Padre Pio or John Peel?

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO.

There seemed to be somewhat of a party going on in the village last night. Several times cars arrived, doors slammed and cars drove away. We even thought that there may be a market this morning, but only an empty square when we rose.

We took breakfast in the local patisserie. The gang from the "party" were also in. They looked like they were nursing a hangover. We enjoyed coffee, water and a large Danish pastry for the princely sum of euro 5.40.

The snow capped mountains in the background are a great sight.

The satnav tells us that our destination will take 5 hours but that doesn't take into account the bank holiday traffic. We crawl through two destinations before heading for the toll road. We pass through the second destination, San Salvo Marina, and it looks like a series of scrums for parking, for food and for the beach.

The autostrada shaves over an hour off the journey and only costs euro 9.80. It also gives us the chance to meet a Belgian couple. Very talkative, he tells us that he has had two European Directives enacted at his instigation, one on ecology, the other on gender equality. His wife makes "happiness" cards consisting of a pleasing picture and uplifting comments and gives them out to needy people. They also give us the lowdown on ferries from Bari. They are heading off to the Greek Islands as they do every year.

There are three aires in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo which is surprising because it is a small town up a hillside (yes another series of windy roads, thanks Rosie) in the middle of nowhere. It turns out it is the final resting place of Padre Pio (canonised in 2008) and attracts several million vistors each year. The guide book tells us that he looked just like the late John Peel. I'll let you decide.