Travelling to Salento: a beautiful friendship with Ale and Bisbinto

Finally me and Ale succeeded to find a couple of free days from our busy and stressful working life in order to visit our friend Bisbinto. It's unbelievable how full is our lives, we almost travel around the world for 1 or 2 months a year, which is a great privilege, that's sure, but once we come back home, no time to visit anywhere of our wonderful country.
Me and Ale loved this very short trip because our generous guest showed us so many beautiful spots like Otranto with its huge mosaic made of 600.000 tiny pieces representing the Tree of Life, Santa Cesarea Terme and its Morocco style Sticchi Palace, Castro and it's pristine deep rocky coast or the lovely historical Brindisi city center not to mention the magic atmosphere of Lecce cathedral by night which was just breathtaking, something UNIQUE that everyone must see in his life.
The food of Puglia region is well known all around Italy but I could never imagine it could be so tasty, genuine at inexpensive from bread to mozzarelle, from the huge sandwich called Puccia to Cicoria and fave purè, from handmade orecchiette pasta to dry burley frisa bread.
However what will always stay in my heart is the magic and warming feeling I had admiring the Palascia lighthouse (on the eastermost tip of Italian peninsula), during a terrific sunset in the middle of wild flower carpet breaking into a rocky coast. I thanked God for our strong and good friendship hoping it will last forever. Thanks so much Ale and thanks so much Bisby, lets nourish our great friendship day by day.

Flavio and Pino: journey to Krakatau

Before deciding to take him with me to Indonesia I had many doubts about my good friend Pino as a traveller companion. He doesn't speak any language other than his Taranto slang and has rarely travelled abroad before. Would have he been able to adjust himself to different situations, different food, a different language and a totally different culture not to mention possible predicaments.
With my big surprise, he proved to be a great travel buddy, a patient friend and a responsible traveller.
We have been invited by our friend Gigi to join her and her friends to an excursion on the Krakatau extinguished volcano, which the 26th August 1883 occasioned one of the most powerful explosion ever heard on our planet. The sound arrived until Australia (3500km faraway) and Rodriguez islands (4800km) and expelled 21cubicKm of ashes, stones and pumice stones.
Nowadays we do need a big amount of imagination just to figure out the catastrophic events that changed in such a nasty way the lives of so many people.
The excursion started in a weekend evening, we met at one of the Jakarta train station and immediately before Gigi's arrival met so many nice and friendly guys, most of them younger some older than us. We both loved all these folk which confirmed once again how friendly and lovely Indo people are. No need to say that the trip was long and uncomfortable, the train chairs in economic class seemed designed by one of the main genial officials of middle age inquisitions...a real torture for our backs and buttocks. Despite that I could only see happy, smiling and sometimes sleepy face.
Being a food choosy, on the vegetarian path, I really suffered the very poor food selection we faced on our destination, on the other side I loved our simple accommodation with big rooms separated between girls and boys as well as the funny bath provided with "gayung" system which means you have to scope water from a big bucket on your body instead of a normal shower.
I and Papi, as Pino was nicknamed, loved each moment of this excursion, talking with the guys, taking photos, snorkeling on the pristine waters, doing yoga under a terrific sky full of stars while flirting on the beach with the cruel company of tiny mosquitos greedy of sweet Italian blood.
Pity that Pino could not communicate with our new friends, anyway I was his official translator and at the end of the week end we felt sad but at the same time happy for the many new friends met.
Terima kasih Indonesia .