A Day Off The Bikes In Vieste

We slept in a bit and then after breakfast we ventured out to do some shopping and run a few errands. After dropping our purchases off at our room we set out to explore the centro storico. We crossed the entrance to Via Monte Grappa. Nineteen years ago we climbed the real Monte Grappa in Northern Italia on bikes. The two share one feature, they are steep as heck!



The old time Italians built their towns on high places that were difficult to attack. Here is the way you would have to go to get to church on Sunday.



Here is a view from the old town looking at the limestone pinnacle in front of our hotel.





There is a local artist, Crisciello, who is fascinated with archaeology. He has taken symbols and shapes from neolithic art and used modern materials and colors. Many of his pieces decorate our hotel. Here is a mural of his in town.



For dinner we went to a restaurant we had seen the night before. It had a wonderful bruschetta of toasted bread with gorgonzola, with anchovies, and with grilled vegetables. We also ordered one of our favorite antipasti dishes, prosciutto and melon which is a wonderful blend of flavors.



As we ate a large party entered the restaurant and we recognized one of the women was a local politician pictured on many posters in Vieste. It was election day and the group was celebrating an election win. It was fascinating to watch the comings and goings of the politicos and the reactions of the other diners in the restaurant.

Vieste is a lovely town and we wandered through the old town, the new town and the harbor area. Tomorrow we leave the Gargano peninsula, one of the national treasures of Italy.

A Beautiful Challenge

Sunday 15th of May you would think we were back in Greece as we rode the southern coast of the Promotorio del Gargano toward the town of Vieste at the end of this mountainous peninsula. The land rises steeply from the sea and the riding was hard work.



We climbed and descended over every headland, but the beauty and sense of discovery made it a fun day. It started out easy enough as we rolled out of Manfredonia along the beach which was active with sunbathers (the water still too cool for all but the kids). We can only imagine what a crowd it must be later in the summer. Parked by the beach was this motor tricycle. We didn't get to talk to the owner, but noticed the Washington state license plate.



Similar to last Sunday in Brindisi, there was a city bike ride in Manfredonia that we passed by on our way out of town. We were encouraged to join, but needed to go in the opposite direction.


We climbed many switchbacks and had views of terraces stretching from the cliff edge to the tops of the ridges. It is amazing to see the intensive use of such rugged land. We stopped for lunch just after Mattinata and when we had eaten, we found that Belinda's rear tire was flat. After we changed it we headed down the road and felt quite strong after the long climb in the morning. The Italian roads have wonderful grades and we felt that we could make it to Vieste an additional 30 km down the road.


Here is a view back along the coast showing all the headlands we came around. The peninsula is an uplift of limestone karst from 5 million years ago. It is topped by a forest of native trees (Aleppo pines) and is Italy's largest protected area. It also has caves where prehistoric people lived 30,000 years ago and made rock paintings.


As we got closer to Vieste the vistas of rock became more spectacular. There is a very long beach just south of the town which is on top of a huge karst. The rainclouds threatening all day began to look more ominous and we quickly decided on a motel. Here is the view from our balcony of a separate karst with the town looming above it.


We saw limestone karsts in Thailand in 2009, but they are always covered in jungle. We were exhausted at the end of the day, but we were very satisfied. It had been a day of challenges overcome and a day of great beauty. As soon as we settled in it was beer o'clock, and over our beers we decided the next day would be a rest day in Vieste.

Easy Bicycling, Frustration With The Internet

Let us say straight up, we have been having technical problems with the our blog and with connectivity. We know that some of you have noticed abnormalities like disappearing posts and duplicate posts. We think (not really sure yet) that we have those things fixed. We can not explain the connectivity problems, but today in Manfredonia there is no problem connecting to the web. There has been one other technical glitch. Dave forgot to adjust there light balance on his camera after taking pictures indoors. Many of our pictures from the last few days just don't look right.

On Thursday, we rode away from Monopoli after saying goodbye to Marco. It was a wonderful visit and we know he has a bright future. Our goal for the day was to get around Bari, a large city with over 300,000 residents and extensive areas of industrial development. We had no concrete destination given the challenges of route finding. Around 2:30 we pulled over to the side of the road to make a plan and a young man noticed us and we struck up a conversation. His name was Vito and he soon invited us into his house and his wife served us some delicious ice tea. They had lived in California and Nevada for two years before returning to Italy. They recommended we stay in Bitetto and helped us get the name of a bed and breakfast.



We had a wonderful time at F.G. Bed and Breakfast. The proprietor fixed us a great dinner and gave us some good tips on selecting Grappa to drink. The next morning, Friday May 13, we had a great breakfast of prosciutto, provolone, and eggs. Then it was time to say goodbye and head for Trani.



On the way to Trani we did some sightseeing at a Neolithic site. The structure pictured is a dolmen, which is a burial chamber. There are four sites with Dolmen in the area south of Trani. We also saw this unusual roadsign; note we are only 3 miles (5 km) from the coast.


The day was going very well until we got into Trani. Then our plan imploded, failed, went out the window, and up in smoke. There was a huge conference in town and every bed and breakfast was booked. In desperation we stopped at a private post office for assistance. They called a hotel that was 2 km back and a room was found. This was the view of Trani as we rode back to the hotel.


One of the best things about our travels to date through the region of Puglia has been the people. You don't need to ask for directions, if you stop by the side of the road someone will stop and give you directions. They will also recommend sights to see and warn you about any road conditions. Today, Saturday May 14, we got an early start and had a great tailwind the whole day.


We rode on a moderately sized road close to the coast all day. Here is the little harbor at Margherita di Savoia. We got into Manfredonia around 4:00 and found a hotel that had been frequently advertised along the road. The Promotorio de Gargano looms above the town; it is the spur like region on the east side of the boot of Italy. It will be our challenge in the coming days.

Sightseeing in Monopoli

After getting a room on Tuesday night, it was time to explore the old town of Monopoli with Marco and his parents, Antonio and Rosa.






Monopoli has an impressive Romanesque cathedral. It has a famous Byzantine icon from the 13th century.





The marble columns were made of sheets of marble that had been cut across the grain to create a mirror image.





We went to a restaurant run by one of Antonio's friends and the dinner was excellent. The next day, Wednesday May 11, we headed out with Marco on bicycles to see the next walled town along the coast, Polignano. It is built right on the rocks.





Marco also gave us a history lesson about the area. The southern part of Italy was ruled by powerful Spanish families from around 1100 A.D. until the reunification of Italy in 1861. These families built walled towns that are the centro storicos of the modern towns. We had a great bike ride, but soon it was time to have the world's best gelato in Monopoli at the recommendation of our tour guide.





The day ended with a fabulous meal prepared by Rosa and great conversations with Antonio. Rosa made Orchietta, the traditional pasta of the region of Puglia, with turnip greens and garlic. We also had a lasagna made with zucchini and mozzarella, real parmigiana cheese, smoked salmon, and a fresh fish cooked in olive oil with parsley and lemon that was divine. Marco's sister Maria Elena joined us after she got off from work.






We finished the evening with Grappa and toasted the friend that brought us together, Julie.





The hospitality of the Mammella family was unsurpassed. We feel enriched for having met them.

To Monopoli And Our Visit With New Friends

When we got to Alberobello on Monday May 9, we splurged on a fancy hotel to be in walking distance of the centro storico (historical center). Here is the view from our balcony.



There are little pockets of trulli like this throughout the town but the centro storico is almost all trulli including the only trulli cathedral in the world. When we got settled into our room, we did some chores and then set out to find a market to replenish our lunch supplies. We wandered into a salumeria wondering what the heck a salumeria was. It turned out to be just the ticket! We bought salami, cheese (strong cheese for traveling), and a bottle of wine. They also had these beautiful cured hams.



We then strolled around the old town. Soon we noticed that the sky was looking pretty threatening.



We made it to a nice restaurant just as the downpour began. We went back to the hotel to discover that all the laundry that Belinda had hung out to dry on the balcony was soaking wet. Fortunately it mostly dried hung on the heating radiator over night. The next day, Tuesday May 10, we headed towards the Grotto Castellana, a famous cave in the area. It was discovered in 1938 and is over a mile long. Here is the chamber into which we descended into the cave.



There are different fungi in the cave that color the formations. Our guide described one vividly red and brown formation as pancetta (bacon).



After the cave, we headed down the road to Monopoli to meet up with our friend Marco. There were many large villas on the road to Monopoli. Some were decaying and others were in great condition, but they all had a large gate and fence.


We arrived in Monopoli and stopped at a local bike shop for assistance. A very nice man called Marco and he and his father, Antonio, came and guided us to their home. Now it was time to see Monopoli!

A Ride Into An Architectural Fairyland - Ostuni to Alberobello

It started raining during the night and was still raining as we ate breakfast. When we set out there was a break but it looked temporary. As it turned out, we began to see gaps in the clouds and it never did rain on us throughout our ride. The countryside was pleasantly rolling. The hills were just enough to keep things interesting. It is mixed agricultural land, olive orchards, grains, and vegetable plots.

At first we were seeing more examples of the funny little houses we started seeing the day before.



By and by we saw our first trullo, farm houses built with unmortared conical stone roofs.



As we rode north the trulli became increasingly frequent, sometimes there were large compounds of them.



In the meantime, we stopped for lunch in Cisternino, and we had guess what? Pizza! It was tasty, but more importantly, we discovered a Italian beer that was actually good ( we previously had held a poor opinion of Italian beers).



When we got to Alberobello we splurged on an expensive hotel to be near the old town center. Once upon a time, during the 15th century, farm buildings were not taxed, and trulli were farm buildings. Therefore, the Count GianGirolamo Acquaviva D'aragona decreed that all the houses of Alberobello would be trulli so that he could avoid paying taxes to the king of Naples. We had great time wandering around the trulli of Alberobello.



Tomorrow we will tour the caves of Castellana and then ride to Monopoli, where we will meet Marco, a friend of our friend Julia. Marco promises us a walking tour of Monopoli, and the best gellato in the world!

The Ferry Rides and 1st day in Italy

We had two ferry rides totalling 19 hours with a 5 hour layover in Patra. The layover was enjoyable due to all the activity in the port. We watched two giant super fast ferries come in and unload a ton of trucks and reload with a ton of trucks.


The port authorities have a problem with illegal immigrants in Greece attempting to get into the rest of the E.U. via a boat from Greece. We watched a half dozen young men climb over the fence and barb wire into the port, attempt to get near a boat or truck, and get chased back over the fence by the port authorities. All cargos were inspected and all papers are checked before anyone can board a ferry. It was a really interesting scene.



We failed to sleep much last night and were definitely "ferry lagged" when we rode into the walled town, Brindisi.


However, we found a small cafe open, had cappuccinos, and ham and cheese stuffed pastries, changed into cycling gear and started to ride out of town. There was a local Sunday ride occurring and a lot of bikes were on the road.


After a frustrating hour spent searching for the quiet road out of town, we hailed another cyclist and were told we were in the right spot. The road was on the coast and soon we were directed onto a percorso cicloturistico, which was a bicycle route in the direction we were headed, but on roads so small they weren't on our map.



It was delightful riding and the occasional local motorist would wave or give a positive beep of their horn. We saw these unusual stone structures alongside the road. They were stone houses developed in this area of Italy and are known as trullo.




The roofline eventually became quite stylized and the most famous of these structures are in Alberobello, 43 km away.


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