Sepember 27- October 3

Day 42: Sunday, Sept 27… We started the day with fireworks. Literally! At 8:00am! The unmistakable concussion of fireworks came rolling in from town. These patron saints  must really love a party. 

It was definitely a party in town when we arrived. All streets around the Mother Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian were closed to cars. This festival celebrates the martyred 3rd century twin brothers who practiced medicine without ever asking for payment. Damian and Cosmas are thus the patron saints of the sick – and of Alberobello. When the statues of the saints emerged from the church doors, four solid blocks of celebrants let out a cheer and started clapping. Fireworks erupted. This was a big deal.

This was all layered on top of the masses of regular visitors who came to admire the densely clustered neighborhoods of trulli. And Sunday morning also meant hundreds of weekend vendors had set up shop. We easily spent half of the day enjoying the spectacle.

Finally we pulled ourselves away. We had a destination in mind today that required us to make miles. And what lovely miles they were. We sought out little traveled roads and were rewarded with rustic trulli and picturesque rural lanes.

When we travel, we are used to being clueless about the language or how things work. You just go with the flow. The one thing that really makes us realize we’re not in Kansas any more Toto, are the hours they keep. At three in the afternoon, Gioia de Colle was a ghost town. Everything was closed.

At 9pm (when we are often in bed reading) the city is alive! All the shops are open. Couples are strolling, holding hands. Old men are sitting on benches loudly proclaiming their solutions to the problems of the world. Little kids are running around having a ball. Teens are being teens. People  are sitting outside of bars, cafes, restaurants enjoying drinks, dinner, laughter, a smoke. Tonight, we pretended to be Italian. We strolled hand in handv late into the evening. We liked it… even if we were up past our bedtime.

Day 43: Monday, Sept 28… Curse you Komoot!! We should know better. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…” right? We let both Google and Komoot suggest routes to take us to Gravina in Puglia. Distance and elevation were the same, but Komoot seemed to offer a more interesting route. After bumping down a rough gravel road (??) this devil spawn app suggested we take a barely there overgrown path for nine miles. I don’t think so!

We explored our options and ended up backtracking to the Google route. That added six miles and a hour to what was already going to be a long day.

West of Gioia de Colle, the landscape changed again – and not for the better. In fact it was so unremarkarkable, neither of us bothered to take a single photo. For all that, the riding was not unpleasant. Mostly flat. We still had a headwind, but the winds were very light. Even though this stretch was the least scenic we’ve seen in Puglia, we passed several large groups of cyclists on organized tours. Strange.

Mid-afternoon we detoured into Altamura for a quick look, and changed our plan to make it to Gravina. We spent the night in Altamura and once again did the late night stroll. I think we’re getting the hang of this!

Day 44: Tuesday, Sept 29… Today was “just very good” as our grandson used to say. The headwind finally decided to give us a break. Rolling hills offered interesting views and riding.

It was a quick trip into Gravina. A few pics online made it seem intriguing. In person, maybe not so much. After a short stroll we pointed out steeds south. 

We may have been underwhelmed by Gravina, we were plenty whelmed by Matera.  We arrived. Rested. Did laundry. We grabbed a bite before a late night stroll through the old town. I was wholly unprepared for the unique beauty of this place. I have never seen anything like it. It took my breath away. Even as the streets emptied of people – we kept walking, never tiring of the views. It was after 10pm before we arrived back at our room.

Day 45: Wednesday, Sept 30… For thousands of years people have been carving rooms out the volcanic tuff and soft limestone in Matera.  Later arrivals expanded those rooms into chapels, churches, monasteries, stables and homes. Even later arrivals in the 15th-19th centuries added stone facades onto those caves, giving old town, or Sassi d’Matera, it’s unique appearance.

Life in post WWII Matera was grim. The caves/homes had no running water, sanitation or electricity. A famous writer’s description of the squalor, disease, and poverty led the Italian government to declare Sassi d’Matera “the national disgrace!” From 1952 to 1968, all 16,000 residents were forcibly removed and placed in government housing on the flat area above the old town. The Italian government took ownership of the empty homes, which continued to deteriorate and fall into ruin.

In the 1980’s, the government began offering long term leases on properties for a pittance if people would repair them. It was a long, fraught process with work yet to be done. Still, the results are on display today.

Day 46: Thursday, October 1… Sweet Mother of all that is good and right in the world! More down than up with a tailwind most of the day. I’d like to think we earned this. What a glorious day!

We poked around some ancient ruins outside of Matera before coasting into Ginosa. Not sure what to make of that city. A hike along the gravina felt like a walk back in time. Parts felt ancient. Others felt ragged and run down, possibly like Matera prior to rehab? We climbed out of that part of town right into a modern city.

I felt a bit torn. We bemoan Disneyland-esque restoration and over-touristing of many ancient cities. A part of Ginosa is no doubt quite old. It is also run down, dirty, lived in and not terribly attractive. Tourists are not wandering the streets. Real people live there. And really, what I think doesn’t matter. Are people who live here jealous of nearby Matera’s success? Likely, few here could afford Matera. Or, are they grateful the town, warts and all, still belongs to them? These are all questions I pondered as we rolled down to the sea.

Quite a contrast between the old parts of town and the new.

We ended the day in another charming and eerily empty vacation town on the coast.

Day 47: Friday, October 2… Our route into Taranto was… utilitarian. A frontage road along a major highway eventually took us through a lengthy zona industriale on the outskirts of Taranto.

The real fun began after we entered Taranto proper. A historic district offered an interesting diversion.

By afternoon, we had completed our loop of Puglia and were welcomed back into Luca’s warm embrace. Unfortunately Vera was attending a work conference, so we missed her this time around. We made quick work of stripping the rental and returning all parts to my bike. After showers, Luca had a plan for our evening. We returned the bike to Decathlon. Then a short drive brought us to the city of Grattaglie, famous for its unique ceramic artistry. After a walking tour of the city and several ceramic shops, we ended up at Luca’s favorite pizza place. Stupendo! It was the perfect conclusion to our tour of Puglia.

Our return to Taranto also marked the end of the biking portion of this trip. From here on we will be regular tourists doing regular tourist stuff. We are looking forward to it. At the same time I am disappointed. My Pinion drive should not have failed. The complete and utter lack of support by Pinion has been massively frustrating. It also meant we only saw only a fraction of what we hoped to see in Italy. And while Trenitalia makes it super easy, traveling with bikes is not at all the same experience as traveling by bike.

Still, I am proud of our ability to adapt and change plans. And it bears repeating that without all the help and guidance from Luca and Vera, our experience of Salento and Puglia would have been much diminished. Thus ends another week. Hope you enjoyed it. STC!