middle name 'adventure': Gallipoli and Gnomes

Boom! Crash! Flash! Went the storm over the mountain, as we contemplated climbing Mount Etna. Hmmm…Do you think we should attempt it? Nope. And to defend our ‘wooziness’ they announced that we wouldn’t be able to anyway because of ‘poor visibility’. Phew.
However – the 2500metre accent up the mountain through fields of lava flow and lush greenery was truly spectacular! Worth it 100%. To get a bit of adrenaline Lachie decided to ride the bike (wobbly back tyre and all) back down the mountain while I followed behind in the ‘trusty transit’. Being only the second time I’ve driven it (since the popped tyre in Cornwall) the brakes started to fail near the bottom of the mountain, of course. To quote Mr.Love ‘pump the brakes at all times! Or they will stop working!’ Never mind, I’m not allowed to drive the car EVER AGAIN!
It was a strange experience getting out at the top of the mountain where it was ‘cold’ and rainy and then back down at the beach it was 35 degrees again. The rest of our stay in Sicily was pretty tame. Lots of beach time and some incredible mushroom truffle pizza in the beautiful town of Taromina. It was pretty cool being able to see live lava flow at night on the mountain.
We then did a quick 9hour drive to Gallipoli, Puglia on the Ionian Sea. Gorgeous area! Hardly any tourists. Somewhere we’d definitely like to explore a bit more one day. After our slog in the car we needed another few days of rest (holidays are hard work you know!), more beach time, beautiful sunsets and a spot of seafood.
This morning we headed out of Gallipoli for Bari via Alberobello. I’ve never said ‘WHAT A CUTE TOWN!’ so many times in my life. It was SUCH A CUTE TOWN! It’s famous for its pointed roof houses that were built in the 14th century. We kept hoping that gnomes would come out of the houses to water their pot plants. So cute!
And now…we are on a ‘Superfastferry’ to Patras, Greece! Half way through our trip – 8321Kms since leaving Courtland’s. We can hardly believe it. We are having such a wonderful time but there have definitely been some trying times. It’s extraordinarily hot. We have been sleeping with all doors and windows open in hope of a breeze to keep us cool which allows pesky mosquito's in which LOVE to suck our blood all night which in turn keeps us up a lot of the night which makes us pretty short on patience. We’re exhausted! But happy. Especially because we are sitting in the relaxing air-conditioned ship with a bunch of young Americans boogying to ‘my umbrella ella ella’ in the disco next door. YIKES! We’re looking forward to meeting up with Dan tomorrow; hopefully he’ll make it to the campsite without loosing anything. We’ll be heading to Albania in the next few days which we’re a little bit apprehensive about, but we’re pretty sure we’ll be fine even if the roads, landmines and other drivers aren’t.