geeteetravels

This was another tourist day with some riding, not too demanding distance wise but with some good climbs.
To start the day we were challenged to get out of Castro as it is a maze of switch backs to get away. One helpful signore suggested lugging our bikes down some stairs as that would be the easiest in the long run. We didn’t follow his advice but in the end that would have been best.
We stopped very shortly after Castro at the Grotto Zinzulusa for a tour. This is a dry cave that you enter on foot unlike many that dot this coastline. Unfortunately all the guided tours were in Italian and although we have improved in the past few weeks we are still only at the “un poco” stage, we didn’t get any of the jokes. However it was still interesting to see.
Then we made our way up the coast towards Otranto. The scenery was spectacular with plunging cliffs and the bluest water you can imagine. There were lots of spots where people had found a little bit of beach or maybe a big rock to sit on by the water.
We made it to our B&B but somehow out reservation was lost but the owner had one room left that could sleep 4 so we took it. The owner is lovely, her name is Anna, she was worried that we weren’t happy with the accommodation but we assured her it was fine. She spoke very slowly so mostly we can understand her Italian which is nice.
We went for another dip in the sea and explored the old city. The basilica had interesting mosaic tiled floors but they were of fierce looking animals and warriors which seemed unusual for a church.
We found a charming garden restaurant for dinner. Again Tara had some trouble finding a suitable meal without crostacea and had to settle for spaghetti and meatballs.

Mussolini managed to make a great aquaduct to Puglia and it is still used and commemorated.

Looking back out from the cave.

A moorish style palazzo on the coast.

The mosaic work was immense and a bit bizarre.

Tara clutching our beach mat while a swimming race is stalled out in Otranto port.

We rode to Leuca first thing today, it was only a few kms from the hotel. There are two points or punta on either side of the city, Ristola and Meliso. Both provide wonderful belvedere to take in the view up both sides of Salento, the heel of Italy. There are also many grotto dotting the coastline. The temperature was a bit more manageable today however the humidity was high and we were often dripping wet.
On the Punta Meliso there was a cattedrale, as usual, a lovely piazza and a lighthouse.
The ride up the coast was stunningly beautiful, very rugged cliffs and the bluest waters you can imagine. We did run into a thunder shower but after all the heat we found it refreshing. (It was nothing compared to the shower we were caught in last summer riding into Lugano on the cobblestone trail up a mountain pushing our bikes in cycling shoes.) There are many hidden caves and gorges where people can swim and dive from the cliffs.
Castro is a lovely little place with a marina and swimming area and a centro storico full of charming narrow streets with shops, bars, a cattedrale, a castle, and several viewpoints looking down at the newer part of town. Our host Maria at the bed and breakfast is also charming and had us park our 2 enormous bici in the front foyer saying “no problem”.
We had another nice dinner of pasta with sea food variations. Tara is struggling a bit around here as most food choices have shellfish. We are having to check menus carefully to make sure there’s something for her.

Caves carved out by the sea are all over the coast and boat excursions are popular.

An accessible inlet makes a great beach, and diving spots off the walls.

Late afternoon in a street in Castro Marina.

Looking over Castro Marina

Today’s ride took us right along the coastline to almost the tip of the heel of Italy, or Salento. Leuca is the city we are close to but couldn’t find anything suitable there for accommodations so we are staying at a beach hotel just outside of it. Parts of the route today reminded me of Maui with flowering trees lining the road and a few big hotels. Mostly it was somewhat rugged shores with many sunbathers out finding a spot to spend some time. The temperature was high again but the breeze off the water helped to keep us from overheating. This whole stretch of road appeared to be there for tourists. Many bars, restaurants small hotels, B&B’s, private beach areas, as well as the public open areas. The private ones are popular here. You can rent a couple chairs and a parasol for about 20$ and there’s also a bar, change rooms and washrooms. The open areas have nothing in terms of services but can also be quite beautiful.
We arrived quite early as it was only 48km today so were able to get into the sea to cool off. The water here is relatively warm so very easy to slip into and molto refreshing!

Packing up again after 2 nights in Gallipoli.

Taking one last lap around Gallipoli in the morning traffic.

The beach was across the road from our hotel, and yes I did go play on the huge inflatable slide.

It's a short leap from sea to table here.

Our accommodation here is in the old city which is an island connected to the rest of the city by a 16th century bridge and guarded by the Castello.  The old city is a maze of streets where it is not at all difficult to get lost. The city is completely occupied by homes and businesses however and it’s fascinating to see how it’s developed; layers going up, down and back from the streets, hidden walkways, staircases, terraces and gardens. The density is unlike anything we see at home. Some of the streets are dead ends and so become like small private piazzas, decorated eccentrically. And there are vehicles also using the narrow lanes; mostly Vespas but some small cars too. We saw numerous produce trucks selling to the inhabitants. There are small grocers and shops but maybe not enough. We visited more underground facilities here,  ipogeo (Greek for ipo-under and geo-ground), only these ones were for olive pressing, called frantoio. They aren’t in use any more but were until people didn’t need to burn oil for light. The oil produced here was not for consumption. The poor workers in these places had to work long hours and on Sundays, which was a special “dispensation” from the Pope (thanks a lot Pope) at the time, in order to ensure good commerce. The hypocrisy of that is astounding.
Later we visited the Castello di Gallipoli which has recently had restoration work. Prior to this it had been left to deteriorate. It was surprisingly excellent as there was reasonably good English translation and they had added some interesting contemporary art
exhibits. Our favorite rooms were the circular ones as they reflected and amplified the sound in unexpected ways.
Some of the art displays were by M. Pistoletto. There were some mirror paintings which gives an interesting and changing perspective to the viewer. There was also a display using limestone blocks called the 3rd paradise that was food for thought. It represented our natural existence in nature as the first paradise, our modern high tech comfortable existence as the 2nd paradise, and how we need to try to join the first 2 into the 3rd paradise in order to sustain our existence on the planet.

An "Ape" is a 3 wheeled utility vehicle very common here. Also it works well as a flower pot.

The cattedrale in the heart of the island

Looking down into an underground olive press, as described.

Inside the most secure and sonically interesting room in the Castello di Gallipoli

The 3 Paradise symbol in the courtyard of the castello.

Sorry, but here's another Cinquecento, an estate car with suicide doors.

Luckily today we had a short ride only as the temperature is remaining in the mid 30’s. Again we followed the coastal road which was very scenic but also rough. We are noticing that the infrastructure in this part of Italy can be lacking. Roads tend to be poor and there’s lots of garbage strewn about.
We went slightly inland to pass through Galatone and see a notable baroque style church built in the 17th century. The inside is undergoing restoration currently but we could still get a good look at it. The outside is very ornate looking in true baroque style.
Then back to the waterfront to the city of Gallipoli where we are staying right in the centro storico or old city full of narrow twisting streets with tall buildings where the GPS loses satellite contact and then we get lost for a bit. We eventually found ourselves again.
Once again we headed out to the beach to cool off as the thermometer reached 36 degrees. We bought a beach mat to sit on as we seem to be spending a fair bit of time there and we even found a spot for it on the bike.
For supper we found a nice but noisy spot on the waterfront and enjoyed a nice meal and a beautiful sunset.

Stunning view; people hiked down for an uncrowded beach

Have beach mat, will travel

Surviving the heat

It's still not hot enough apparently

Sunburn on my left cheek

Ionian sea sunset

Another hot day in the mid 30’s and 76 km to ride so we started fairly early to take advantage of slightly cooler temperatures. When we start our day we are always on the lookout for supermercati to fuel us for the ride. It seems like when we are in need of the store they are scarce and once we have our supplies then they are on every corner and today was no exception. I seem to be the one most worried about this so every time we go past yet another store someone else points it out to tease.
Most of the ride today was right along the beach with the beautiful azure water of the Ionian sea calling to us. It was very tempting but not practical to swim due to the need to get to our destination as early as possible and get out of the sun. However there were many people out enjoying themselves in the ocean but most use a parasol for shade. There are many sandy beaches on this side of the heel of Italy and the water is very shallow for a long ways out. This makes it ideal for small children to play also lots of people just wading to stay cool.
Once we got to Porto Cesareo and got settled into the hotel George and I did head to the beach to swim in the sea. It is very refreshing after riding in the hot sun. We don’t sun bathe though just stay long enough to dry off and do some people watching.
We had a nice supper that night at a restaurant overlooking the water. This is a beach resort city also so it has a nice beach front promenade past many restaurants and bars.
Back at the hotel we received a Skype video call at midnight from our daughter in Calgary telling us the battery was dead in the car. George helped her get it hooked up to the battery charger in our garage which included guiding her to open the hood. Within an hour or so she had the car running. Technology is amazing!

The seaside view all day today

Tara's office with dashboard. No hands!

At a beachside caffè stop. That's a giant aquasize class happening on the far side.

#notfoundathome This is an olive oil dispenser, either 4 or 5 euro/liter depending on quality (certified on the paperwork)

Things are heating up in southern Italy. Temperatures are now well  over 30C which is hot for cycling. Normally we try to get an early start and finish by 2pm or so but today’s ride was longer than usual (95km)so we didn’t arrive until 3:45pm. The ride itself wasn’t too demanding, all quite flat but still long and tiring in the heat. We go through a lot of water so have to keep replenishing our supply at bars and public fountains as we can only carry 1.5 litres.
We rode from inland at Matera to the other coast on the Mediterranean side and followed that along to Taranto. The scenery today was good for the first half through the hills then on the beach for a bit but eventually we were on a service road beside the freeway which wasn’t too exciting. It was pretty fast though and we had some wind to help us for a change. We were managing about 30 km/h most of the way. A notable thing we saw on our route was large fields of solar panels. This is definitely the place for that.
Taranto is an interesting city geographically as the old part of town is situated on an island of sorts with a small island sea on one side and several bridges to take you to other parts of the city. There are also lots of ferries, fishing boats and pleasure craft. Otherwise Taranto is quite an industrial looking city, a bit grungey in spots.
We stayed in a B&B that was a refurbished apartment on the 2nd floor so we just put the bike on the balcony where I also strung a clothesline in the hot sun.

We skirted rather than climbed Montescaglioso in the heat.

A lot of acreage being devoted to solar arrays

One of the two channels to go inland, this one with a swing bridge

A useful balcony

An arragonese castle in Taranto

We started the day by taking a short 10 km ride to the other side of the ravine across the gorge from Matera to get a view from there of the Sassi homes. Also on that side are caves that were also used as dwellings at one time, probably thousands of years ago. There was also a chiesa rupestre (rock church) built into one cave. As we are in Italy there are a number of these cave churches that also date back 1000 years or more, many containing ancient frescoes.
After returning from the other side of the gorge we did some more exploring in Matera. We started with a tour of a subterranean cistern that was discovered in 1980 approximately and explored more thoroughly 10 years later then developed to allow visitors in. We walked through it on elevated metal walkways. All around Matera there are these water collection systems underground as this is a dry and hot region, without lakes due to the porous nature of the limestone and volcanic tufo rock everywhere. Another word for these is ipogei. Apparently we can only see 30%, the other 70% is inaccessible. Then we walked through another more developed area of Sassi homes where there are many homes and businesses in the caves but completely and beautifully redone.
In the evening there was a continuation of last night’s festival going on, it appeared to be religious, but the entire center of the city was all lit up with lights, it almost looked like Christmas. The main pedestrian street was full of people put wandering with the friends and family. Very fun to be there.

Another blue sky morning over ancient Matera

Caves across the gorge from the city

All the open windows and doors are vacated sassi, slowly being renovated and reoccupied

A beautiful bride and her father(?) as seen from our balcony

This remarkable cistern system was full to the roof when in use, and the walls were plastered by hand with impermeable material.

Today’s ride was another hot one but much shorter (45km) and only a bit of climbing up into Matera.
Before leaving Gravina we rode over to the ancient Roman bridge. There were also remnants of an ancient village on one side. Unfortunately there is some graffiti on it. We have noticed that things aren’t always well maintained in this part of Italy. It’s a poorer region.
Next we rode to Altamura. Not too much to see see there, typical puglian city, but famous for its bread, which is rustic looking and made in large oddly shaped loafs but surprisingly is a white bread. It’s good but not exactly notable. There is a lot of wheat grown around here so they are making good use of it. The countryside looks somewhat like Saskatchewan with all the wheat and rolling hills.
We had a bit of time to explore Matera which has recently become famous for its “sassi” or stone houses, actually cave homes, that have been in use for 8000-9000 years. They are the oldest known dwellings that are still in use. The sassi are partly natural cave and partly excavated by people. The Matera Sassi became a UNESCO world heritage sight recently so tourism has grown tremendously in a short period of time. In the 1950’s the sassi were evacuated of it’s inhabitants due to disease and unhygienic conditions but now they are starting to be redeveloped into new homes and businesses. We were able to see what a typical cave home would have been like and how they had cisterns to collect water and snow. This is a fascinating place.

Tara on the Roman bridge before heading out of Gravina in Puglia

Puglia supplies most of the wheat for pasta in Italy (that's a lot)

Rob, at lunch in Altamura, chatting with a couple of guys who were fascinated by our mode of travel

Matera and some of the "sassi", houses excavated and then built upon

There is a festa every night it seems. The streets are packed and it's 10:30 in the evening.

Today started out feeling quite warm so it was worrisome as we had a fair distance to travel (76 km) and some climbing as well. The first city we came to was Andria. We stopped in a park to rest and were met with curiosity by several people (we find this happens often as the bikes are unusual to see). One elderly gentleman on a bicycle who spoke no English offered to guide us through the city to the road that would lead us to our next stop. We happily followed him as our own route on the GPS looked difficult through the old part of town. It was very interesting to follow and observe how he navigated through the traffic. We learned that we should be less polite and more assertive (still in a safe way) use our space on the road, be clear of our intentions, and the traffic will usually yield to us. In Italy the drivers don’t often follow the rules but they also don’t expect others to either, so in a way they are more aware. They also are less uptight, you see very little road rage.
We rode from sea level up to the Castel del Monte (castle on the mountain) so the name is a good clue that it will involve elevation gain. 540 meters to be exact and in a fairly direct route, no switch backs. Also we were riding away from the refreshing coastal breeze so it was a hot one.
The castle is stunning however, well worth the climb. It’s another castle built by Frederic II back around1200, he built a few in Puglia. This one is the most distinctive though, constructed in an octagonal shape and geometrically perfect. He apparently had an interest in mathematics.
From there we were expecting rolling hills but instead had another hard climb, up another 300 meters or so onto the Murgia plateau, now midday so even warmer, about 30C. But eventually we got to have a free ride down off the plateau and into Gravina.
Our hotel here is most interesting, sort of like a cave but finished inside, see pictures below. The owner Francesco recommended a restaurant and a bar that is 4 floors down in the subterranean zone. We were given a tour of the place by a lovely and enthusiastic young woman who spoke about as much English as we speak Italian, so not much. But with the help of Google translate we got a good tour.
Next we went for our dinner at Osteria del Murgia. It was a memorable meal as the waiter and the owner brought us many things to try and we never saw a menu. The owner spoke English well and checked in on us regularly through the evening giving explanations about the foods. A delightful evening.

Our fellow cyclist and guide through Andria

Sorry, can't resist a beautiful green Fiat 500 (say ching-kway-chain-toe)

The octo towered octogonal Castel del Monte

More Castel on just another hot sunny day

Italians have been making plumbing and stonework for more than 2000 years and it shows

A nice B&B for 70 euro a night. Space for the bikes is a bonus.