Saturday August the 14th
Total distance driven: 7.027Km
Today’s distance: 478 Km in 6:02h
Walked distance: 4,4 Km
When I woke up in Barletta, I knew I wanted to reach Rome that day. With long drives, I prefer to have a couple of interesting locations along the way to make a pause.
While searching for such locations, I found a photo that caught my attention. It was in an article about the town of Benevento and it looked stunning.
So I headed to Benevento! On the way beautiful Mediterranean landscapes with clinging hilltop towns in the background. It made me consider how many wonderful places there are in Italy and how proud I am to be Italian.
After about two hours I was in Benevento and drove around, looking for the spot on the photo. When I reached what it looked like to be the city center, I stopped for a drink and asked the barman where I could find that spot.
He replied that the photo was not of Benevento but of a town nearby called Apice.
Silly of me of not checking it better before getting there. I have seen many places in Italy but never been to Benevento anyway. To get to Apice I had to drive South, the opposite direction than Rome, but it was only 15 Km away.
When I got there, the town looked modern with no fortified walls at all. As it is typical of this kind of towns, an old men was sitting on a bench in the shade. I approached him and asked about the photo. He was very helpful and began to tell me the story of Apice. There is an old and new town and obviously I was in the new one. He pointed the way from the top of the hill to Apice Vecchia and mentioned, that the old bridge crumbled just two days before and was worth a look 👀
But when I showed him the photo on my phone, he wasn’t sure that was Apice Vecchia. Too late, I was almost there and decided to see it for myself.
Apice Vecchia is abandoned and although an interesting visit, not the one I had in mind. This time I did my homework and searched the web until I was sure I has found the right location: Sant‘Angata dei Goti.
Luckily not far from the route to Rome. The sat nav reported arrival time: 1pm. Perfect for lunch!
This time, even from far away, I knew I was in the right location.
A town like this deserves to be discovered by walk but it was 39C and I was tired. Soon I found myself driving through narrow alleys.
It was fun to ride through the small streets. I encountered a pedestrian zone and parked. Breathtaking views and a local restaurant revealed themselves.
Fully restored, I left my helmet and jacket at restaurant and took the deserved walk through Sant‘Agata dei Goti.
I felt I was close to the wall on the photo but on the wrong side 😅 The lady at the restaurant told me where to drive to see what I was longing for. She also mentioned to stay on the street. I tried but I got lost…
Another interesting encounter: two men. One chubby with curly hair in sport trousers and t-shirt, the other elegant with white hair dressed in a white shirt and blazer.
They were having a conversation in front of a church, when I slowed down in front of them and asked for guidance. The man in blazer was very knowledgable with a fine character. He asked me if I had seen the main square and the statue of Sant‘Alfonso Maria de Liguori, famous Bishop in 1762 and the dome.
Luckily that’s exactly what I saw during my walk earlier, so I was prepared 😁 Nevertheless I received a history lesson, we talked about Ducati and I received compliments for my motorcycle choice 😉
After few hundred meters, at last, I saw was I came for. An impressive view with thousands details.
Satisfied 😎
Rome was less than three hours from there. It felt less than that. You know the feeling when you are close to your home: everything looks familiar, you know every stone and tree by hearth.
My wife and kids were expecting me for tomorrow. I stopped in front of the house‘s gate and roared with the engine. The boys ran outside. At last, we were reunited again.