
The Italian name for the route is the Via Verde. It’s a cycling and walking trail that also hosts biodiversity projects along 42km of the Adriatic coast.
I was stunned I’d never even heard of it before I accidentally stumbled upon it, what a great initiative! It was absolutely teeming with life, there were birds, bugs and insects all around, and right on cue some cute little lizards appeared at my feet.
They were so quick, I was very happy that I managed to snap one of them before they both scurried back into the undergrowth.
According to the info point, the area is home to the Common Kingfisher. Although they typically fish freshwater, they are a common sight on this part of the Adriatic coast and are known to dive into the sea. Although I didn’t see any Kingfishers myself, I was really happy to see they are being protected, as I wasn’t sure what the local fishermen thought of them.
Seafood is very popular in Italy, I suspect due to the huge amount of coastline. The Abruzzo region is particularly well known for the ‘Trabucco‘, wooden structures like little huts on stilts built for fishing in the sea. There are many of them on this part of the Adriatic coast and I had seen quite a few of them as I’d made my way north.
Overnight: Camping Village Fontana Marina
Soon back on the road again heading further up the Adriatic coast to my overnight stop just outside of Ponte Nina. I was struck on this part of my journey about the sheer volume of olive groves that had been planted along the roadside. They defnitely outnumbered the vineyards, which was quite surprising to me.
Unfortunately as I headed north, I began to lose the sun and by the time I got to the campsite it was quite dull and drizzly. Camping Village Fontana Marina was another Pitchup booking. It was really easy to find and to check in and it wasn’t long before I found my pitch.
The gravel touring pitches were level and not a bad size, but not very private. Disconcertingly, there was a couple eating dinner staring directly out of their window into my TentBox. At this point I was glad I could zip the windows half way and still get some natural light.
I decided to have a wander round the rest of the campsite, which was really well provisioned. It seemed to cater more for Italian families wanting holiday rentals but the touring facilities were also good.
Next up, I had a wander to the beach, which could be reached by an odd little tunnel from the campsite that went under the main road. Despite the grey skies, it was a tonic just to walk along the beach barefoot listening to the waves gently break upon the shore.
Heading back to the TentBox I had a nice chat with an Austrian guy camped next to me before the rain started coming down quite heavily. We quickly jumped into our respective tents and said goodnight before the worst of it hit.
Thankfully I’d decided to put the raincovers on, so I stayed warm and dry all night long!
