Head out on the highway. Bye, Bari

It was amazing to realise this morning that we had spent 6 nights in a castle as King and Queen of the town, Palo Del Colle.  Our room was truly something we don't think we will ever see again along with the bathroom and Mimmo's hospitality.

With more than 345KM to cover and almost 4 hours, we had a long day ahead of us (in European travel standards).  I had selected on the final destination for the Puglia region, Castle Del Monte.

It was close to Palo Del Colle and took us less than 40 min to get there. We expected a castle on a hill, with an old man at the entrance to open the place and let us in, however, we were in for a shock. This would be one of the most well-organised attractions we had seen in a while. 

All cars were blocked going to the attraction, good. There was ample parking at the bottom of the mountain, good. There were (fee) toilets available, good. There was an inexpensive, and regular bus that took paying customers to the top of the mountain, good. There was a 5 euro charge for the carpark, expensive.

So once we got to the top on the bus we explored the castle that was over 600 years old. 

 

Our next stop was 3hours later (with a quick Autogrill stop in between) at our accommodation, "Madonna degli Angeli", or loosely translated "Farm Lady of the Angels" of which is an understatement. 

This place has no less than two cats, one golden retriever, one donkey, 5 sheep, 6 goats and a number of chickens. It is an animal wonderland. Our accommodation is rustic but clean and very welcoming. The owner has given us some great tips and places to see, it is just a shame we will only be here for 4 nights. the trip is coming to an end but there is still much time, we could spend 2 weeks here but will make our final days count as much as possible. Many adventures to come.