Gargano in September 10 Mattinata and Monte Saraceno

We are out of the apartment and on the road surprisingly early, packing up has become a routine now. So we take it easy on the route from Vieste to Mattinata, which is just as well because the road is winding, full of bends and although it is also spectacular once it reaches the coast it's not an easy drive. It definitely wouldn't be a good idea to choose Vieste as a base for site seeing the Gargano area or beyond, except for Peschici and Foresta Umbra. One wouldn't want to do this road more than necessary. We will arrive early so we stop when we find a suitable place to look at the view of the coast and blue green sea below, spectacular.

Once we get to Mattinata we locate the address where we are supposed to meet our host's mother who will take us to the apartment and then go for a quick stroll and buy some bread and a slice of focaccia with potatoes.

Giuseppina is really friendly and nice, it's not so easy to get to the apartment which is in the middle of the olive groves just off the superstrada. The last few hundred metres are up a white lane which is also rather uneven and Jazz groans again. However both the apartment and its position are really nice. From the terrace there's a panoramic view of Mattinata and countryside and olive groves and the sea beyond. Giuseppina stays a while and we chat about experiences as Airbnb hosts and the strange things that happen....

After settling in and a leisurely but somewhat uncomfortable lunch because there's only a low table out on the terrace, we decide to go for a walk. Taking the ordinary road (not the fast road with the tunnels) from Mattinata towards Manfredonia and Monte Sant'Angelo involves a lot of hairpin bends as it climbs up the mountain side with views of Mattinata and the coast below. Just on the bend where the road divides towards Monte Sant'Angelo on the right there is a dirt track on the left with space for just a couple of cars to park. Don't try to continue by car, from here it's just a short walk, about a kilometre, to the top of Monte Saraceno, at just 260 metres, which is the site of the ancient Daunia necropolis. The burial ground consists in womb-shaped holes in the rock which were then covered by flat stones. 

There's also a cave which must have been used in much more recent times with even an oven outside the entrance. The view all around and of the coast below is spectacular. 

That day we didn't have time but an even better way of arriving there would be to take the Necropoli Daunia Trail up from the coast.

Instead we head for home and have a much more comfortable supper using as a table an old converted wine press.