Wednesday 23 October 2024

The shuttle to the airport from right across the road is only €20 and 10 minutes, so  we have plenty of time at the airport. Makes you long for train travel. A full but long delayed Ryan Air flight of 50 minutes sees us at Bari and to another long queue at the car hire desk.

And, surprise – “We have upgraded you to another car. No extra, signora.” This means they were all out of the car type you actually booked and were giving you a bigger model.

Not a chance with Lady P. Some excited and loud Italian (this is just normal) and we have to come back in an hour for the smaller automatic car. Or we take the VW Tiguan on offer.

We wait. Do the paperwork and walk 200m to the yard only to discover they have given us a mid sized car. Again, not likely with Lady P.

We know what it is like in ancient towns with narrow streets and mad Italian drivers. As it turns out and of course, nobody tells you this in the entire booking process, the automatic cars are all large or mid sized. “OK, she says. What about that blue Fiat Panda?” That’s a really small car.  After much discussion and some good natured banter, we end up with said blue Panda, except it’s a manual and, as we later discover, has no GPS.

We can cope with a manual but the lack of GPS and a phone failure on Lady P’s Google Maps causes some pre departure tension. Luckily, Flashy has plenty of data and his maps are working.

We manage to exit the airport, go around the wrong way twice and eventually find the road to Monopoli, the destination of our old seaside town overnight accommodation. Parking is at a premium and Pandas are everywhere. We park under the tow-away sign, don’t give a fig at this stage and retire to a bar for a GnT.

Monopoli is a very cute town with a good, young people vibe and our BnB, although up two steep flights of stairs, is clean and comfortable. It also has no sitting room or kitchen. Just a 35 jet, gigantic spa in the second room!

So, after dumping the bags we head out for dinner at a very good Italian restaurant and enjoy a selection of small entrees and a wonderful bottle of Francesco Marra Rose. On the walk back, we  discover a couple of bars for some cleansing vino and Lady P’s new summer drink – a Lemoncello Spritz. After three of those, She slept well.

A great Rose.
Fritto Misto
The big spa.
Our cute little Fiat Panda

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