Polignano a Mare to Mesagne

We left Polignano a Mare on a path along the sea which took us to the end of town. From there we then followed a secondary road for about 12km to Monopoli. The roads are quite narrow and not in the greatest shape, especially along the  sides, so we had to ride in the car lane. Fortunately there was not a lot of traffic and cars could easily pass us.

Devon standing on our balcony
and just a short walk away
a beautiful old castle in
Monopoli.

We stayed in a lovely B&B in the old section of town with Mina and Luigi as our hosts. Monopoli is a smaller seaside town. Again a place to wander and get lost in all the side streets and walk along the sea wall.

Now that we're over the jet lag and have gotten used to our new schedule we are ready for some longer rides.

We head to Otranto, about 50km away, also known as the White City.  We leave Monopoli once again on a secondary road in the same condition as before.  We follow the water for about a third of the way, stopping to watch a fisherman beating octopus on the rocks to make them tender.

 After our lunch that we ate on a bench in a marina, we're pleased to be on a bike route heading inland that is taking us though olive groves. Trees so old, they are amazing. We were told they could be 1000-2000 yrs  old and maybe older.  Unfortunately there is a disease from a common field bug that is killing many of the trees. Some of the trees still have olives, so we stop to try them out. We think they are a type is kalamata since they both look and taste like a kalamata. Not bad! But they do stain the fingers, lips and tongues. 

Onward we go to Ostuni and for just several kilometers the road turns to gravel. Here the feel is much more rustic. The trulli we seet definitely take you back in time. They seem to be more prevelent in the rural areas.

Trullo

We are now seeing vineyards. We've had some amazing wine and some not so amazing wine but of course we have to keep trying!

Ostuni is situated on a hill side, so up we ride. Actually not too bad, but we did have to walk up the last 50ft to the entrance of the city. Once again we are in the old part of the city where cars usually don't venture. Our B&B this time is the i7 Archi Guest House. It was the little hobbit house on the hill. We wandered the town and found a little wine shop to get a bottle to take back to our room. We thought we would only buy a bottle of wine and taste the wild boar mortedella which was reccommended and only found in this small deli, but we ended having a fabulous plate of cold cuts, cheese and bread, plus wine that ended up as dinner. The next morning Georgio our host and his wife delivered to our room a fabulous breakfast of eggs, meat, cheese and fresh pastry with homemade jam.

Hobbit House Ostuni

Off to Mesagne, another 50km away. Another bike route makes for a wonderful ride through more olive groves. It's nice to be off the main roads. In Mesagne we stay at B&B Tabbaco, a new place in a very old building. Cigarettes were made by women in this old warehouse years ago. Thank goodness no more! Roberta our host made for fun talk and very welcoming.

We've been making our B&B reservations as we go as we don't know how long we want to stay in one spot. It's always nice to have two nights sometimes so as not to have to pack and unpack as much. We've been pleasantly surprised in the quality of the B&B's we've been staying in. The price range has been between $50-$80 euros.

Beautiful arched ceilings everywhere. Our kitchen area in Tabasco Suite, Mesagne, Italy

Bedroom Ceiling, Tabasco Suites

The weather has been been mostly good. A little cooler then we had expected, but still not bad. We had one day where we had to put on our rain gear for a short time, but other then that it's been partly cloudy with sun breaks and the temperatures around 60. The headwinds are our biggest enemy and even those haven't been too bad. Hopefully when we start heading north the winds will still be from the south which will be in our favor.

I must say however, as beautiful the country is we are so dissapointed in how much trash and garbage there is along the way. Not only paper and glass and plastic bottles which are bad enough but everything imaginable, TV's, refrigerators, toilets, clothes, beds, construction materials. EVERYTHING! Even having trash bins doesn't seem to help. Too bad. If we don't end up with flat tires along the way it will be a miracle. 

Anyway, it's been great so far.