After leaving Sicily, our next climbing stop was Statte in Puglia. Statte is right in the arch of the boot of Italy, about 500km south east of Rome and 15 km north of the city of Taranto. The crags at Statte are spread across 16 sectors along the side of a 100m (or more) deep, … Continue reading Climbing in Statte
We have had a fantastic 10 days climbing in Statte (in the heel of Italy), but one thing that has been proven to me during this trip, is that I am absolutely hopeless at spotting a good route! Generally, I just go with the flow. I enjoy climbing for the places it takes me, the … Continue reading Do not let me choose routes!
After four days of climbing in Statte we needed a rest, or to be more specific, the skin on our fingers needed a rest. So we headed out to explore two unique towns in the Puglia region: Matera and Alberobello (more on Alberobello later). Matera is a town characterised by its cave dwellings. Caves which … Continue reading Exploring Caves in Matera
As our time on Sicily draws to a close we find we will be leaving with a great sense of dissatisfaction. Why? Well, mainly because we have only scratched a small part of the surface of this varied and complex place. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean; almost 200 times larger than Kalymnos, … Continue reading Climbing in South East Sicily
One of the anticipated highlights of this trip for me, was the chance to explore some active volcanoes. To get up close and personal, to peer inside the crater and to touch the rock that been thrown up from the depths of the earth. Our itinerary was designed to give me the chance to see … Continue reading Volcanic (Missed) Adventures
After 10 days of unpredictable and changeable weather our time in San Vito Lo Capo has come to an end. Despite several days of hanging around waiting for the weather to improve, the time passed very quickly, and I certainly, was not yet ready to move on. We had extended our stay by an extra … Continue reading San Vito to Ragusa, via Selinunte
We were last in Sicily only 10 months ago, but we had such a good time that it was high on our list of places to return to. However, this visit has not had the same idyllic conditions, our first three days were almost non-stop rain, high winds, thunder, and single digit temperatures. It was … Continue reading Climbing in San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily
Ever since I was a teenager I have wanted to visit Pompeii, it was at the top of my "must see" list of places. I got the chance to go there a couple of years ago when we had a holiday on the Amalfi coast, and that got me even more interested so I longed … Continue reading Exploring Herculaneum
Our week climbing in Salerno got off to a very poor start (read the first blog here). Day 1 had good climbing, Day 2 had bad climbing, and Day's 3 and 4 were rained off. It is fair to say we were not in the best frame of mind by the end of Day 4. … Continue reading Climbing in Salerno – part 2
Climbing in Salerno has not been the motivating introduction to our trip that we had hoped for. It has been cold, wet, and the crag has spat us off routes that seemed perfectly achievable from the ground. However, there have been some highlights, although these were mostly in the form of some new found 4 … Continue reading Climbing in Salerno – Part 1
Ordinary Climbers 