sundriedpachino

AZ I think your instinct is right: one trullo, two trulli.
There is another gelateria across P. Garibaldi, don't remember the name, but the gelato there is also VERY good. Take one cone, add a dollop of whipped cream, then chocolate gelato, then coffee gelato. Dip the whole thing in a vat of sweet (real) whipped cream, and you can't imagine how decadent that is!

We enjoyed the nightly passeggiata in Polignano on Sept 29 and 30. Even Sunday night, one feels there must be a great celebration going on, there are so many families out enjoying focaccia and gelato.

Did you have a chance to enjoy the focaccia in Matera? That would have slowed down your biking for a day or two. It's also so good, with various toppings, lovely tomatoes, olives, potato slices and artichokes, etc. We munched it all the way to Salerno.

After whizzing through by car, and now reading your account, I'm thinking that travelling by bike might be the nicest way to see Puglia.

AlessandraZoe

Sundried--Yeah, I think you're right. One website was telling me one thing about trulli/trullo, and given your nudge, I explored more sources. Thanks for helping me out--and for doing so in such a tactful way.

No, I didn't try focaccia in Matera. Did try gelato in three places.

We weren't really hungry there--we were just exhausted after 20+ hours of straight travel, and we knew we'd have some high caloric meals coming up. We were very worried about making our meeting time on Sunday, especially after we checked with our B&B owner and the tourist center and their responses were less than reassuring. No one could promise us a driver for Sunday, and we just wanted to enjoy our stay without a little voice saying, "You won't get there in time, you won't get there in time."

Matera WAS where we started munching on taralli, and now I fear we're addicted. I promise to add a separate entry on taralli at the end. I've been testing recipes

annhig

I nostri trulli
Soggiornare nel Rione Monti è davvero una soluzione esclusiva per visitare Alberobello…vivere l'esperienza di dormire in un trullo>>

i found this on the "Trulli di Puglia" website - il trullo, i trulli.

great TR, Alessandra - and who cares about italian grammar?

macdogmom

Could you possibly give me a link to your bicycle group? We've never done this, but I loved that you could get bikes with upright handlebars! How far did you bike every day?

yestravel

OMG...those taralli are truly addictive...I couldn't stop eating them. I have to figure out where to buy them here.

AlessandraZoe

yestravel: Someone understands! Yeah!

I found some taralli in my local Italian store, but they were the boring type, not that great "pie crust taste" type. I know a better Italian store about 40 more minutes away, and I think it's going to be my weekend field trip. I've been searching various ones online, too. I've ordered four different types, and if any of them are good, I'll send links!

Right now, I'm looking for the right recipe. Tried two and hated them; think this third is a winner. Will post results at the end of the report.

Macdogmon--I was going to leave this until the end of the report,too, but this specific Puglia trip was with Backroads (www.backroads.com) and it so happened this specific week was the "casual" version--which means our accommodations were a little below their regular standards. We don't pick out Backroads trips by "premium" or "casual" level, though. Instead, we only pick by the dates/location we can make a trip work. Well, anyway, there's a premium version depending on the date you can travel if you would prefer. The routing is slightly different, I've noticed.

Note, we've been able to get upright handlebars with all companies with which we've biked on our 17 cycling trips with various tour companies. We've biked with DuVine, VBT, Bike Vermont, and one "deceased" company in addition to Backroads. At the end of this report, I'll go into detail again about how these things run and which companies we prefer and why.

yestravel

Perfect description of them "pie crust taste."

AlessandraZoe

<b>Trip Report Continued: Cisterino to Ostuni Leg</b>

Ok--I'm going to admit it. A shuttle up one hill at the beginning of the day's ride was offered, and I took it.

I have no "uppy" anymore because arthritis in my hands, hips, knees, feet and now shoulder is slowly destroying opportunities to gain/regain aerobic capacity. Getting ON my bike is quite a feat, and getting off of it is an even greater challenge. Therefore, I just haven't found how to create some training program for myself for my "new" old body, and hills are quite the challenge for me now.

The good news is that muscle memory is an amazing thing.

Aware that once I got up the big climb, I could warm up enough to take on anything, I took that shuttle and then zoomed off. Within 20 minutes, the old calves started saying, "Hey, we remember this!" and I felt really strong. The temperature was perfect--around 65 degrees with low humidity--so my mind was doing a happy dance.

I climbed up to the "parks level" of Cisterino, a town that parts of which are white-washed gorgeousness, got myself a cappucino to go, and took in the views of Valle d'Itria below. Now THIS is what it's all about.

Managing to get astride the bike without drawing a crowd (I told you it's a process), I zoomed off towards Ostuni. Low and behold, a rider came upside me--yep, my husband. Mr. Zoom had NOT taken the offered shuttle, had stopped for TWO expressos, and had otherwise lollygagged enough so that we were able to cycle together for a bit.

We got lost for a bit on the way to Ostuni, mainly because I believed my husband when he said the turn to the left HAD to be it. This is not bragging--I rarely get lost. When I do, it's for something like 100 yards. In fact, it's one of the reasons I like to cycle by myself because it keeps me very focused on my surroundings. My husband is impatient by nature and tends to skip ahead; therefore, he frequently gets lost. But because biking 15 miles out of the way is not a physical challenge for him, then who cares? He tends to stop off and enjoy local color (aka--a beer) wherever he finds himself, so...

Anyway, we were able to chitchat with a lovely woman in her backyard who was very frustrated that we did not speak (and did not quickly learn) Italian when she knew her directions were so clear. Thanking her, my husband and I did a quick consult, and we figured that instead of backtracking the way we had become lost, we'd take a change that we were doing a loop back near the area we had gone wrong.

Worked perfectly, and we were off. A few so-called "rolling hills" that were more like "rolling steppes" and we found ourselves zooming on a practically empty highway up to Ostuni.

Ostuni is a really neat little town. All I had to do was get my cycle parked, find my husband, and head to lunch.

Pulling into the parking lot about ten or so minutes behind my husband, I found him at...a bar, of course. This was a little 7-11 type place just to the right of the parking lot, <b>The Blue Eyes Snack Bar</b>, with another Italian dynamo, Vincenzo (Mr. Blue Eyes himself), behind the bar. If you need a good tall one and a clean restroom, I recommend it. It's situated near the recyling bins, and Vincenzo has worked out a system where people can come in and pay off their utility bills. Of course, then they buy lottery tickets, then they have an expresso or a beer, and then...

Love business theory in action. Vincenzo speaks rather good English, sings to himself, "I love my job", and would certainly be able to provide local tips, directions if needed.

Anyway, husband and I were trying to find something off of the main drag for lunch in this hilltop city--and we didn't consult Vincenzo. We were hoping for a view, but didn't like what we saw. We explored more on the way to the cathedral. No, no, and no.

We happened on this tiny, cave-like restaurant, where they said they'd seat us. Considering how upscale it was and how dirty I was--I wore bike grease on my legs as an ongoing fashion statement for most of the trip, I was rather surprised at how graciously we were treated.

Well, turns out, this restaurant is rather well known: <b>Osteria del Tempo Perso</b> http://www.osteriadeltempoperso.it/index.htm
We just didn't know about it.

Our bread, our house wine, our pastas of the day were divine. My husband really is not a pasta eater--beer and coffee are the only non-nutritional things he consumes--so when he said that he'd eat his dish every day for the rest of his life, that tells you a lot.

We happily left Ostuni, and we made our way back via mostly backroads to Pezze di Greco with a side stop option to the beach at Torre Canne. The weather was finally whipping up, and we headed straight back to our masseria.

Dinner that night was at our masseria. Food was OK, not great. At least it was preceded by a wine tasting with the unforgettable Mimmo of various negroamaro and primativos of Puglia.

Next entry: <b>Coast to Coast Ioanian Sea to Adriatic Sea</b>

annhig

alessandra - the Osteria menu certainly looks great.

how many kms were you doing per day?

AlessandraZoe

Thanks Annhig for the grammar comment on your previous response. So kind.

Daily trip km/miles varied quite a bit, and of course daily options varied it more.

--First day was only 21.5km/13.3. Then again, one isn't starting until after lunch on the first day.
--Next day was 62.7km/38.9m, but one could shuttle right back to the hotel after lunch and only do 37.7km/23.5m.
--Third day varied between 30.9km/19.2 miles to 60.9km/37.8m.
--Fourth day was between 37.3km/22.9 miles to 81.8km/50.3 miles.
--Fifth day varied from 47.5km/29.2 miles to 92.8km/57.1 miles.
--Last day--a little bitty ride in the area--was just 15.2km/9.3m.

Believe me, one could make all of the above SHORTER or on any day LONGER. Again, an arranged tour like this has the distinct advantage of allowing people with different cycling abilities to travel together. For example, if my two girls, my husband and I had done this trip five years ago, this is what would have happened:
--My oldest daughter would have left the parking lot before the other guests even thought about it, done the long option(s), and would have been showered before anyone got back.
--My youngest daughter and my husband would have cycled together. They may or may not have done all the long options, but they WOULD have made two expresso stops and two beer stops, plus stopped for roadside berries, before the end of the day. They would have arrived back at the hotel around 1 hr behind oldest daughter.
--I would have sometimes cycled with the youngest and husband.
My pacing would not have been that far off--but I LIKE cycling by myself. I would have stopped for pictures, but also would have done at least one extra long option on a trip.

As you would have guessed, not all trips offer the same difficulty, even in the same company. Our New Zealand trip had a lot of long mileage with some significant climbs in places that would have made it hard for a person who didn't understand one's cycling limitations.

sundriedpachino

We missed the Osteria del Tempo Perso, as it was closed on Monday, but we did find Ristorante Porta Nova, which has a beautiful view and large windows.
The food was also very good. My large prawns were delivered on a plate covered with a glass dome, with steam swirling underneath. When the glass was removed, I had the wonderful fragrance of wood smoke to whet my appetite. I'm still wondering how they accomplished that.
After our meal, we also hunted around for a belvedere where we could get a view of the countryside, but our restaurant had the best. It does have the prices to match the view, though.

annhig

thanks, Alessandra - that's very helpful. I'm trying to persuade DH that he wants to go to Puglia or Sicily in the spring, and a cycling tour [at least for part of it] might help. However, i imagine that one of his reservations would be that he would always be waiting for me [though if he can do it in a bar, I can't see his problem].

and sorry about the grammar note!

AlessandraZoe

Annhig--Oh, don't worry. I didn't take it badly at all. I'm just trying to bang out this report because if I leave it, I won't do it.

Re planning to do one of these: I'm going to encourage you heartily along these lines. The difference in our athletic abilities was always a sticking point with my husband and me, even though he is a fantastic guy, loving husband, great father, etc. He'll spend hours in museums looking at art. He'll see documentaries. He'll happily take the girls dress shopping (and tear up whenever they come out in anything). He's a peach. But he is not patient athletically.

Case in point:
We were hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon when I was 38 or 39. As you may or may not know, one descends easily for the first few hours and then spends the remaining 2/3s of the hike managing to hike up. We just went out to Plateau Point, but that's 12.6 miles RT with an elevation gain of 4,390.

Ok--the kicker is I HAD HIKED THE DARN THING BEFORE! I knew the trail well. He did not. I was in better shape than I had been the first time. Yet he had the nerve to keep this blistering pace on the way up, stopping at switchbacks to "wait for me" and politely asking me "do you want me to carry your backpack?" And he never, ever got what he did wrong.

At the top, when I pointed out that we had just zoomed passed all the teens and 20-yr-olds on the trail. Did he have a pressing dentist appointment? A plane flight, perhaps? GRRRRRRR

So the very first "active" vacation we did was not cycling. It was hiking, and I booked it as my 40th birthday present. I was so happy. I'd start in the morning with the "slow" group, chat a bit, work my way to the "middle" group, chat a bit, and then be just fine getting with the "fast" group before we reached any summit. He could drive the guides crazy at the head (their job was to keep in front of him); I could enjoy my hike

And in fact, one night the guides did knock at my door and ask me if there was any way to slow him down. These guys did tours of Kilimanjaro, and they were upset! I told them, "I strongly suggest you cut his hamstrings."

So these types of trips really work well for our marriage. I do MY pace, my thing; he does HIS pace, HIS thing. My kids do THEIR thing. We all love/loved these things.

A lot of couples make this work by having the husband go ahead and then cycle back, go ahead and cycle back, so that's another option. I can tell you that these husbands are always happy on the trip--they get a lot of mileage in and don't have to talk to anybody on the road while their wives chit-chat happily with other people in the group.

annhig

lol, alessandra, i think that your DH and mine must have been twins separated at birth.

in the 35 or so years we've been an item, we've rarely hiked or walked together for more than 100 yards - he walks ahead, realises that I'm waaay behind him, waits impatiently for me until I catch up, then as soon as I get there, strides off again. However many times I ask him to walk more slowly he "forgets" within the first 5 minutes. When we're cycling, the same thing happens except he gets further ahead! Sri Lanka was rather different in that we actually got to walk together for a while - he was too hot to stride off.

AlessandraZoe

Then this type of trip is REALLY yours. We've "only" been married for 32 years, by the way.

tedgale

Bookmarking. Just started thinking today about Puglia in Spring 2013...

LJ

Have so enjoyed this report...we have family and friends in this area of Puglia and always encourage folks who are adventuresome-of-spirit, like you, to visit.

Just one thing, the town you loved is "CisterNino"...we know it well, it is where our dear friends Connie and Gianni (of Masseria San Martino fame) met many years ago...small world, isn't it?

AlessandraZoe

LJ--Thanks for catching that typo! I just noted a zillion others, too. Oh well, I hope everyone forgives me for them because I'm determined to finish this trip report, and I'm trying to keep my momentum.

Thanks for the compliment, too.

AlessandraZoe

<b> Trip Report Continued: Coast to Coast on the Heel of Italy </b>

For many in our group, today's cycling route was the entire reason they chose this Puglia trip. We would start the day at the Ionian Sea and end at the Adriatic. Of course this trip was doable because it was only 50 miles or so across with our routing, and it would be even less if one didn't have to cycle to our next hotel.

<i>I'm sure a good coast-to-coast route is probably available in various publications, including online. I've just done a quick search and couldn't find a link, but I'm sure it's available somewhere. If someone finds it, could you post? </i>

Even with the relatively short distance from coast to coast, we had to get to the opposite coast to begin our ride. We were shuttled from the Masseria San Martino southwest to the west coast seaside town of Santa Maria al Bagno, situated a bit above Gallipoli.

Although I never saw more of S. Maria al Bagno but for a coffee shop (in which I downed a double expresso and a cappuccino, plus made my final restroom visit) and the beachside street we traveled alongside before we finally climbed out of town, it looked cute. It made me want to plop by the sea and pull out my Kindle instead of killing my knees today. Instead, I made my way down the seawall near where our bikes were parked, officially dipped my toes in the Ionian Sea, took the requisite picture, and then headed out.

Adriatic or bust.

Hmm, my knees WERE killing me. And suddenly I was having problems getting up even small elevations. 50 miles was going to be awful. Then the light bulb went on--my seat had sunk just enough that I was putting pressure on my knees. So a few seat adjustments later, I was back on the road and the knees weren't shouting at me anymore.

In a matter of minutes, I came across an Austrian couple who was doing the same route, and we chitchatted for a bit. They were middle-aged, the man had a set of panniers, neither was wearing a helmet, and she was wearing a dress! The other people I'd meet along the way had some really "techie" bikes with equally "techie" clothing. No chatting with them--a quick "ciao" was the extent of the conversation as they zoomed past me.

It was a gorgeous day--sort of crisp in the morning, and the route had a lot of long stretches were I didn't have to think constantly about turn right at, turn left at, stuff. Felt good. After passing through such towns as Secli, Noha and Sigliano, I made it to our lunch spot in Corigliano d'Otranto.

Now here's a fun fact: The town of Corigliano is is one of the original nine towns of "Grecìa Salentina"--an area and now an official consortium of eleven towns where people spoke and some still speak a Greek dialect called "griko".

The only Greek my husband was speaking, though, was whatever word he was using for beer that day. I found him a few yards from the meeting spot downing a big one--and as soon as he saw me pulling up, he had one waiting for me. I love that guy.

Lunch was at the castle! The tour had engaged either the castle's catering or local catering for a lunch and it was fabulous. Lots of grilled vegetables. We thought we were in heaven.

Luckily, both my husband and I can inhale food, even seconds, so we were back on our bikes before our old muscles started cramping up. Now to the Adriatic Coast.

As I indicated above, I'm sure the average cycle route to the coast would have been much shorter since our specific route would take us up north just short of Torre Santa Stefano and then inland south to the west of Otranto until did our Adriatic toe-dip in Porto Badisco. My husband and I cycled together for a few miles, and for the first time, his attention to directions was on task and helpful. Our only wrong turn was corrected within yards, and then he zoomed ahead.

I've said it before on other threads--flat riding can be hard on the body. And flat riding with no directions to anticipate can get old, too. Muscles and mind need shifts. So when others welcome stretches of brainless biking, I don't. I'll take rolling hills any day. Even though we were cycling mostly on long stretches of beautiful back roads, I was losing my enthusiasm. And as we made the slow routing turn southward, a light headwind came into play. I'd rather do any hill than a headwind.

Plus there were no more beer stops. My husband texted me as I was about five miles away from the Adriatic toe dip that he was very disappointed that he had not found any good beer stops on the route. He intended to scout Porto Badisco for action once he got there and he'd let me know.

Sure enough, once I made the gorgeous descent into P. Badisco, I heard a shout. Said husband was on the front porch of a local establishment surrounded by new cronies. I cycled down to the sea, dipped my toes, and went back up to brewskis.

The locals informed us that the town was closing up for the season, and soon would be down to its mere 20 inhabitants. As some books I read had indicated, a lot of the summer people actually lived in Sicily during the rest of the year.

Others in our cycling group started descending into town, and I was able to give a few welcome swigs of beer from the giant bottles of Nastro Azzurro littering our table.

Time to get a mile or two up the hill to our next night's rest at <b>Masseria Panareo</b>.

This place's setting was simply gorgeous, as you can see from this image: http://tinyurl.com/9tzoqud. Dirty and filthy, in much need of showers, a lot of us cyclists just did not want to go in because the evening and views were so gorgeous. We therefore exhausted the hotels supply of the giant Nastro Azzuros, ate baskets of taralli, and then finally rushed off to shower before we took the tour shuttle into Otranto.

OK--practice this. Say Otranto WITHOUT emphasizing the SECOND syllable, just the first. Hard, right? I knew the correct way to pronounce it before I left the US, simply because I read Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" in college and our prof was nuts on the correct emphasis, but it really IS hard if one has never heard it before to correct one's inclination to emphasize the second syllable.

<i>By the way, old Horace is credited for having written the first Gothic novel, which would eventually lead way to Ann Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho" and to such great works as "Wuthering Heights" and to a sort of "hybrid" writing as found in "Jane Eyre" and years later in "Rebecca". "The Castle of Otranto" wasn't exactly well written, but can be forgiven because after all, it was breaking new ground. "The Mysteries of Udolpho", on the other hand, was so wretchedly written that Jane Austen had a great time writing her parody, "Northanger Abbey". </i>

Tonight, dinners were on our own. We arrived in town at about 7 pm or a bit later, and it was early for service to start in most restaurants. We were fading fast, so instead of trying to get in one of the recommended restaurants with a delayed start, we dipped into a nice little small place that was open. I'm sorry I can't remember the name. It was really small and cozy--perfect for our needs. We were able to finish early and explore the town at night. Very romantic. The lighting on the castle walls and the lights around the harbor area were just perfect.

Got the shuttle home and hit the hay. Big day coming up.

Next: <b>Dipping our heels into the heel of Italy at Cap Santa Maria di Leuca</b>.

AlessandraZoe

<b>Trip Report Continued: Dipping our heels into the heel of Italy at Capo Santa Maria di Leuca--and getting flashed along the way</b>

After a very nice breakfast in the beautiful setting of Masseria Panareo, we started out on the most gorgeous ride of the trip. We were heading to the southernmost part of the heel of Italy at Capo Santa Maria di Leuca.

Once more we got to do the lovely descent into Porto Badisco. One of our local buddies from the day before was on the front porch and wished me good luck (I think). I would need it. Beautiful as this ride would be, there would be stretches of uphill where Granny Gear (shifts to 1 and 3 or less) would be called for, and my aerobic limitations would be rather obvious.

Husband was VERY happy on this run. Not only did it have the challenging uphills with great views he loved, but there were a lot of places for expressos and beer along the way. I'd cycle into towns like Santa Cesarea Terme (gorgeous, gorgeous) and Castro and find him chilling with an expresso, chatting with some old guy. I'd pull into the area near the Ponte Ciolo, home of grottos and cliff divers (sample video: http://youtu.be/hC1k2YgNZao ) and find that he had already been at three places there before settling in at a tiny shaded establishment tucked into the hillside across the bridge. It's located at the left side of this wiki picture if you ever want to try find it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...4/Il_Ciolo.jpg

There were no cliff divers that day, but we could see swimmers in the grottos. The owner spoke very little English, but he was so happy that we had stopped, especially since the season was over. Motioning, he led us from the terrace from where we were drinking (and eating more taralli, of course), and we ascended to a gorgeous view of the grottos and bridge. The owner explained, I think, that before the bridge was built, it took an hour to navigate to the other side of the Ciolo canyon, and that the bridge had made so much difference in his life. He had large pictures of before and after.

Really neat.

I didn't want to leave, especially since I knew I had a 4.8km climb just ahead. Husband zoomed away, and I prepared to dig in.

I think I was at about the 3km area in total Granny Gear (1 and 2, even), when a man exited from his car. For those of you who don't cycle, let me explain. I've been going in slo-mo up this hill like forever. This car has been sitting there for QUITE some time. And when I'm about 30 feet away, all of a sudden the door opens.

Strange, right?

Well, he was nude. And I'm not operating on all cylinders. I'm thinking, "Wow, you're hallucinating nude men now." But I blinked a few times and he was definitely still nude. And if I had any remaining doubts, he proceeded to "fly the flag".

Now, I'm sure most of female readers would have said, "I'm turning around and flying down this hill." But I had just inched my way up that ((**^^!!! hill, and I was NOT going to climb it again. So I inched my way over to the opposite side of the road into any traffic and just kept inching my way up, averting my eyes.

To make my mindset even more clear, within seconds I completely wiped the experience out of my head. I was so much more worried about getting to the top of the hill that I had no fear of being attacked, whatever.

After I finally crested, my downhill began. And it was gorgeous. I hated to see my ride end.

My husband joined me in Santa Maria di Leuca, and we cycled together to the tip of the heel. I did an official dippy-poo, and we then returned to town to eat lunch. We snagged a table at the Cafe do Mar.

To cycle back or not? For me, it was an instant no for one very important reason. No, not the flasher. In fact, I didn't even remember it until the very end of lunch, when I said to my husband, "You know, an interesting thing happened..." Instead, I knew I had encountered no headwind on the way down, so I was pretty sure I would be fighting one all the way back. And since I cycle alone, I could gain no drafting advantage. I happily opted out and so did my husband. Our shuttle awaited.

We used our time back at the Masseria Panareo to get clean, get caught up on emails and further trip plans, and of course, to drink more beer. Tonight would be our tour's final dinner.

I've indicated that we loved the views at the masseria, we liked our breakfast, our rooms weren't luxurious but were very nice, etc. It seems strange that the meal just wasn't great. It wasn't bad, but very underwhelming. I've just checked with some TA reviews, and it seems that impression is shared.

But our company was fantastic. Both guides ended up at our long table, the wine was REALLY flowing, and we all ended up sharing stories we should not have. And of course, my flashing story came up. "Happens a lot here," said one guide. Everyone was astounded. "It's sort of amazing--low incidence of rape but a lot of wagging."

Sidenote: While the women at the table almost universally said, "Weren't you afraid," the guys at the table really wanted to know if he was endowed. More wine!

We ended the evening dancing to a local band that played an updated version of Puglian trad music. We were taught the pizzica, which is the Puglian version of the tarantella. Here's a sample of Puglian trad: http://youtu.be/l6SwJP_Zq8Y , although our band was much, much better.

Everyone was really good at dancing the pizzica, mainly because a few bottles of wine certainly erased all inhibitions

<b>Next report: Final mini-cycle and onto Lecce</b>