Puglia Italy

For those who are not familiar, Puglia (pronounced “Poolia”) is the heel of the boot of Italy. I was not aware of this region of Italy until we got the announcement of this trip. I was a bit apprehensive about the value of visiting this area, but It only took one day there to relieve this apprehension.  

Wed Oct. 1^st Leaving:  I completed a partial day of work and left at 2:00 for home. There I finished packing and took a quick nap before Kathie got home.  We finished packing and waited for Dave and Julie to pick me up. Because we travel with out Tandem we have two extra bags that contain the bike. Getting all our luggage to the airport can be a bit of a challenge. Dave picked me up and dropped Julie and me off at the airport with our luggage then drove back to his place. Our friend Gail picked up Kathie and Dave back in Reston and took them to the airport.  We all got together and checked in for our flight. We had to pay  for our extra bags. The process for paying for extra luggage seemed rather inefficient but we all got through it. While in process, Mike and Carol caught up with us. We proceeded to our gate and ran into the Glasgows. We all talked at the gate until boarding time then we boarded and started our flight.

Thur Oct. 2^nd Arriving in Europe: PICS The flight landed in Munich mid-morning on Thursday and we were soon on our way through the gauntlet of security and customs. At security Kathie was unable to find her watch after going through the check point. After having several people checking for her and re-scanning her carry-on bag, we gave up and continued through to the gate for our ride to Bari. While there we grabbed some lunch. Soon we were back in the air on our way to Bari. At about 5:00 PM we landed in Bari and proceeded to luggage pick-up. We are always anxious to see if our luggage gets off the plane safe and sound. If our bikes don't show up, it could truly take much of the fun out of our vacation.  In this case we were all happy with the outcome for this flight. We ran into one of the new couples that would be joining us on our tour while waiting for luggage. Ken and Liz were from California and came in on our flight. We said our hellos and headed for the taxi stand. We all piled into our taxis. The Glasgows and Harpers were joining Kathie and me in Bari while the others were staying out by the airport.

Only a few minutes after leaving the airport we ran into a deluge of rain and the rain continued for the evening. We arrived at the Best Western Executive Hotel in Bari’s center city and checked in. After resting the Glasgows Kathie and I got together to find dinner.. It was still raining so we ran a few blocks to find a pizzeria. At one point we saw a restaurant but couldn’t get to it because the street had ankle deep water running down it. After some quick searching we found a pizzeria that was packed with families. The waitress asked us to wait and they would take care of us. After about 15 minutes two couples got up from a table and they gave it to us. Before they left one of the men asked where we were from and we said USA and the man told us that his son lived in California and was working for NASA. He was very proud. We sat down and ordered our meal and saw the foursome across the street under an awning still talking. We caught the man’s eye and waved to him.  They all waved back and minutes later Ross saw the man come back to the restaurant and talked to the manager. Soon the waitress brought us a plate with cheese and olives that the man had paid for. We caught the man’s eye again and thanked him. He came back to the restaurant to talk to us again then was on his way.  We finished our Salads and Pizzas and got back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Fri Oct 3^rd Touring Bari: PICS  I got up early and found my way to the breakfast area in the hotel. Ross was awake also, so we sat and had a bit of breakfast before our stokers got up. This hotel had a man with a push cart who made coffee to order, cleaned off our tables as we left and kept the breakfast bar supplied. He was quite a character. Kathie and Donna came down for breakfast and soon we were getting ready to start our tour of Bari. Kathie and I went back to our room to pick up a few things and Kathie found her lost watch in her carry on bag. The mystery was solved.  Dave and Julie arrived for breakfast just as we were ready to leave, so we waited for them to have a quick bite to eat then we all walked toward the old part of town.  About three blocks from the hotel we ran into a statue of the classical opera composer Puccini. Just a block behind the statue was the fortress Castello Svevo which was a standing Norman fortress that was built on a location where Romans and Frederick II had previously built fortresses. We moved on the Bari Cathedral and then to Basilica di San Nicola where we met up with Mike and Carol. The streets of old town Bari were loaded with shops and restaurants and getting to the Basilica took some creative navigation. The Basilica was beautiful, made even more so by the wedding they were getting ready for that day.

After visiting the church; we moved out of the inside walls of the old town to the streets and sidewalks adjacent to the Adriatic Sea. This was our first close-up look at the sea. It was deep green-blue and the surrounding beaches and streets were beautiful. Along the walls of the sidewalk we ran into men cleaning their octopus catch for the day. They posed with their catch for us to take pictures.

We walked back into the old town and found a place for lunch. Some of us had pizzas and some had pasta. I had an eggplant pizza, Kathie had a chicken plate and the Harpers had pasta that was infused with the ink from an octopus.  After lunch we continued to tour the town and stopped near the fortress to check out a restaurant suggested to us by the hotel called Al Pescatore’s.

Upon leaving old town we all stopped at an ATM to replenish our reserves. Behind us in line we heard a couple speaking English and started a conversation with them. It was always good to hear your native tong when in a foreign country. They were just finishing up a bike tour of the area. We would meet many cyclists on this tour. We walked back to the hotel to get a nap and get ready for our evening activities. Just as we walked in the lobby Lou and Elaine Stevens came out of the elevator. They thought they picked the wrong hotel because it wasn’t near the airport. But we convinced them that this was the place to be. Kathie and I went to our room to rest and later I took a walk through the park near the hotel and observed the locals hanging out there.

That evening the Harpers, Stevens, Glasgows, Kathie and I walked to Al Pescatore’s for dinner. This was an all seafood restaurant that had fresh catch out on display that you could pick as your order.  One of the dishes Kathie and I ordered was a seafood risotto. I am not a big seafood fan but after eating this dish I was sold on fresh seafood.  We had Cheese, Mellon, Ham and Monk Fish. We sat down at two tables back to each other. We sat with the Glasgows and the Harpers and Stevens sat at the other table. At the end of the meal our table turned down desert to make room for my first Gelato of the vacation. The Harpers and Stevens ordered a pastry desert for the table that looked like a pastry tray for a large party. They shared with us. They were hard to resist, but I still kept room for Gelato. We walked back to the hotel via a Gelato shop where I got my first fix of the tour. We hopped into bed and got ready for the first day of the tour.

Sat Oct. 4^th Starting the Tour: PICS On Saturday we got up for breakfast and then packed our bags and moved them to the lobby to ready for the Taxis that we ordered for 8:45.  At that time four Taxis showed up and piled our luggage in and we were on our way to the train station. This is where we were to meet the bus that would start our formal tour. The directions said that we would be picked up at 09:45. I convinced our party to get an early start as is my custom and when we arrived at the train station about 45 minutes early I thought I might have over done the early thing. Soon after being dropped off we started running into people from the tour, most of them first timers. The bus was a about 20 minutes early so our waiting time ended up going by quickly as we were meeting new friends.

Soon the bus stopped to pick us up and since we were the last pick-up point all the other participants were in the bus to greet us. There were also several people from the first tour that were being dropped off at the train station and we got to say hello to them. Once all the luggage was loaded and our goodbyes were taken care of we were on our way. We got to say our hello to many friends including long-time friends Jim and Sonya and Pennywise regulars Kay and Bob.  We sat next to Bob and Kay on the bus and caught up with them for most of the ride to Ostuni which was the first stop on our tour.  

On the way to Ostuni we started to see our first glimpse of the abundance of olive orchards, grape vines, pointy stone huts called Trullies, and a mix of Greek, and middle eastern architecture. It was a quick trip to Ostuni and our hotel for the next two days. We helped unload the luggage from the bus, checked in, then found our way to box lunch that had been prepared for us. We sat down with the Joneses who were a couple new to Pennywise and had not received any of their bags off their flight from Juno Alaska.  After eating; most of us moved down to the basement of the hotel where we were given space to assemble our bikes. The assembly for me was not as smooth as years past. I was having problems with a wheel rub that I thought was a fender problem but the next day I found one of my breaks had been knocked out of adjustment in transit. Once I had finished putting the bike together I was pretty frustrated so I went to the room to clean up then went to the hotel bar for a beer.

After my beer I went back to the room to shower and to get ready for dinner. We had a dinner prepared for us at the hotel. After dinner we met with our tour guide about using GPS devices on the tour. We then moved onto the bar and had a nightcap with Steve, Terrie, Ross and Donna, before retiring for the night.

Sun Oct 5^th Loop ride from Ostuni: PICS  |  MAP I got up early to work on my bike. After a good night’s sleep I quickly discovered that my bike problem was my break alignment and not my fenders. Kathie got up for breakfast and I joined her. We sat across from Al and Charlie while we ate. They are a couple from California who we met at the train station the day before. The weather prediction for the day was over 60% chance of rain and after the deluge in Bari I was reluctant to think about riding. With a little work I finished getting the bike closer to working order and took it for a quick spin in the hotel garage. I went back to the room to wash up and Kathie thought it would be a good idea to take the bike for a shakedown ride. I agreed and got dressed for a ride. We ran into Donna and Ross, Mike and Carol and Bob and Kay and we all decided to go for the ride. The first section of the ride was up hill for about one half mile. On the way up I felt my pedals slipping and thought that I was having shifting problems. Ross came beside me to tell me that my timing belt was slipping. This meant that my eccentric was loose so I stopped and with Ross’s help we fixed the problem.  We stopped again for Ross to make an adjustment to his bike and we were on our way. 

As we rode; the light rain that we started with dissipated, so we kept on riding.  We came to a turn that took us down a narrow rolling lane that was lined with Trullies. We rode down the lane and had to pull off the road to let cars pass several times. At one point I pulled over and got off the bike to take pictures of one of the more picturesque Trullies. While stopped an older man came down the road on a road bike. He stopped to talk to us. He spoke almost no English but was able to understand that we were on our way to Cisternino.  Soon we were back on the road and approaching Cisternino. We tried to find a place to eat there but settled for sandwiches at a local grocery store. We loaded the sandwiches on our bike and headed toward a park in town.  At the top of a hill in town we found the park that had a great overlook into the valley.  As we arrived at the park we noticed about 20 single bikes there. We soon found out that they were part of a tour group that was from Sweden. They were stopped at the park for lunch also and soon we had several of the riders from Sweden looking at our bikes and asking about our tour and we returned in kind.

After lunch we got back on the road. On the way we ran into a detour that required some back tracking but we soon were back on course. We passed a restaurant and noticed Bob and Kay having lunch in under the front awning. We continued through and ran into Al and Charlie. They were a bit lost but we all got on track and moved on together.  We all stopped at a T so that members of our group could take a bio-break. While we stopped Dave and Julie and Bob and Kay passed us.  As we rode we started running into more and more single bikes that were on a tour of mostly Americans. Then we caught up with our group that had stopped for a sightseeing opportunity. Montalbano is a small village with about 4,000 inhabitants and is the location of the Dolmen di Montalbano which is a stone structure from about 2000 b.c.. The purpose of the structure is not known.  We explored the grounds then finished our ride back to Ostuni. Entering town we passed Steve and Karen who were on a walk. They gave us last directions to the hotel. Our shakedown ride turned into the full ride for the day.

We got back to the hotel, showered, rested, and got together for our schedule tour of Ostuni in the afternoon. We walked into town and met up with the two women who would give us tours of many of the towns that we would visit.  They showed us through the town including the village that had been built into the walls of the old fortress. We finished the tour then hung out in the town before restaurants opened up. We ended stopping in a bar / restaurant with Mike and Carol and had a drink then we stayed for dinner. We had pizza and great company for dinner.

We return to the hotel with a Gelato stop on the way. When we got there the Joneses were at the hotel bar celebrating that their luggage had arrived. We sat and talked with them for a while then went to bed to ready for the next day of riding.

Mon Oct 6^th Ostuni to Lecce: PICS  |  MAP We got up for breakfast and packed for our first transfer day. After we packed we took our bags to the hotel lobby where we helped load the van.  The weather prediction was for heavy rain again today, but we had no choice but to ride since this was a transfer day. We stopped early at a super market. I stayed outside while Kathie and Julie went inside to buy ingredients for lunch. While they were shopping I made a small adjustment to my bike and spent some time with Dave and Lindy who were also waiting outside and Lindy was making some adjustments also.  Soon we were on our way back on the road. Along the way we entered a small town and saw some of our group at a shop along the road. We stopped to see if the store had anything to offer us but decided to start up again. Before we could get started an Italian man caught our attention while he was crossing the street. He wanted to talk to us but our ability to speak Italian was about equal to his ability to speak English. We wanted to know about our trip so we showed him our map and pointed to our destination cities. He also seemed to want to know if we were married. I guess he was curious about how tandem biking worked. On the road; we soon ran into some rain, but we were prepared with rain gear and the rain was not very hard. The rain passed and we found a park in a small town that we used for our lunch stop. When we got to the park other riders were already stopped there. While we had lunch; many of the riders came through either to have lunch or to take a break.  Across the street from the park was a grotto containing religious artifacts.

We got back on the road and reached Lecce in the afternoon.  We showered and went shopping for something to share for our happy hours. We call happy hours "Experience Sharing" and everyone brings something to share, (Wine, Cheese, Crackers etc.). This adds to the fun of the trip and lets us get to know our fellow riders even better.  After shopping Kathie did a round of laundry and we both went to a spot outside the hotel where we took part in "Experience Sharing". Later we had a group dinner in the hotel and returned to our room to a good night’s sleep.

Tues Oct 7^th Loop to the Adriatic: PICS  |  MAP This morning the subject of the weather prediction was on everyone’s lips. The prediction for the day was heavy late afternoon showers. Most of us felt confident that we would miss the showers this day because we had such great luck over the last few days. We were so confident that Kathie and I didn’t pack any rain gear. Our first stop for the day was Acaya. It was a small frontier town that had a fortified center. We got to tour the fort. After touring Kathie and found a café bar in the village were we had a drink and ran into Peter and Domini also having a drink. Peter and Domini were English and living in Whales. We had a nice visit and started back on the road.

The road brought us down to the Adriatic Sea and we noticed a few tandems parked near a beach hut so we stopped to check out what was happening. On the beach was about four couples and several of the riders were taking a swim in the ocean. We hung out there for a little while then got back on the road. Shortly after that we found a restaurant across the street from the beach in San Foca. We stopped with the Glasgows, Stevens, Vilardos and Harpers. We all ordered lunch and were having a great time until someone noticed rain coming in. Before lunch was over a heavy rain came in and we stayed under the awning until 3:00 waiting for the rain to stop. The awning was not that good a holding back the rain but eventually the rain let up and the restaurant was closing for the afternoon so we readied the bike and started out to finish the ride. The roads were soaked and we got fairly wet getting back home.

When we got back we found that Steve and Karen canceled the tour planned for the evening due to rain, so we put together plans for "Experience Sharing". We showered and went to the "Experience Sharing" then went to dinner with Steve and Karen and Dave and Julie. Steve took us into town to Guido’s. This was a great dining experience with good company. On the way to and from Guido’s we got to walk through the old town of Lecce. It was very pretty, had a roman amphitheater nice shops and churches. We return to the hotel for our night’s sleep.

Wed Oct 8^th Lecce to Otranto: PICS | MAP Kathie and I got up and packed for another transfer day. Today’s weather was predicted to be sunny with nearly no chance of rain. We had seen the last rain for our trip. Today’s trip was a short one (28 miles). Since we had plenty of time to get to our next destination (Otranto) we decided to spend part of the morning exploring Lecce before stating our ride.  We got to visit a few churches (Santa Chiara and San Matteo) and take a look at the amphitheater in daylight. We returned to the hotel and got on the bike for or trip to Otranto. Not too long into the trip we came upon a town where we were told to look for places to have lunch. The road we took didn’t seem to pan out but we ran into Lindy and Colleen who set us straight. So we turned around and found a little seaside town. There was a small store with a guy in the back that was making sandwiches in the back. We bought our sandwiches and went across the street to a place that had a terrace looking out over the beach and ocean. We ate lunch then went to the shop near the terrace to split a Gelato.

After lunch we went down to the beach to watch Dave and Donna swimming. Then we got back on the road to finish our ride. At the hotel we showered and got ready for an abbreviated experience sharing as we were getting a guided tour of Otranto from the tour guides that showed us around Ostuni. On the tour we got to see the inside of the castle and the Cathedral of Otranto. This church had mosaics in one part of the church that depicted biblical stories. The altar was dedicated to the Martyrs of Otranto. These were believers that were beheaded by invading Turks rather than convert. The 800 martyrs were later given a mass canonization. The bones of many of the martyrs were stored and displayed at the back of the altar. 

After the tour we walked around the town, watched the moon rise over the water and found a pizzeria there we ate at with Ross, Donna, Jim, Sonya, Carol, Mike and Dave and Julie. On the way back to the hotel Jim and I walked to find some Gelato while the others went straight back to the hotel.

Thurs Oct 9^th Loop Ride to the Caves: PICS  |  MAP This day we got up for breakfast and readied for our day’s ride. Steve touted this as his favorite ride of the trip. It didn’t take long to find out why. The route took us over rolling roads along the Adriatic Sea. The views were incredible and the riding was great. At the far point of the ride we stopped at a cave “Grotto”. The cave was interesting but the entrance was next to the sea and was very beautiful. It reminded me of an adventure movie scene.

On the way back we stopped with Lou and Elaine in a sea side town and had lunch. Sitting behind us where Dave and Julie and we got very excited when Julie announced that Dave ordered a Calzone. This is part of an old story that we have with Dave. Bottom line is that we call him the Calzone King and we always pay attention when he orders one.  We got back to the hotel, showered and I walked into town to get money and pick up our contributions for the "Experience Sharing".  After "Experience Sharing" we went to dinner with Bob and Kay then came back for our night’s sleep.

Fri Oct 10^th Otranto to Gallipoli: PICS  | MAP  Th is day was another transfer day. So we did our normal routine of packing and breakfast then started our trip. Today’s ride was a high olive tree day, meaning that there weren’t a lot of sites to see. It also took us across the spine of the peninsula that took us from the Adriatic to the Ionian Sea, this meant that there would be a few larger hills than we had seen so far. Just before the big climb for the day there was a small church. Next to the church was a set of mausoleums. We caught up with Jim, Sonya, Colleen and Lindy at the church. I ran into the church to grab a few pictures and we started the climb. On the way up there was a closed lane that we had to stop at for oncoming traffic. This was a bit scary but we made it up the hill and on with the ride. After the climb we found a grocery store for sandwiches and found a landing in from of a row of stores to sit down and have lunch. While we were eating the store manager of the pet store we were in front of came out and talked to us.  He was interested in our trip.  Soon we found our way to the ocean and were riding the last few miles into Gallipoli. We stopped for a few pictures of the beach then found our way to the hotel. The garage where we were to park the bikes was a few blocks from the hotel. We had a person from the hotel walk us down and open the garage for us. We stored the bike, got into our room and showered. After the showers we walked into the old town and walked around trying to identify a place to eat and maybe a good place for souvenirs. We got a good walk around the old town coming back by the walkways near the water. We got back for "Experience Sharing", which was on the roof top terrace of the hotel. We had nice time then joined Jim and Sonya for dinner in the old part of town. 

Sat Oct. 11^th Half Way to the End of the Earth: PICS  | MAP Todays ride was an out and back to the “End of the Earth”. This is the southern tip of Puglia and was the place many sailors would start their journeys. The full ride would have been over 60 miles but we could cut it off and return at any time in the ride. We made it out to a small town with an odd looking lighthouse and a café were we stopped and had another lovely sitting with Peter and Domini. I only had a coke while at the café so not long after getting back on the road I started to bonk. We stopped off the road and I had a protein bar then started back toward Gallipoli.  We returned and showered then went out into the streets to find something for lunch. Lunch places closed early in the part of the world and we could only find some snack food for lunch but it held for the moment.

After lunch we tried to find a store to get supplies for "Experience Sharing". The stores were closed so we went back to our room for a nap. After the nap we got up and tried again to find an open store. We ran into Jim and Sonya and after walking with them found a store that had just opened.  We got back to the hotel and went to the roof top for "Experience Sharing". Tonight’s "Experience Sharing" was made special when we were joined by our friends Dennis and Cindy who had done the first tour and stayed in Italy for a week to visit Rome and some other locations.  It was fun to have Dennis and Cindy in the mix and the experience sharing seemed to be a bit livelier with their presence. We had dinner with Ross, Donna, Mike and Carol.  We stopped for Gelato on the way back to the hotel.

Sunday Oct. 12^th Gallipoli to Mesagne:  MAP We got up and had breakfast on the roof top terrace of the hotel then went to the normal ride talk 

after loading our luggage. Dennis and Cindy were at the meeting and we got to say goodbye as we prepared for the ride. Today’s ride would take us away from the coast and back toward central Puglia. It was our second Sunday of riding and we noticed dozens of locals out for a Sunday ride. We actually got to ride along with a few guys on singles for a few miles. They were all very friendly as we passed; returning our ciao or sending us a holla. In one sea side village they had a market day along the road. The place was packed and very hard to navigate around all the pedestrians. We stopped there for a snack with the Glasgows and Vilardos.

We made another stop for sandwiches on the way in hopes of finding a place to stop and eat further on.  We had trouble finding a place to stop but ran into Liz and Ken who just finishes using the side of an abandoned house for shade while they ate. Kathie and I stole the spot as they were leaving. The Glasgows and Vilardos game along at bit later and convinced us to move under a nearby olive tree. We finished lunch and continued onto Masagne and checked into our hotel.  After checking in and taking a shower I went to the hotel bar for a beer. Kathie joined me later and we sat at the bar seating until 5:30.  We took a break then came back at 6:00 for "Experience Sharing".  After "Experience Sharing" we gathered up and went to a group Dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel then back for bed.

Mon Oct. 13^th Exploring Mesagne: PICS We got up and I had suggested to Kathie to take the day off. She thought about and it seemed to be a good idea. So we went to the ride meeting then gathered together our clothes to take them to a Laundromat not too far from the hotel. We followed the signs to what we thought was a Laundromat but was instead was a dry cleaner. The woman behind the counter told us that they wouldn’t do our clothes for us but tried to give us directions to the Laundromat in Italian but we were having our usual trouble understanding.  She took us next door to the butcher shop where one of the workers there spoke better English. We followed his directions and were able to find our destination.

At the Laundromat a man was there that must have managed the place. Again there was a large language barrier, but through the instruction signs and hand gesturing we figured out that we didn’t need to use detergent and how many euros were needed for our wash. The man disappeared and a woman who was doing a large load of towels and sheets showed up and was drying and folding her linens. Our load finished washing and the man reappeared to make sure we got the drying part correct. He talked to the lady for a while then left. The lady tried to engage us in conversation which was again cumbersome then she pulled out her smart phone and we use her translator app to converse very effectively. 

She ran a B&B and she showed us pictures on the phone. It looked very nice and the cost was extremely low.  We finished our conversation and she left and as we were folding our clothes a couple came in. The husband of the couple engaged us in conversation and knew a little English. When he found out we were from America he wanted to know if we knew some singer that he pointed to in a magazine, but neither Kathie or I knew of this guy. We tried to explain to him about our bike ride. I wanted to explain that we were riding a tandem and tried to explain it without using the word tandem, thinking that it wouldn’t translate. I finally pulled out my camera and showed him a picture of one of the tandems from our group and he said, “oh a tandem!”.  Sometimes the obvious is the easiest.

We finished our laundry and walked it back to our room. Today was Steve Still’s 60^th birthday and his stoker, Terrie, asked us to pick up Prosecco and a cake to celebrate at "Experience Sharing" so we went to the supermarket near the hotel and picked up the Prosecco. After shopping we walked to the old part of town to find lunch but didn’t find much there, on the way back we stopped at a café and had lunch and also picked up a cake. We got back to the hotel room and took a nap. We had the last of our walking tours planned for the afternoon so we scheduled "Experience Sharing" for a little earlier than normal. We surprised Steve with a celebration and made it part of another successful "Experience Sharing".  We finished the party then got together for the tour. We walked back into the old town of Masagne where we met up with our tour guides. They showed us around the town and were able to get us into the castle to in town. At the end of the tour, we went by an archaeological dig that was across the alley from a restaurant. Many of our group decided to go to this restaurant after the tour. We found a table at the restaurant with Dave and Julie. The floor of the restaurant had glass covered holes that were an extension of the archaeological site. I ordered Sea Bass that came out head and all. The waiter offered to fillet it for me and I took him up on the offer.  Kathie had pizza. After dinner we walked back to the hotel with a Gelato stop on the way.    

Tues Oct 14^th Mesagne to Alberobello:  PICS  |  MAP On this day we got up and had breakfast and got ready to ride. In the ride talk Steve talked about hills with percent grades in the upper single digits. This was one of the hillier rides of the trip. As we rode we saw more and more Trullies. We were looking for a place for lunch and we chose the place pointed out on the queue sheets. This was a café in a gas station. Unlike at home this was actually a pretty good option. We were able to get sandwiches and eat them there. About 5 or 6 couples gathered there for lunch.

Our trip took us back through Cisternino; the town we traveled through on the first day of riding. As we approached Alberobello there was a turn in the cue sheet that we were told to ignore. We did so and we went off the GPS course mapped out for us. This was a mistake. We should always follow the GPS track on these rides. Lou and Elaine were following us and followed us in our error. In a few miles we knew we were off course but decided to move forward anyway. As we entered the town we found a gas station where we were going to ask direction. By luck a local popped out of the parking area and offered us directions. He spoke English and was very helpful pointing us in the right direction. After we got our directions he asked us where we got our tandems. He was very disappointed to hear that we got them in the states. His directions got us in the general direction of our hotel but we stopped about 3 or 4 times to adjust our directions. Finally we ended up in the old town section of Alberobello and we stopped and ask directions from a shop owner. She spoke no English but was able to give us excellent directions using hand and body gestures.  In just a few minutes we found the hotel and were checking in.

We showered and walked into town and came back to our room for a nap. This evenings "Experience Sharing" was pre-empted by a wine tasting put on by the hotel we were staying at.  We had the tasting then had dinner at the hotel. The dinner was great and we all were having a good time in conversation with our fellow riders. I’m not sure if it was the wine, or the acoustics in the room but our noise level got very high during dinner. There were a few men that were outside our group and eating in the same dining area. They seem to get a bit upset at our noise level. After dinner we found our way to bed.

Weds Oct 15^th The Caves of Castellano: PICS  |  MAP   Today, we got up for our short ride out of town to tour the spectacular caves of “Grotto di Castellano.” Because it was a short ride, Kathie and I decided to take a stroll through Alberobello.  We walked up into the new section of town and scouted for places to eat that night.

Our tour of the caves was scheduled for 12:30 and we came into Castellano a bit early. As we got into town we ran into a few of our fellow riders in a café having a cappuccino. We stopped to join them then moved onto the meeting point for the cave tour. When we got there Steve was working on his bike after having a bad shift and bending a chain link. Several of us helped him diagnose the problem and lent him the tools he needed for the repair.  He stayed out working on the repair while Karen and the rest of us took the tour.

The caves were incredible just from their size alone. The caves were formed by ancient underground aquifers. After the tour we came back to the bike and Steve was still working on his bike. He had to take a few links out of his chain and had realized that this restricted some of the gear combinations that he could use. In doing this he had to adjust his shifting and was having trouble getting the shifting cable to settle in. With a quick diagnosis we were able to figure out the problem and get him back on the road.

We anticipated a short easy ride back to the hotel but ran into head winds that made it a bit more challenging. We got back in time to tour the center of the Trulli village in town. We walked around some of the streets in the village where there were hundreds of Trullies. Many of these buildings had shops in them and the vendors stood outside the doors trying to attract tourists into shop. Most of them had a "come on line" in many languages. In our tour in Masagne the tour guide told us about a vendor that made model Trullies and would give you a tour of the town. We found his Trulli but didn’t stop because we wanted to explore on our own.  We got back to the hotel and got ready for "Experience Sharing". After "Experience Sharing" we found a restaurant with Lou and Elaine. The place was close to the hotel and we were seated at the upper floor in our own dining area. Dinner was great and we went searching for Gelato in the old town afterward. It felt like everything was closed but we found a Gelato shop behind a restaurant that was just about to close. We got our Gelato and walked back to the hotel for bedtime.

Thurs Oct 16^th Alberobello to Martina Franca: PICS  |  MAP  Kathie and I got up and packed for the last transfer day of the trip. We dressed for the ride then packed up our bags and went to breakfast. After breakfast we brought our bags to van and got the bike ready for our ride. Today’s ride was from Masagne to Martina Franca and would be Kathie and my last ride of the trip. We had only taken one day off and Kathie was ready for a rest and I thought having the entire day to pack the bike might be good. This was probably the most challenging ride of the trip. There were several long grinding hills along the way. On the way we stopped half way down one side of a rivine in the town of Massafra. When we stopped we could see ancient (Neolithic) cave dwellings across the ravine. Jim and Sonya had just come to the top of the steps that went down the walls and the ravine and encouraged us to go down the stairs and take the tour. We went down the stairs to find a church built into the side of the ravine walls and a man who was very willing to give us a tour. Again language was a barrier put this man gave a captivating tour giving a historic perspective on the church including one of the bells that was on display in the church. The Diocesan Sanctuary Madonna della Scala itself was one of the best kept churches that we had toured in Europe.  The man explained how the church grew over the years starting in the 17^th Century.  After touring the church we went over to what I believe was a crypt that had had frescoes on the wall. These were incredible pieces of history. While in the crypt Ross and Donna caught up with us. We got to repeat the Crypt part of the tour with them then the man took us down the hill a bit where we got to explore a cave dwelling. There was a bedroom and a kitchen with food and water storage. After exploring the cave dwelling we went back to the church where we got another tour given for Ross and Donna.  As we finished the tour the man took a donation from us and explained that he was a volunteer and the money went to the church. He locked everything up and took us to the elevator and we took the ride up to the entrance. When we got out of the elevator we discovered Lou and Elaine were down near the church. The name yelled down and tried to tell Lou and Elaine that the needed to come back up because he was closing. They came up and Kathie and I were on our way to continue the trip.

For the second day in a row Kathie and I missed the spot for lunch. Once we realized that we weren’t going to find a place for lunch we stopped for power bars. We finished our last few climbs and delighted in the few miles of mostly downhill into Martina Franca. We found the hotel and Jim and Sonya and Lindy and Colleen were sitting out front and Jim came to take our end of ride picture that is a tradition for Kathie and I on these trips.  I put the bike away, had a beer and then showered and relaxed until "Experience Sharing" time.  Today was Karen’s Birthday and Jana had bought a balloon kit and put on a balloon making show for Karen and the rest of the attendees at "Experience Sharing". Jana made a balloon parrot for me.

After "Experience Sharing" Jim, Sonya, Lindy, Colleen, Kathie and I walked into the old part of town for dinner. We found dinner at a nice place and then found Gelato on the way back to the hotel.

Fri Oct 17^th Packing the Bike and Exploring Martina Franca: PICS We got up and had breakfast and went to the ride meeting even though we were not riding this day. We did this to get instruction on where to disassemble the bikes and where to store them when they were packed. I started disassembling the bike and Kathie came down to help. As with most projects the time spent doing work expands when more time is available. I seemed to obsess about the details and it took more time than normal. We finished packing and I put the packed bikes in the hotel garage and we headed out to town to explore and have lunch.  After getting to old town we looked at several restaurants and found a pizzeria in the streets. Just as we picked the place we ran into Deke and Jana and we invited them to join us.  We sat down and were presented with Prosecco and an amuse bouche. Kathie and I shared a pizza and had a lovely lunch with Deke and Jana.

After lunch we found a church to explore and ran into Ross, Donna, Mike and Carol. We explored the church then walked out of town and back to the hotel with them. We rested and then walked into town for Gelato and to pick up our contributions for the last "Experience Sharing" of the trip.  We had the last "Experience Sharing" then moved into the hotel dining area for dinner. I had Sea Bass and this time I took instructions from Julie on how to fillet it myself. We finished dinner and took group pictures and several of our group made speeches of thanks to Steve and Karen.

Sat Oct 18^th Back to Bari: PICS We got up for breakfast and then gathered our luggage in the lobby. I went out to help load the packed bikes in the van. After a bit of waiting we were all in the bus on our way back to Bari. We dropped several couples off at the airport then moved onto the Best Western La Baia that was between the airport and the sea in Bari. This was our stop where we said goodbye to the Orr’s who were the only couple going to the train station.  We checked into the hotel and took a short rest then got out to explore the area. We were looking for a place for lunch and found our way to the beach. On the way we ran into Lou and Elaine and then worked our way back to the hotel. We got back and caught up with some emails then went on an ATM run to get a few more euros to finish up the trip.  After the walk we joined the Glasgows and Vilardos for lunch at a small place near the hotel. After returning to the hotel I was determined to get one last Gelato run in, so I took a walk down the block and had my last frozen treat.  The Internet at the hotel seemed to work best in the lobby so many of us were hanging out in the lobby catching up with our lives. That evening we decided to have dinner with Dave and Julie in the hotel. This was a roof lop restaurant that had a great view of the sea. Dinner was good and in the middle of eating Lindy and Colleen came in to the restaurant. We had a short conversation with them and said goodbye since they were leaving early the next morning. We then retired for our last night in Italy.

Sun Oct 19^th Getting Back Home: We got up for our breakfast, packed and called our taxis for four of the remaining couples. We got to the airport minutes later and checked in. One of the annoying parts of traveling now seems to be the process for paying for extra luggage. We got sent to the information desk were two people were trying to answer questions, broadcast terminal announcements, and take care of a myriad of other administrative duties. The line to get this done was long and slow and the process for paying for extra luggage was long and slow. We got through the process then got our boarding passes and got to our gate. Kathie did some last minute gift shopping at the duty free shop and soon we were on our flight to Munich.  On takeoff in Munich our flight was delayed by about 45 minutes when an landing gear tire air pressure sensor gave a false alarm. The rest of the trip went smoothly and we landed in Dulles at about 8 pm. We caught our taxi to home and started our way into our regular life.