Matt left us on Friday to return to Malta. We had a day sightseeing with John and Cathy (Locorotondo with its ivory stone paving and white buildings) and Alberobello to see the amazing Trulli houses) before they left on Saturday morning and we had a morning for laundry, shopping and cleaning before Andy, Doug and David arrived at lunchtime for leg 2 to Zadar. Only time for a quick tour around Bari (capital of Puglia) particularly the (slightly edgy) medieval labyrinth with numerous churches including the Basilica di San Nicola housing (apparently) the relics of Father Christmas. Time also for a great lunch opposite Castello Svevo, a wonderful combination of Roman, Norman and medieval construction. We could not leave on Saturday night as I was certain Helen would want to watch the Champions League final. We found a bar with the game on tv (not too difficult as probably every bar in town was showing the game) and serving pizza (although I think the chef was also watching the game as the pizzas took a couple of hours to arrive - we had to make do with beer, wine and nibbles). The atmosphere was extraordinary - every kid in the town was either a Juve supporter or if not, prepared to support anyone but Juve and they were all in the bar having pizza and drinking red bull or equivalent it seemed to keep their energy levels (and noise) up. A goal resulted in deafening celebrations, tops off (all football strips of course) and either standing on the chairs/tables or running around the bar area and into the street. Wild.

Great start to the summer. best wishes Iain (Mingus) and Helen