It’s Wednesday and we’re back on the bikes for a good 28 miles (which Anna and Tsana swear was 25 last time we asked Dave). Today we had to bike from Alberobello to Ostuni “The White City”. After a quick breakfast we got on the road. Right outside of Alberobello we stopped at a local olive oil producer; it was pretty deserted, but there was a man there who gave us a quick 20 minute tour that included a little tasting, and we bought some to take home- it was really good! Guess we’re checking bags on the way home (or UPS-ing it - TBD).
The bike riding today was much different; it was mostly single lane roads through olive groves; much more quiet and beautiful, which we appreciated. We also hit a few more cities today. The first of which was Locorotondo, which is where our pasta making teacher, yesterday, was from. She told us to check out a winery there which we found, but it was closed, and too early for wine (for Anna, not for Dave), especially after the amount we drank the night before.
After Locorotondo, we rode through the next town, Martina Franca, about 5 miles later. Martina Franca was extremely hilly and we all were wondering if this town was worth it… it was. We met a lovely old man with feathers in his cap that told Tsana about 5 times not to “don’t drink the water, don’t ever drink the water here - only wine!”
I think we all agreed Martina Franca was one of the cutest old towns we’ve all ever seen. There was a wedding just finishing up, we saw the bride and groom outside the church, and the central square was filled with flowers flowing out of the windows and 5 or 6 restaurants all filled with people eating their lunch. We got off our bikes to walk through the streets and each of us got a lemon granita, which was delicious. Fun fact: the lemon-flavored things here are really lemony - not so much sugar, as Anna pointed out, which makes them tart and very good (and refreshing!).
Our next step was Cisternino another 5 miles away and another extremely steep climb up into the old town. It was at this point, Tsana and Anna started to think that Dave hijacked this route to make sure we went into the center of each town, up the highest incline he could find, mostly because he was cackling at every 10% climb. Regardless, this was another beautiful town with a stunning view of the countryside.
After Cisternino, it was a long 10 miles to our final destination of Ostuni. Most of the ride to Ostuni was not quite as cute as the rest of the day, but we were hit with one of the most breathtaking landscapes at the top of another very steep hill. We could see onto the coast that is like 10 miles away. We moseyed around and had dinner backwards. First, we had drinks, then gelato (yes, we are still on our one-a-day streak - not to be broken!), and then dinner at 9pm (like REAL Italians), we were STARVING. After a surprise of tarragon was in Anna’s plate, Tsana took hers and Anna ate Tsana’s - a pretty good swap, then we went to bed and literally PASSED OUT.
