We arrived in Bari this morning and our plan was to go south to Lecce where we would spend the night.
On the way we wanted to see the towns of Alberobello and Ostuni.
We made our way south towards Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage site for its unusual districts of trulli. “A trullo is a small dwelling built from the local limestone, with dry-stone walls and a characteristic conical roof which you'll see dotted around this part of Puglia, sometimes in its most basic form used as a kind of shed among the olive groves. The story behind Alberobello, once a town of trulli alone, was to fiddle taxes and fool the authorities. The local feudal lord, Count Acquaviva, moved his peasant workers here to clear woodland and cultivate the land. To wriggle around laws and taxes, it was important that Alberobello didn't class as an inhabited settlement. So until 1797, when Alberobello was finally given 'town' status, the people had to live in trulli, which could be dismantled in a hurry when necessary.”
We then made our way to Ostuni, “The White City”. “Built atop a hill to protect from invaders, Ostuni is a certifiable labyrinth. A maze of alleyways, staircases and arches, of houses built upon houses, of hundreds of years of history laid out before you in a way no map can truly explain or capture. Dead ends and pretty little gardens, glimpses of the Adriatic sea, green doors and bright blue skies; everything and nothing may lie around the next corner you take.
Ostuni is a city for explorers, and a place to be devoured slowly over a couple of days.”
We only had a couple of hours so we tried our best. It was quite hot and moving slowly with traffic with high temperatures is not ideal for us not for the GSA so we eventually “got ourselves out of Dodge” and rode to the closest marina to get the sea breeze and also to have a good lunch.
Finding hotel for the evening was not easy as it seems the whole of Italy takes vacation on the Adriatic coast.
We eventually found a city far from the sea that had availability for the night and it turned to be a blessing in disguise.
Excellent stop for the evening, Foggia offered us an extraordinary evening.
We walked its old streets and saw the main sites, the three doors to the city and a number of churches. The highlight was the visit to the cathedral that had a service which we enjoyed even though we did not understand much.
For dinner we went to one of the best restaurants in the city and when we got in, the lady said we did not have to choose anything as they had a number of Italian dishes for us to sample. After the 10th one we called it quits and asked to move to the dessert. I believe we missed 2 dishes.
The food was phenomenal and we will always remember Foggia as one of the places we have had a spectacular meal. The highlight for me was a dish made with 3 different cheeses.
In the end the very hot weather together with Italian vacation traffic dissuaded me from going to Lecce but in the end we are happy we made our way closer to Milan. It will make upcoming travel days easier.
Make Life a Ride !
Facebook post with some photos of the day
Click HERE to see all the photos and videos of DAY 17 !
On the way we wanted to see the towns of Alberobello and Ostuni.
We made our way south towards Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage site for its unusual districts of trulli. “A trullo is a small dwelling built from the local limestone, with dry-stone walls and a characteristic conical roof which you'll see dotted around this part of Puglia, sometimes in its most basic form used as a kind of shed among the olive groves. The story behind Alberobello, once a town of trulli alone, was to fiddle taxes and fool the authorities. The local feudal lord, Count Acquaviva, moved his peasant workers here to clear woodland and cultivate the land. To wriggle around laws and taxes, it was important that Alberobello didn't class as an inhabited settlement. So until 1797, when Alberobello was finally given 'town' status, the people had to live in trulli, which could be dismantled in a hurry when necessary.”
We then made our way to Ostuni, “The White City”. “Built atop a hill to protect from invaders, Ostuni is a certifiable labyrinth. A maze of alleyways, staircases and arches, of houses built upon houses, of hundreds of years of history laid out before you in a way no map can truly explain or capture. Dead ends and pretty little gardens, glimpses of the Adriatic sea, green doors and bright blue skies; everything and nothing may lie around the next corner you take.
Ostuni is a city for explorers, and a place to be devoured slowly over a couple of days.”
We only had a couple of hours so we tried our best. It was quite hot and moving slowly with traffic with high temperatures is not ideal for us not for the GSA so we eventually “got ourselves out of Dodge” and rode to the closest marina to get the sea breeze and also to have a good lunch.
Finding hotel for the evening was not easy as it seems the whole of Italy takes vacation on the Adriatic coast.
We eventually found a city far from the sea that had availability for the night and it turned to be a blessing in disguise.
Excellent stop for the evening, Foggia offered us an extraordinary evening.
We walked its old streets and saw the main sites, the three doors to the city and a number of churches. The highlight was the visit to the cathedral that had a service which we enjoyed even though we did not understand much.
For dinner we went to one of the best restaurants in the city and when we got in, the lady said we did not have to choose anything as they had a number of Italian dishes for us to sample. After the 10th one we called it quits and asked to move to the dessert. I believe we missed 2 dishes.
The food was phenomenal and we will always remember Foggia as one of the places we have had a spectacular meal. The highlight for me was a dish made with 3 different cheeses.
In the end the very hot weather together with Italian vacation traffic dissuaded me from going to Lecce but in the end we are happy we made our way closer to Milan. It will make upcoming travel days easier.
Make Life a Ride !
Facebook post with some photos of the day
Click HERE to see all the photos and videos of DAY 17 !
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