Andrea to the Lecce then off to Tuscano

Jim attempting to be One with History          

Andria to Ruvo di Puglia, head winds, hot and dusty, but the wild flowers starting to be in full bloom was a treat. Then off to Altamura, a town we've been to in the past.  The weather is beautiful and I've finally gotten Jim to enjoy a spritz now and again sitting in the sunshine. 

Matera! The city of steps. We're finally back.  We were on the way there the last time in Italy when Covid stopped us in our tracks. It didn't disappoint. A magical place for sure, dating back 9000 years with ancient cave dwellings. Exploring the caves and imagining how the people lived is really mind boggling.  Wandering the streets and getting lost, up and down steps until we think we can't do another step! It is the 3rd  oldest continually inhabited settlement in the world, after Aleppo and Jericho. A must see if ever in Italy.

Devon and an Ancient Cystern

Homes carved into the stones.

A cute cave home and couple.

Stairs Stairs Everywhere

Matera from across the valley.

Taranto, a place we've avoided in the past, but it was delightful city on the water. We haven't ridden much on the water this trip so it was nice to smell the sea air. We took a tour of the local castle which has been under restoration for years, dating back several thousand years.  Again, it's fun to imagine what took place there. Every town has its own castle, some totally restored, some in shambles, some you can visit, some you can't. Always fun though!

An old railway bridge we crossed on the way to Taranto.

Old Town Taranto. Partial remains of an old cistern in occupied buildings.

Cannon Room

Crossing the bridge entering Taranto

Taranto Castle

Once again we head inland to Manduria. We're starting to see more and more olive orchards totally devastated by a bacteria.  We saw evidence 5 years ago, but this time it is horrible. It's estimated that more than 1 million trees in the area have been affected. It's believed to have been brought in from Costa Rica and is also found in California and Mexico. 

We think this is an old roadside restaurant. 

The interior of the above building with it's huge fireplace. For making dinners?

 

Inside another old square building in a farm field.

A pipe from the roof to the Cistern.

Red Poppies Everywhere

These ancient trees are falling fate to a bacteria from Costa Rica. Many of these ancient orchards have died south of Manduria. Very tragic.

A Pignata. Ours is a lamb stew in an earthen ware pot that is covered by what looks to be a pizza crust.

Ah, Lecce, back at last. We love the area around Lecce and the city itself. Unfortunately we did not have the best accomodations so it put a bit of a damper on our stay, but we made the best of it and explored the town again and took a wonderful ride without our bags to a park near the beach. 

Riding without the extra 40lbs was a treat.  Kind of like driving a sports car rather than a pick up truck. The highlight however was finding Masseria Visciglito from the 16th century. This masseria is a very old, large structure that was used for the production of olive oil, wine, or other agriculture purpose.  We were able to just wander the whole place, finding a set of stairs leading to who knows where. We decended deep down and found a lot of rubble, but the most amazing thing was that it still had a lot of recognizable stone features. It may have originally been a cistern that was then turned into the olive oil processing rooms. Large stone wheels to press the olives, stone basins and large columns. In order to press the olives it takes a lot of pressure, so the ceiling was used to support the press. If you want to know more, here is a link to check out this particular one: https://www.salentoacolory.it/viaggio-lontano-nel-tempo-a-masseria-visciglito/

Deep inside Masseria Visciglito where you can see us exploring, and a bit nervous at what we may find.

Bicycle talk.

On our day ride without our Heavy Panniers.

A park along the Adriatic on the Day Ride.

From Lecce we rode to Mesagne through olive groves, vineyards and poppy fields to the delightful Tobacco Suite's. We drank a spritz and had a nice swim in their swimming pool where Jim wore his fake speedo's, his underwear.  Nobody appeared to notice, but of course we don't understand Italian.  Then to Brindisi to catch our trains to Tuscany that was a bit of an ordeal. Stay tuned we will be posting more frequently.