UK Road Trip, June 2026

London / Penrith. Wednesday/Tuesday 10/16-June-2026.

This whole road trip was triggered by a biannual face-to-face meeting of the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths. Video meetings are all very well but there is no substitute for meeting in real life. So we booked ourselves a flight and train to come back for a short trip. Originally planned as a five day trip it was extended when we learned that Keb' Mo' was appearing in London the day before we were due to fly. Full write up of that gig on the blog at Keb Mo at Union Chapel 2026.

You couldn’t call it a relaxing trip - we had a packed agenda for the week and it was a great opportunity to catch up with lots of friends.

Wednesday 10th:

Drive to Bari: given the cost of a taxi to and from the airport, it was much cheaper to book ourselves into long-stay P3. What we had not counted on was their over booking policy. We arrived to find that every single slot was occupied. Fortunately, a Fiat 500 is such a dinky little car we were able to do some creative parking on the end of a row. There was another guy circling the car park and then phoning the office to complain about what the hell was he supposed to do?

Flying from Bari to London: we had allowed plenty of time because we had heard horror stories of long delays due to the new EES system. However, we could not drop off our luggage until two hours before the flight so arriving early was pointless. As it turned out, the airport was very quiet and the automatic gates were not working so we had to queue anyway and were quickly seen by the border guard, no problems.

The train from Gatwick to London was uneventful. We dropped our bags off at the not-so-budget Premier Inn near St Pancras and went for a delicious, light supper at Morr in Islington. Recommended.

Keb' Mo' concert at Union Chapel: 

The concert was excellent. Hardly surprising as Keb Mo is one of our favourite artists. This was the sixth time we had seen him and I really like his laid-back Americana style. 

Thursday 11th:

Because our original flight was for the Thursday, we had booked a train for early evening back to Penrith. The cost of changing the train time was so exorbitant that we decided we would spend the day in London and fit in a number of other activities. 

M. C. Escher exhibition at Somerset House: First was an excellent exhibition at Somerset House featuring all Escher's greatest hits well curated with explanation boards and interactive exhibits plus examples of his influence on other artists, filmmakers and pop culture. 

Interactive exhibits included this one where your could put yourself in Escher's place and take a selfie.

An optical illusion thanks to sloping walls and floors.

Classic M. C. Escher.

When you get up close the detail is astounding for something carved by hand into a wooden block.

One of his impossible buildings.

Mary took the opportunity, as she often does when we are passing through London, to visit Fiona at Hebe in the Strand for a trim. Mary has known Fiona longer than she has known me! On the way to the hairdressers we passed another Paddington so there had to be a photo.

My siblings and I like to meet up for a meal several times a year, sometimes just the three of us, sometimes with partners. A habit that we started when dad and mum were getting old and in care homes and needed coordinated care from the three of us. I am so grateful and so lucky that we all get on so well and are so supportive of each other.

We then went shopping for clothes for Mary and on the way we passed Bedford Street Wines that were offering two-for-one on glasses of champagne. How could we refuse?

We then went up to Euston in good time for our pre-booked 18:30 train back to Penrith. Multiple cancelled trains on the board was not a good omen. It turned out that a vehicle had hit a bridge somewhere in the midlands dislodging a great lump of parapet. Inspections were required which meant no trains were running on that line. We did eventually board our train which set off 45 minutes late. It then was forced to do two detours plus some other delays. 

At Preston we were informed that, due to the very late running of the train, the staff at Penrith would have gone home and we would not be stopping there. We overshot and detrained at Carlisle well after midnight and were taxied back to Penrith where we eventually fell into bed at nearly 1am. The journey normally takes just over three hours, on this Thursday it took more than six! 

Friday 12th:

We had been wanting to do the Settle to Carlisle train journey for sometime. They occasionally run steam trains excursions along this route but at an exorbitant price. Then Northern Trains were offering a deal and we got two returns for £9.10 in total. It’s all about the journey, not the destination as the line passes through some beautiful countryside. 

It was just a shame that it was the day after our nightmare journey up from London. Despite not fully catching up on our sleep, we had to get up early in order to get the train up to Penrith to pick up this journey. It was worthwhile though - lovely scenery and cute stations all along the line.

When the trolley came round I ordered a cup of tea and a biscuit but the lady persuaded me that I had to have parkin as we were in Yorkshire and very tasty it was too.

We have friends who we met in Cisternino and live in Skipton. They drove up to Settle to meet us for lunch. After lunch they kindly took us to the amazing Courtyard Dairy cheese shop (and adjacent Natural Wine Company wine shop). We came away with several lumps of cheese and a couple of bottles of wine.

The smell was amazing as was the selection of cheeses. They have a slick operation. You are assigned your dedicated assistant who makes recomendations and lets you taste every cheese.

We then drove over to Malham Cove for a short stroll. I last visited this cove in 1990 when working in Bingley. It reminded me of our first cat, Cleopatra who we acquired in 1990. The company immediately assigned me a project at Bradford & Bingley Building Society. To avoid disrupting the kitten’s life I relocated up to Skipton with Cleo and Mary came up most weekends. 

Since I was staying in “the Gateway to the Dales” I thought I would try this walking malarkey and bought my first ever pair of hiking boots thinking they would last me a lifetime. How wrong I was! They were Brasher boots, much lighter than the traditional heavy leather variety, and the write up from Chris Brasher said “the first time I tried these on I gambolled like a Spring lamb“.

We parked up in the village and walked up to the cove.

Close up it is an impressive cliff. Halfway up there is a little red dot which is a climber.

Looking a bit windswept.

Back on the train to Carlisle we missed the connection to Penrith by about a minute. It was sitting on the adjacent platform, but its doors were already locked for the off. Plan B the 104 bus back to Penrith followed by a relaxing supper of our just-purchased cheese and wine at home.

Saturday 13th:

Saturday was parkrun as always. Mary was feeling tired and possibly coming down with the lurgy so volunteered as Marshall.

Penrith 13/06/26 31:09 [256/365]

Lunch with friend Ann. We went to Tebay services which has a great café and we got a window table so we could look out over the pond and the occasional duck.

In the afternoon Mary had a Chiropodist appointment in between rearranging the furniture in the house to optimise the dining room. This meant a full domino effect as bookcases and hi-fi systems were rearranged to suit.

To relax after the furniture disorder, we had a couple of beers at Fell Bar and an Italian meal with friends Andrew & Sarah

Sunday 14th:

Finally the social event which was the trigger for this whole trip - BBQ and meeting with the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths. It was well attended and it was great to meet our fellow volunteers in real life, have a chat and get an update on the progress that has been going on behind the scenes. All very encouraging!

Home for a couple of beers at Fell Bar with other friends followed by more cheese and wine at home working our way through our purchases from the Settle cheese and wine shops.

Monday 15th:

Various health & beauty appointments for the both of us followed by coffee and a catch up with friend Nigel. The afternoon was cleaning the house ready to receive guests whilst we are away.

Tuesday 16th:

A long but uneventful trip - Penrith > London > Cisternino. We had bought an Itsu picnic supper to eat on the plane but ended up saving it until we got home and ate it with a couple of glasses of wine.

And so to bed. [Pepys].

Keb Mo at Union Chapel 2026

Islington, London. Wednesday 10-July-2026.

Is it really 10 years since we last saw Ken Mo? The blog does not lie: we last saw him at Union Chapel back in 2016. He is one of our favourite artists and a regular on our playlist. We missed a couple of previous gigs in London because we were in Italy. This year we had already booked a flying visit back to the UK when we discovered this concert scheduled for the day before we were due to fly. So we brought our flight forward by a day and booked ourselves a Premier Inn so we could make the gig. 

The support act was a very creditable Robbie Cavanagh who played a relatively short set including a slightly bizarre interlude where he made himself a cocktail when he could have sung one more song. He commented on the fact that the audience were there for his set as normally they are in the pub until the main act comes on. This was a sold out show with unreserved seating which was obviously an incentive for people to get there early.

Keb came on to a rapturous reception and proceeded to to perform a solo set; no band unlike last time, just him. He played for a good hour and a half with songs we knew well including the encore of “Put A Woman In Charge”. He kept the roadie busy by swapping guitars for almost every song.

The audience also knew the songs well as they were singing along to several of them which I find slightly irritating as I go to a concert to hear the artiste not the audience. Fortunately they generally kept the volume down. However Keb clearly appreciated the feedback with the audience and was lifted by it.

As we had been up early for our flight we skipped the usual beery nightcap and went straight back to the hotel to catch up on our sleep.

Wine Tasting - Albea 2026

Alberobello, Puglia, Italy. Wednesday 03-June-2026.

We first went to Albea for a tasting back in September 2022. This return visit was prompted by having some friends to stay who wanted to do wine tastings. Our previous visit focused more on the mechanics: sourcing of the grapes and the production of the wine. This time, with a different host, we learnt much more about the history of the company.

A quick visit to the barrel room where our host, Nico, explained a bit about the history and current ethos of the company. 

Some long while ago we were told that the French used to import large quantities of southern Italian wine to boost their own production. We had thought it was to make their poor quality wines fruitier, higher in alcohol and more saleable. As a result of this tasting we learnt a more nuanced story. It actually goes back to the late 1800s when phylloxera ravaged the French vineyards but hadn’t made it down south. With ravaged vines in France, the vignerons looked to southern Italy to augment their production.

Albea was founded in 1905 and was deliberately positioned next to the railway line for ease of logistics, shipping tankers full of wine up north to France. Apparently, other Puglia wineries did the same. As French vineyards gradually recovered by replanting vines on American root stock the demand for their wines dropped but a new market opened up in northern Italy for making vermouth. 

In the 80s that market started to get a little more challenging so they decided to switch away from bulk wine to bottles. At the same time they started on a program of working with twelve selected farmers to improve the quality of the grapes. Previously Farmers were paid by sugar content or redness of the grapes - a payment mechanism that encouraged high yield probably at the expense of quality.

We had also been previously told that a number of other producers such as Leone di Castris also decided to go down the quality route at that time. If I were cynical, I could posit that it was as much driven by changing the market forces as it was a desire to improve quality as there was a market for well produced wines.

That was followed by a quick trip through the museum (it was hot!) and we ended up in a large function / tasting room.

1. Odegitria White Metodo Classica Pas Dosé 12.5%.

sparkling.

2. Il Selva DOC Locorotondo Superiore.

The Locorotondo DOC is an appellation created in the 1980s based upon the mix of grapes grown in the area, predominantly Verdeca. Aged in barrique following fermentation for eight months then in bottle for another six. Some of the wine was matured in clay pots and blended to get the best wine they could.

3. Petrarosa Primitivo Rosato IGP 12.5%.

I don’t know whether it is my imagination, but I think I see a shift in the great varieties used for Rose. When Susumaniello started appearing in its red form that was swiftly followed by the rosé version. We are now seeing rosé made from the more intense red varieties such as Primitivo and Negroamaro.

4. Lei Bianco D'Italia 13.5%.

They produce two ranges of wine. We were tasting the top tier wines. Their second range is called Due Trulli at a more affordable price point. What one winemaker in Australia euphemistically described as “lifestyle wine”.

5. Susumaniello Puglia IGP 13.5%.

The current raising star grape variety.

6. Petranera Primitivo IGP 14.5%.

My favourite Puglian great variety coming in at a hefty 14.5%.

7. Sol Primitivo IGP 15%.

An interesting compare-and-contrast with the previous Primitivo. If I recall correctly, we preferred the Petranera.

6. Lui Nero Di Troia IGP 14%.

Another single variety wine. They don’t seem to be going in for blends apart from the Locorotondo DOC. We all liked this wine and tought it a much more complex and interesting than the other reds.

Line up at the end (minus the sparkling).

A very interesting and enjoyable tasting. It just goes to show that doing a repeat is worthwhile. 

Wine Tasting - Weno

Locorotondo, Puglia, Italy. Friday 29-May-2026.

Another wine tasting organised while our friends were visiting. This time a niche producer, Weno, who only produce sparkling wine and only by the traditional champagne method. We first encountered their wines in Vineria Del Borgo last year as recommended by an excellent and very knowledgeable waiter. We subsequently went to Weno's cantina to buy some of their wine. This year we thought it would be a great place to revisit for a full tasting.

We got much more than just the wine tasting that we were expecting. The owners popped us into their people mover and drove us out to a couple of their vineyards to see their work-in-progress. Previous vintages have been made using a mix of their own grapes plus some bought from local farmers but now they are planting their own vineyards to be as self sufficient as possible.

The first vineyard we visited was only planted last year and consists of Susumaniello grapes. Even this year you could see tiny grapes but it will be two or three years before the first harvest is possible.

These vines are being trained by the Guyot method - developed by Jules Guyot in 1860s and now found all over the world, especially Burgundy.

Next stop was a vineyard they planted with Susumaniello two years ago. It was previously a barren field which they converted into a viable field using heavy machinery, including one we nicknamed the rock muncher when they did the same to a field next to us some years ago [Rock Muncher].

Our hosts Mino Zanzariello and wife Alma giving us the background to this field and their plans.

The first year vines having reached the first wire were then bent through 90° to run along to the adjacent vine and trimmed off there. The effect is a linear grapevine running the entire length of the row at about 80 cm off the ground. The shoots from that horizontal line will be trained upwards to the second row of wires from which the grapes will hang and be harvested. This creates a canopy of foliage to protect the grapes from the sun.

They explained that they had several small plots around the area including an established one at their trulli. This will be where they will be holding their tastings in future but as they are currently renovating it, including turning a large cisterna into a tasting room, we were were not able to visit that property.

They do not have a winery as their friends press the grapes, do the first fermentation and bottling for them.

Back at the cantina these are stacks of the wine quietly undergoing the second fermentation which generates the bubbles.

There were rows and rows of bottles standing on their heads in special racks called pupitres exactly as we had seen in Champagne. These are wines that are rotated regularly and tilted each time so that the yeast gradually works its way down into the neck of the bottle. A process known as riddling (remuage in French).

The bottoms of the bottles have a chalk mark so that when doing the rotations it is possible to tell which ones have been processed and how far. Although their production is relatively small (50k bottles per annum) they told us that the place was too small and they are looking for new premises.

Mavù Verdeca Vino Spumante Pas Dosé Valle d'itria IGP. 12%.

Finally back into the tasting room for the first of the three styles they produce: zero dosage (no added sugar) and 100% Verdeca.

Mavù Susamenello Rosato Vino Spumante Pas Dosé Valle d'itria IGP. 12%. 

Next step their rosé, 100% Susamenello.

There was a selection of nibbles to go with the tasting.

Mavù Maresco Bianco Vino Spumante Pas Dosé Valle d'itria IGP. 12%.

Third in the tasting, 100% Maresco. It is an ancient, rare white grape native to the Puglia region of southern Italy, specifically the Itria Valley near Locorotondo. For decades, Maresco was an "unofficial" variety. Because it was so rare and only found in small quantities in old, mixed vineyards, it was not initially included in the Italian National Registry of Vine Varieties.

Fascinating to taste three different grapes vinified the same way. We liked all three so had to buy two of each.

Wine Tasting - Montemarcuccio

Cisternino, Puglia, Italy. Thursday 28-May-2026.

We first tasted Montemarcuccio‘s Prima Filari in Osteria Bell’Italia. It was so tasty we went hunting for it in the local supermarkets but were unable to find any. We then learnt that, at the time, they only supplied to the trade. However, our friend Chris was able to make direct contact and persuade them to sell her a case to split with us. Then we learnt that the mother of the family ran a dress shop in nearby Casalini and that if we went to the shop we could buy their wine there.

Fast forward a couple of years and Montemarcuccio built a tasting room a couple of kilometres out of town. We used the occasion of friends visiting to book a tasting. The tasting was lead by Antonio, the son of the family.

Served with salami, cheese and taralli.

1. Fós Bianco Frizzante Valle D'Itria IGP 11%.

Made from a blend of Verdeca, Bianco d'Alessano and Minutolo. Very refreshing.

2. Fós Rosato Frizzante Valle D'Itria IGP 11%.

No varietals specified.

3. Fós Primi Filari Verdeca Valle D'Itria IGP 12.5%.

Unsurprisingly we very much enjoyed this wine. We have been drinking a lot more Verdeca recently, this is a great example and one we regularly have at home.

4. Miranto Rosato Ottavianello Valle D'Itria IGP 12.5%.

The Ottavianello is an alias for the Cinsaut grape, a heat tolerant variety which makes it suitable for this area. The wine is named after the children of the family - Miranda and Antonio (who lead this tasting)

5. Elphis Red Ottavianello Valle d'Itria IGP 12.5%.

The same grape but in the full red version. Soft and fruity, we did not like this as much as the others.

Itrio Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

To quote their website, "The name Itrio recalls our land, the Itria Valley , but also celebrates the harmony of the trio of varieties that make up the blend: Ogliarola, with its delicate and soft taste, Toscanina, which gives elegance and intensity and Cellina di Nardò, which gives depth and character." We tasted this oil on bread and it was lovely.

Their full range displayed.

Of course we could not leave empty handed and came away with a couple of bottles.

City Break - Lecce

Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Friday/Sunday 22/24-May-2026.

We wanted to be in Lecce on the Sunday for Cortili Aperti (Open Courtyard). Rather than drive down to Lecce and back for parkrun on Saturday and then do it all again on Sunday we decided to treat ourselves to a little mini break and halve the drive time. We booked ourselves an economically priced room 15 minutes walk from the old town rather than pay top dollar to be in the centre.

Friday 22-May-2026. 

Checked into the apartment then went out for a walk round town, a aperitive on the main street for people watching and a supper at Restaurant Pezzetto.

Saturday 23-May 2026.

Salento 23/05/26 29:26 [12/28]

On Saturday morning we enjoyed an extra hour in bed and a 20 minute drive instead of our usual hour and ten minutes. 

One of the visitors was an Australian who was staying in Lecce and had got up horribly early to get a bus to somewhere near parkrun. So we offered him a lift back into town where he could get some much-needed sleep having been out drinking late the night before.

The afternoon was spent wondering about the town including the fascinating Faggiano Museum. A fascinating home-turned-museum, where sewerage excavations led to the chance discovery of previous occupations all the way back to the Messapian culture of the 5th century BC, Roman crypts, medieval walls, Jewish insigna and Knights Templar symbols in the rooftop tower. The house itself dates to the 12th century and was used for a period as a convent.

Mary spotted boards in the Roman amphitheatre indicating that it was either now open to the public or would be soon. Previously it could only be viewed by looking down into it from street level but we saw this too late to investigate but resolved to check it out later.

Then we had an interesting wine and food tasting at La Strada Del Vini. As the nibbles were not too large we were able to squeeze in a light supper later that evening at Tranquillo.

Sunday 24 May 2026.

Sunday was Cortili Aperti in Lecce. A bit like Open House in the UK but in Lecce's case it is their fabulous courtyards that are opened to the public. Hidden behind the huge wooden doors of many of their palazzi (grand houses) are lush gardens, ornamental architecture and evidence of previous epochs, even going back to Messapian times (7th to 3rd centuries BC). 

We last visited Cortili Aperti in 2011 and it was a delight to return. We planned a morning timetable taking in some of the most interesting buildings combined with dance, music and theatre performances.

First stop Marcelline Institute of Culture and Languages promising "Scenes from a 19th-century ball, featuring dances and costumes typical of the Romantic bourgeois period." There was a real Jane Austin vibe about the whole event.

Unfortunately our planned itinerary all went awry when the performance in our first stop started more than 30 minutes later than timetabled. But it was worth the wait, especially as, unexpectedly, a friend from parkrun was performing.

Onwards to continue our itinerary. Several of the houses had live music.

Castello Carlo V, one of the most important monuments in Lecce, constructed in the Norman era (10-12 AC) and actively used since, transformed into a barracks late 19th century and now a museum. Suitably imposing fortress with square towers and sharp angles - about as unwelcoming as they could be.

Between 10am and 1pm we saw around a dozen buildings or courtyards, walked about 6km and then we were done.

As there was a break in the programme between 1pm and 4pm, it was time for a lovely lunch and a rest in the Giardini Publici before heading back to the car and Cisternino.

Back home we went for a sundowner at Quirico and were treated to a religious parade for Maria Ausiliatrice (Mary the Helper) down the street. A procession of the devout.

Followed by the Madonna on an electric float then a brass band. Apparently to be followed by a solemn mass.

Finally supper at home. A cracking weekend.