October 2020 Gargano: Vieste

The next day threatens rain so we move the car a little further up the sea front (there's free parking on the sea front after 15th September) and go for a stroll around the old town of Vieste. Everything is very quiet, most houses and restaurants seem closed for the season, it's cloudy but the pale off-white stone still seems warm from the sun. As pretty as we remembered but quieter. When the rain arrives we shop for a few basics and make it back to the car in a lull.

In the afternoon we're reluctant to go out, it's still raining or drizzling. We wait until it finally stops and then go for a walk along the beach, the combination of clouds, sea, sun, rain, waves and Vieste in the background are spectacle enough.

The next four days in Vieste are dedicated to walking along the beach, sitting on the beach, admiring the view of Vieste and the coast from the beach.  We often make the effort to get up early and go to the beach for some spectacular dawns.

The weather is intermittently windy but decidedly sunny. I manage one quick splash among the waves without getting frozen. We consume all the supplies from the market in Manfredonia and also buy more fish. There are lots of other things we could do in and around Vieste and we did some of them last year but we prefer to dedicate these four days to the last of a summer which passed all too quickly amongst work and worries. One late afternoon we take the car and park at the end of the other sea front to wait for dusk protected from the wind. Since Vieste faces east the warmest time on the beach is from morning until mid afternoon after which the shade extends further and further almost to the sea. We also take some time to check up on the Coronavirus situation and the weather forecast, a bit of a waste of time both considering the uncertainty and decide where to go next.

On Friday the Giro d'Italia parades through Vieste zooming along the sea front and around its streets and creating some lukewarm interest in  the locals and occasional tourists. We interrupt basking in the sun to watch them go by and take some photos and actually make the effort to go out in the evening to see Pizzomunno pink!