September 18, 2023
This morning we gave up our rental car and were picked up by a new driver, Roberto, who took us to Ostuni. Before heading that way, however, we drove into the town of Surbo to a large shopping mall so Mark could buy an adapter. No problem.
Back on the road, the drive took about an hour. We began to see more olive trees that were alive and appeared healthy. We hope to learn more about what is happening to them soon. Soon we could see the white city of Ostuni. Roberto stopped to let me capture a photo.
Roberto drove through and around the Old town before finding our hotel. Sure glad we were not driving and having to find which narrow streets to navigate and where to park. After he dropped us off at the 11 room Paragon 700, at the top of the town, we dropped our bags and went for a walk about. Very narrow and hilly streets. The town was full of tourists shopping, eating and hanging out. After a while we had a bite to eat too and went back to the hotel to check in and cool off. There is a lovely garden in back of the hotel with a swimming pool too. Hope we have time to enjoy it. At 4pm we met our guide, Silvia. She had been with us a few days ago. Today she showed us around Ostuni. We had already walked much of the town, but with her, we saw the place in depth. We got much exercise in walking stairs and hills as well as exercise in history.
After our tour of Ostuni with Silvia, we stopped at a charcuterie restaurant in the Piazza della Liberta and got a bite to eat before heading for the room and bed. We are not late night people these days. Thankfully our hotel is a short walk from the center of town.
September 19, 2023
We were up for breakfast at 8:00 in the garden. Then met our new driver, Michael, who drove us to the train station, where we met Silvia and headed for Cisternino. We walked through a small park and found three gentlemen more than happy to chat with us. They were all alone in life and found pleasure in companionship with each other as well as talking to strangers. We had a a pleasant visit and then walked on into the small town with narrow streets, few people and fewer cars. There were good views from the belvedere, which was at 500 feet asl. The area produces many fruit trees including seeds, nuts, pomegranates, peaches, figs and more. We passed a carob tree and learned that any seed from the carob is the measure used for diamonds. The weight of 1 carob seed equals the weight of a 1 carat diamond. because all carob seeds weigh the same. This is how the use of the word carat for diamonds came to be. So we learned something new.
There are many stairs in the Cisternino and we took plenty of photos. Apparently there is no tax charged for exterior stairs, only interior ones. No wonder we saw so many.
We drove away from Cisternino and headed for an olive masseria to taste olive oil and learn more about it. The name of the place was Antica Masseria Brancati. The elder owner met us at the entrance and introduced us to his 2000 year old trees. His great grandfather had purchased the Masseria many years ago and now he is getting ready to turn the business over to his 21 year old son. He is very proud of his work and hopes his trees will be saved from the Xyllele bacteria which travels on a bug that is slowly moving north through Puglia.
Silvia gave us a tour of the olive cellar and how the olive pressing process works. It was familiar to us, but still interesting to see how it was done so many years ago in a real live press. Today the work is done elsewhere in a sterile environment. After studying the press we went into the garden for an oil tasting and lunch. We tasted 4 different oils, with different grades and flavors. One was pressed with lemon and rosemary. They were very tasty. As was lunch. It consisted of a bottle or Rose wine and platters of appetizers followed by a pasta dish. Dessert was fresh peaches with mint and ice cream cannoli. We were stuffed, but feeling most satisfied. We drove back to Ostuni knowing we would skip dinner.
Adventures with Julia 