Because we arrived in Conversano in the early afternoon, an option available to us was to ride to Polignano a Mare – a fishing village on the coast. Despite the fact that we hadn’t had any sleep in more than 30 hours, we exercised this option. (Lisa, by the way, is a machine – she rocked the route and navigated by Braille all the way to the Adriatic, caroming off the stone walls that lined the roads.) The next day, we rode to our next destination – Alberobello.
The loop route to Polignano a Mare (and the coastal village of San Vito, at top right)
We encountered vineyards just 2k outside of town.
White grapes ripening with a little protection from the Puglian sun.
Primitivo grapes – there’s apparently a big debate regarding the genotypic relationship between this varietal (which is native to Puglia) and Zinfandel.
Views of Polignano a Mare
The small beach in Polignano a Mare
Watchtower on the coast by the small fishing village of San Vito – a string of these were built by the Normans within sight of one another to spread the warning when Turkish and other raiders were spotted
The modest fishing fleet of San Vito
Returning to town
Our hotel tucked away in the middle of Conversano
The town square right after sundown . . .
. . . and at 10:00, when we woke up to grab some dinner.
Seriously – the place was crazy, complete with some surreal festival with stilt walkers
Try dealing with this when you’re sleep-deprived and punch drunk
We survived the festival and headed south the next morning to Alberobello
Our first encounter with trulli – the unique Puglia stone structures – was about 5k outside of town in another vineyard, poking out of the shade covering
The density of trulli increased the further south we progressed
The two trip themes – olive trees and trulli
Interesting use of old bed springs . . .
Another trullo as we get close to Alberobello
Actual travel date: September 1. 2013
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