288 – Tuesday 2nd February 2016:  McWiFi – and Flying Soup….

Marina di Piscci saw K running for 6 straight days equalling her previous record – and I ran for the fourth day in succession – hopes of a calf muscle recovery – spoken softly….  Brekkie and tidy up – MV Chardonnay took to the highway with a dodgy headlight – main bulb gone – we have spares but couldn’t immediately see the change method – never mind – note to selves to get to the nightly bivouac before dark.  SSN (Synchronised SatNavs) set for Gallipoli – not the infamous World War site – that’s in Turkey, we think. No wars today – or any day.

Passing through one town about an hour into our trip, K’s eagle eye spotted a sign for an Auchan supermercato – her favourite !  I stayed house sitting – oh and when we stopped for diesel before Auchan, an Italian chap commented on how bellissimo our van is !  Anyway, one hour later, K emerged laden with goodies for at least a week – but hungry and needing the loo (does the reader need to know about our lavatorial requirements ?).  McDonalds beckoned with free WiFi – and burgers and chips – and toilet….  We needed little persuasion – burgered, chipped and WC’d – and WiFi’d at length.  To our slight surprise, it was 3 pm when we resumed our journey…..

Now then – everyone knows that K makes great homemade soup. What the reader may not know – is that K’s soups have some amazing qualities – including deliciousimmos. One little publicised attribute is (suspend your disbelief) – the soup can fly !  Not locking the fridge before departure greatly assists this aeronautical prowess (DFTLTFBD) – this anachronistic acronym defies explanation… Whilst driving, we are used to hearing bangs and other sounds from within the van – sometimes the wardrobe door opens and shoes get rearranged, etc. This was a big bang !  K (driving) suggested (gently) that I investigate cause of said noise. On making my way gingerly mid flight to the kitchen area, I was able to confirm back to the cockpit that an aeronautical event had indeed occurred. Now, one interesting fact about flying soup is that it leaves it’s home as a homogenous mass – but in flight – it breaks up and attaches itself in a number of subsidiary soups to any surface it meets en route ! This soup met many surfaces ! 

Surfaces mostly restored (floor included), trip resumed. Our SSN programmed night stop was reached in near darkness (dodgy headlight in play) – it was ‘chiuso’ – closed. We phoned the owners, but to no avail. We had passed closed campsites en route – but it was looking like a wild camping beachside stop – with no proper toilet (dare I tell the reader that K has ordered a purple Shewee ?). We tried one other Sosta by phone – they were ‘aperto’ – open – and off we galloped – on arrival, we waited 15 minutes for the owners to arrive and let us in – water, wc emptying, and grey waste facilities – we were the only occupants….  Services completed, fed (no flying soup), Marsala’d, we surrendered to ‘somno vinoque’ – (ask your Latin teacher) at about 11:00 pm…. Did we dream of soup ? 

 

289 – Wednesday 3rd February 2016:  Gallee Pollee

7 days successive running for K (a new record) and I managed a couple of KMs also.  A sort of jobs morning – mostly K clothes washing – I did some bike maintenance and generally tried to look useful…

Lunched in the van on landed soup – thankfully in our bowls this time – I really don’t like eating soup off the floor…  We biked to town.  K navigated – with MiMi – Madge’s daughter from MapsMe (on a phone as against the iPad) – complicated… If Madge and Brad got married and had a child – suggested names on a postcard please -addressed to – James and Katherine c/o Europe somewhere…..

Now our redoubtable Brad SatNav insists on calling this town “Gallee Pollee”.  Gallipoli is pleasant but not outstanding – the wine was ! We stopped for a glass (or two) before recycling ourselves back to base…   Gallipoli reminded us of Ortygia in Siracusa … access via a bridge and sea on 3 sides – historical centre with narrow streets.

Castello at the bridge entrance to Gallee Pollee  … and the new town, complete with a sky scraper … first we’ve seen in a long while.

The garage is smarter (and cleaner) than Chardonnay.  We don’t have a chandelier .. only the knicker one for drying ones’ smalls!

Now why would you decorate a planter with plastic bottles?

Delicious … and only EUR 3 per glass 🙂

Another flying incident … K ‘dropped’ the 5ltr red wine flagon and it spurted red wine up out of its spout.  Upholstery and carpets now a cacophony of red and orange (the soup was carrot!).