AM’s Italian, Croatian Adventure

Friday, day 3 of the tour. This morning we headed to Trani, a small fishing port. As soon as we arrived it reminded us of a place we had visited in Greece called Chania. First selfie of the holiday, no selfie stick, with Trani harbour in the background. Locals swimming and sunbathing Trani style   Trani working port. We walked along the port’s foreshore and visited the Templar Knights’ church. This church is very different from many that you see throughout Europe as it is not adorned with gold leaf, paintings, statues,  elaborate carvings. It was thought to be built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century and was a place of blessing for those setting out on a crusade as it is built right on the port. No pictures etc just beautiful plain stone. I found this refreshingly beautiful.  Simply stated.  The exterior of this very impressive church. The original front door of the church now placed inside to protec...

Day starts at 9.30am. First stop was a visit to an olive oil mill. I was thinking ‘exciting!!!!’ But I was wrong as it was very informative and I am gob smacked to think the oil we are using is good olive oil but it isn’t.  Puglia has over 50 million olive trees and the average age of the trees are approx 600years old. The olive trees at this mill are young approx 200 years old. We were shown the process from start to finish of the oil making process. Angelo also gave us  helpful hints on what to look for when buying good olive oil. If the bottle has the word ‘frantoio’ this  means it comes directly from a mill and is good. The letters s v l on the bottle are not good meaning they are from a big company and often includes a blend of oils and the letters s n c = small company which is also good. I don’t think I will tell you what some big companies use when blending their so called olive oil as it might put you off your dinner if eating. Next stop was a ...