It's how you travel, not just how you arrive

Monday 28 September

That’s what I keep telling myself as our train hurtles down the somewhat cloudy but ruggedly beautiful west coast of Italy, already about 90 minutes late. I’m glad to say that there was no fatality that caused this, unlike last Monday, but we were held up leaving Salerno by a fire on the track further down the line.

We’re on the train that goes on to the ferry to go over to Sicily, bound for Taormina. I saw this feat of transport integration on Michael Portillo’s series and decided it would be a really fun thing to do. Never mind that we’re about two-thirds of the way through a 15-hour journey - another Monday marathon. We left Alberbello at 7am, given a lift to Martina Franca for the first of 3 trains - it would’ve been 4 but the first connection was tight and we took advantage of the lift that was offered by our lovely hosts at La Rosa dei Trulli. I must want my bumps feeling, and Neil too for being crazy enough to join me!

It was a lovely morning as we zipped along the country roads en route to Martina Franca; Katia’s father and boyfriend have been our chauffeurs this weekend and it seems speed limits are optional, a mobile phone conversation de rigeur. The countryside was full of trulli houses, which come in all sizes but only one shape. The larger ones are generally a few joined together, and some are so small they just serve as agricultural storage, garden sheds or even garages. We learned that they weren’t actually built that way for aesthetic reasons, but purely practical.

Because their original construction style was literally like a drystone wall, they weren’t regarded as permanent dwellings and were therefore a tax dodge by the local noblemen back in the 17th century. Eventually the little people got the opportunity to complain to the king about the lack of permanence they were forced to live with, and the tax dodge was removed. The style was adapted to a more long-lasting design, but the shape and character remained. Everywhere you look in this part of the Bari region you see them - old and new build sit cheek by jowl and in Alberobello itself, many of those just off the high street are little retail outlets selling touristy souvenirs or local produce like olive oil, pasta and wine.

There’s not a huge amount to do and see in the town once you’ve experienced the trullis, and being there on a major festival weekend was actually a bit of a spoiler because I think it probably masked a lot of the charm under tacky commercialism. I think our stay was long enough (and our accommodation was very small - and there was no kettle! I am gasping for a decent cup of tea….) and we’re now looking forward to a few days in Sicily where we can pause and breathe for a while.

As I draft this offline (wifi on Italian trains has been completely absent so far, free or otherwise), a rather grey Mediterranean is to my right and beautiful mountainous terrain to my left. This was why I decided to do this journey by rail after all, and the Tranato to Salerno leg was also spectacular in places. Our train is comfortable (and at least there’s a loo seat, which have been a bit thin on the ground lately) but a tad light on luxury - like no buffet car, so we stocked up on carbs and I find myself craving fruit and veg again. All I could buy in the station was an apricot nectar and we didn’t have time to visit a supermarket.

(It’s been impossible to follow my diet on the trip as I have so little control over what I can eat, though I’d probably benefit from a little more control over what I drank - I really have to get back on the wagon in November, and back to the gym! Boy do I feel bulky…. I could, for example,  buy olives or dried figs by the ton in the market yesterday, but not a single piece of fruit.)

Once again a first class rail pass has been no use on a route that only has one class - especially galling for Neil with his limited stay as I’ll at least get more benefit on trains from next week onwards. It’ll be a late finish for us tonight and I hope we’ll at least arrive in Taormina the right side of 10pm.

And we get on a train that gets on a ferry and then gets off again when it gets to Sicily!