instant coffee

 Something that has surprised us in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Greece is the popularity of instant coffee in cafes. It seems out of place somewhere that has a long and passionate history of coffee loving and vibrant cafe culture that "Nescafe 3 in 1" would be such a common beverage of choice. We got over our snobbiness after getting it inadvertantly when ordering from small cafes. It's probably pretty bland for a real coffee die hard but it seems to avoid the usual chemical after taste of bad instant coffee. It dosn't have any richness of a good coffee but is sweet and comforting like a cup of hot milo but with caffeine. You could buy the single serve sachets in shops for about 10c, so it was good for us to have a warm "cuppa" if we were out of the way of towns. We still found it strange that they were priced the same as a proper espresso coffee in cafes when the sachets were so cheap. We never quite had the guts to order a mug of hot water and empty our own sachets in.

the frappe

Hitting Greece we encountered the formidable frappé. The only coffee you can get in some cafes, it's usually without milk, half liquid / half whipped foam and on ice. Refreshing in the Greek heat, they're very popular. Everyone you pass seems to be carrying a frappe in their hand as they walk or ride a scooter. Lots of scooters and cars have special frappe holders. I noticed a policeman in riot gear in Athens and thought he was sporting a frappe in a handy holder on his outfit, only to realise as we got closer that it was a smoke cannister. Such a holder wouldnt have surprised me though. I'm not sure if its official but it should be the national drink.
  We initially thought that Nescafe had also crashed the party on the Greek frappe. However, we have since found out they pretty much invented this style of  frappe here in Greece back in the 50's and its been the main thing in cafes here since. You cant get the froth of a true frappe without the spray-dried coffee apparently - so quit whining you espresso snobs! Again we were pretty sceptical of the instant coffee but when made well I thought it hit the spot on a hot day. I think the suger and coldness of the ice take away a metallic taste it can sometimes have. We road-tested the instant frappe that can be bought in supermarkets to a much more dissapointing result. Aluminium aftertaste. Yuck! crappé frappé.

the heel of the boot we call italy

Having recouped in Lecce we decided on a plan for the last month and a bit of our trip. We had only a vague notion of hitting some warm weather on the Mediterranian after our trans Euro Danube route and now we were here we were forced to make some decisions. Being in Italy was lovely but it made us realise how much we enjoyed traveling in the Balkans. Going back to Western Europe didn't feel as exciting now as traveling in the East more extensively. In the end we planned to explore the southern heel of Italy and then Sicily before returning  north to get the ferry to Greece. From there we would do some more cycling and then ditch the bikes for the last month and take trains to explore the now colder Balkans and Turkey, finally flying for home from Istanbul on November 29th. It felt good to have a plan again.

route planning in the lovely Gallipoli. Not to be confused with the peninsula in Turkey. It means "beautiful city" in Greek.

Gallipoli's traditional fishing villiage

We headed first for the town of Gallipoli with the intention of heading towards the ferry to Sicilly.The road we chose was a lot busier than it appeared on the map however and although it had a service road along side it at the begining it dropped away and we had to continue on the main. The shoulder was a lot bigger than we had been used to throughout the Balkans but with cars zipping past at over 100km/h it made for unpleasant riding. I had a van come too close and break his mirror off on my back as he past which left us very shaken and sore. It was a real fright and we were so grateful it wasn't worse. We spent the next few hours plotting a tangled course of minor roads the last few kms to the coast trying to avoid traffic. Looking at the map we decided to change plans to take quieter roads around the southern heel and save Sicily for a trip without our bikes.
 Even though it caused us to cut our time in Italy short, we both felt that being clipped by the van was just bad luck. The driving in Italy didnt stand out as particularly bad compared to the Balkans but it can be a lot busier with its denser population. It is really worth planning a good route on minor roads because of this. We had a pretty average-to-poor map of Italy which was compounded by lots of roads being unnamed and signs always assuming you are a car itching to get on the motorway. Lots of Italians cycle for fun on the weekends so there are probably good routes to do if you're in the know. Perhaps internet cycle forums would be a good way to plan a safe route around Italy.

The ride around the heel of Italy's boot was very leisurely. We cappuccino and gelato hopped at a nice slow pace and stopped to swim in the sea. The icecream in Italy was really rich, dense and strong but also with lots of subtle flavours. I particularly liked the bitter choclate and tiramisu and Jenny the fruit sorbets. The riding dropped behind as we structured our day around fitting in as much gelato as possible.

The coast became a lot more interesting as we rounded the bend and headed back north. Steep jagged cliffs with olive groves behind and swimmable rock pool grottos. We camped a night in an olive grove and watched a violent thunder storm light up the sky out to sea. The next day the waves were up and crashing against the cliffs.

secret rock pool bath

lecce

We struck heavy rain on our second day in Italy. Drenched and cold we entered Ostuni, a fascinating looking town that includes a beautiful old centre spiralling around a hill all in crumbling cream stone. The rain being too heavy to see much we were lucky to catch a train for the rest of the ride to Lecce. 

The rain was still torrential and the roads started to resemble rapid streams as we searched for a place to stay in Lecce. We have noted that we don't tend to post pictures of the tough times on the trip. I guess that taking a snap is the last thing you think of doing in unpleasant situations. We will try to give a little more balance in future posts if we can so its not all sun sets and ice cream. So here's a picture of a cranky camper trying to warm up in a cafe ....

We stayed in a Lecce for a few days to see out the rain in a strangely run-down hotel with lots of religeous paraphernalia including pictures of the pope visiting the hotel. We delighted in Italy's take on religious icons in general. Lots of bright pastel statues of Jesus (particularly at petrol stations for some reason) but also quite strange statues on churches. We had fun guessing the meaning of these statues like the one below that seems to play up a raunchy S&M side of Catholicism. Overcome with religeous zeal you can see me below giving the Pope a high five!

Italian transport - mini trucks, Fiats and scooters.

italy

Italy! I was a bit apprehensive about going to Italy. I imagined the people would be loud and outgoing and that socially it would be quite demanding, which made me feel nervous and shy in advance. However, we have loved our encounters with Italians so far - they are talkative, as I imagined, but very gentle and smiling, and they speak Italian to us slowly which is comforting even though we do not know the language. Consistently, despite knowing we don't speak Italian, they speak Italian to us anyway and magically we seem to understand a lot of what they are saying. They use hand gestures and look you in the eye as they speak. During this trip we have realised you can converse quite well with people without sharing a word of each other's language as long as you are both up for it. Miming, gesturing and facial expressions can go a long way and the most important factor seems to be not so much whether someone knows some English but whether they are willing to just have a conversation anyway. We had a great time talking to the train conductor when we caught a train with our bikes in desperation on a particularly rainy day. He was so impressed by our journey that he kept telling other passengers about us as they got on and off.
Anyway, here are some photos from Italy thus far..

we tried to snap some of the snazzy passers-by while we had a coffee in Bari

Matthew eating a gelato in his new (free) hat. He also got a Skoda one (bright orange) - tough choice.

I was excited to see a quote by Walter Benjamin as I've been reading his essays on the road - I think this translates to "There is nothing more epic than the sea" (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Dubrovnic

Our paths crossed once more with our friends Liz and Colin who are now travelling around Europe in their Bumblebee VW van. They are keeping a blog of their adventures on the road which also features a section on their cooking while in the van. Inspired, we may try to copy this soon with a special post on our one and only meal we cook over and over again. Stay tuned for our lentil curry post! Anyway here's their blog = http://bumblebeetakeseurope.wordpress.com/
Dubrovnic was a great spot to catch up for a few days and relax while washing mounds of our smelly socks. It is very affordable to rent a flat privately in this part of the world, especially if a few of you are sharing. We were glad to be indoors for a bit as there were amazing storms thundering across the sky on and off. Between the rain however it was quite warm and we visited the rocky inlets to swim and read. 
                Dubrovnik's walled old city is very picturesque. It sits on a small peninsular that slopes steeply to the sea giving the town its long narrow alleyways of stairs. There are no cars or even bikes within the walled city because there is no room on the ancient narrow paths. It's very touristy here with the town looking beautifully restored and filled with restaurants and boutique shops. However, its tastefully done and retains its lived in charm - but we have been warned that in high season it can be hard to move in there for all the tourists.  Off season definitely seems like the way to go on the popular parts of the med coast.

a la paris hilton?

sea food banquet!

bye bye Team Bumblebee!!