October 20, 2024
Ogling Ostuni
Yes, another day off for the team. We started last night with a stroll thru the old town (where our hotel is) to find a restaurant. Marjory had picked one out which offered gluten-free options, so we went looking. Kind of a weird entrance down some threatening stairs, then through some caves into a wonderful small room with just one other table.
A wonderful meal, but I sent back the house Primitivo and asked for an upgrade. They came back with a superb version, and a large glass each. "The squeaky wheel..."
The next day we decided to explore the town a bit after the rain had subsided. Easy to get lost in the rabbit warren of streets, and the tourists had begun to flock.
Lots of cute alleys and entrances to residences that looked mysterious.
Ostuni has a population in the winter of 32,000 and in the summer of approx. 200,000. We are on the cusp of the off-season, but there were clearly lots of people still around.
Although still cloudy, the surrounding countryside was a wonderful sight from such a high viewpoint. You can see the sea in the distance - we are looking east at this point.
Always fun to check out the real estate windows, and we think this is that estate we saw down below when first entering the town yesterday. It looks like the asking price is about 2.1 million CAD.
Fun to gaze at the route we will take tomorrow, basically down the hill straight towards the ocean, then turn left and travel along the coast to Monopoli.
When it was time for a cappuccino break, we went back to the central square and watched people for a while. Funny that just after we sat down, a girl sat down behind us who we had met yesterday at this same spot when we rode into town prior to the cloudburst. She is an Ozzie travelling by herself and we traded some dinner ideas with each other.
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I actually tried some of the famous Ostuni olive oil during lunch, and oi vay, it is really flavourful. Very different - maybe because it is 2,000 yr old? Anyway, it sure beats the Costco Extra Virgin stuff we normally have.
Back to the hotel for a quick break after lunch and thought we would check out the hotel verandah. Fun to see all the laundry out on a windy day. Other peoples' laundry is always fascinating to me!
I actually agreed to go see a church(!), and was able to see the organ pipes close up. Usually they are up so high you cannot see them at this range. I had never noticed the little side flaps on the pipes before. For a "horn effect" perhaps?
Walking around the old town edges, every time there is a view there is a cafe or bistro.
I told Marjory that it is easy to landscape when you have no grass to cut!
You can't really get lost. After many twists and turns, you seem to wind up close to where you started, rather an Alice in Wonderland experience.
We have opined that the little cars make it easy to pass us on the road without mowing us down, and also allow them to enter these tiny alleyways that look like sidewalks. But this....this is the smallest car we have seen, and Marjory says because of the colour this is the car she would buy when we get that estate we saw for sale. Do you think we could fit our bike rack on the back?
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5 hours ago
Much to the chagrin of the Puglia Cycle emergency response line on a Sunday, we decided to change the last couple of days of our itinerary. Instead of going to Polignano a Mare right away, we decided to stay in Monopoli for a couple of days. Monopoli is right on the way, is much bigger than Polignano, so we will stay there for two days, then bike to Polignano and stay in Polignano for two days. Got that? Pulia Cycle made it happen. On a Sunday. Great service!
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