Vieste

Before my first tour, I worried that the bus rides between destinations would be tedious. That’s not at all the case. You’ll be stopping for a break every two hours, sometimes for some great food, and you'll make lots of interesting side trips along the way.

You will have an experienced, safe driver at the wheel of your roomy, comfortable bus. Unlike other tour groups we came across (close enough to touch on these narrow mountain roads), you will not have a person in every seat as they did. Traveling like that did not look like fun. In your bus, you’ll be able to stretch out across two seats and take a nap if you like.

One such side trip was to Emperor Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. It was built in the second century. This villa was massive! Only about 10% has been uncovered so far.

Vieste is a jewel of a town where you hear very little English being spoken. It's the place where Italians go on holiday, and just one look at the beauty of the coastline explains why. The highlight of our stay here was our boat ride. Wow! What views!

There are many, many caves; and we had to duck our heads to get into some of them. But what a view from inside!

Our boat docked for a visit to one of the most unusual beaches I’ve ever seen. The “sand” was river gravel! It was like walking on a bean bag without the bag. Other beaches in Italy were much different, where the sand was more of the texture we’re used to in the states, but more grey or brown in color.

Robin and Rita were buddies, as were Natalie and I, and we had fun on the beach collecting a pebble of each color to bring home with us. I keep my little bag of pebbles safely tucked away in the corner of a kitchen drawer. Every once in a while, they'll catch my eye. I bring them out, pour them into the palm of my hand, and roll them gently through my fingers. I close my eyes, and—for just a brief moment—I’m back in Vieste.
Sigh.....
Cherished memories for a lifetime!

At the beginning of the tour, you’ll choose a “buddy” who’s not in your party, and you’ll do a buddy check before departing for each destination to insure that no one is left behind.

You will have great food on this tour! Your breakfasts and about half of your dinners are included, which gives you ample opportunity to explore on your own. Your dinners with the group will be leisurely as is the custom in Europe and will often include a variety of delightful wines.

Back at the hotel we were treated with a pasta-making demonstration and were amazed by how quickly these men whipped up five different pastas. The best part, though, was the meal we had featuring the homemade spaghetti with marinara sauce that was out of this world, orecchiette or “little ears” with broccoli leaves for a sauce, and a soup with white beans and pasta. Delizioso!

Robin and I made an honest effort to eat in the continental fashion while we were in Italy, with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right, and also twirling our spaghetti on a spoon. It was awkward at first, but we did quite well by the end of the trip!

Picking up local customs will be appreciated by your Italian hosts. We learned to say “buonisimo” while doing the “cheek screw” (turning your index finger on your cheek) to express pleasure to our waiters. They loved our effort!

All too soon it was time to leave the beauty of Vieste. Could we love another place as much as this one? Well, we hadn’t yet experienced the magic of Matera. Within 24 hours, we would know the answer to this question. The answer is “Yes, indeed we could!”