We went on a wonderful bike tour with our friends Jake, Tom, and Michelle. The tour was organized by Ciclismo Classico, which is a well-regarded company out of Arlington, MA.
Kathy and I flew into Brindisi and spent our first night in an apartment that we found through AirBNB. Our first experience with them turned out to exceed our highest expectations. Our hosts were extremely helpful and charming. The flat was just across the harbor from the “downtown” area, reachable by a small ferry a minute away. We explored the town in the evening, having a wonderful dinner at Bracerie Escosaio (highly recommended)
The following day we went back to the airport to meet Tom & Michelle and made our way together down to the hotel in Lecce, where we rendezvoused with Jake, who had arrived by train from Rome. We walked around Lecce, and a nice dinner, and tried to sleep with a huge party going on outside the hotel.
Our first three days of the tour featured some inclement weather, though we only cancelled riding on the third day. The rain mostly held off for the first “test loop” ride and the second, to Mesagne. But the sun was present and strong for the fourth day and onward, so no complaints!
Highlights of the trip (besides great company and tons of fine food, wine, and gelati) were Alberobello, the “Trulli Town”, and Matera. See the picture pages for more.
There are two sets of pictures, one from the waterproof Olympus point-and-shoot that Ben carried while riding, the other from the Nikon DSLR that rode in the sag wagon or Ben carried while touring towns.To be honest, there’s a third set, namely those Ben took with his phone. Well, a fourth, too, from Kathy’s phone
Days -1 to 1 – Brindisi & Lecce (photos)
Really day -1, 0, and 1 together. We had gray weather in Brindisi, a good deal of rain in Lecce, so not a lot of great photos. Day 1 was a short, warm-up ride. The rain diminished as we rode, even yielding a glimpse of blue sky.
Day 2 – 3 – Wine Tasting & Ostuni (photos)
We rode in the morning to Leone de Castris Winery in Salice Salentino for a 10:30am wine tasting. This winery is famous for having produced the first Rosé in Italy, called “Five Roses”, in 1943.
After the tasting Ben was too tipsy to remember to take any more photos.
OK, maybe it was the gloomy weather.
The next day was heavy rain, so we shuttled to Ostuni and walked there during a brief respite from the rain, conveniently timed. we ended the day at Tenuta Monacelle, with a short Italian lesson focusing largely on wines, a great dinner, followed by folk dancing.
Day 4 – Alberobello (photos)
From the hotel, we cycled off in fine weather toward Alberobello. We first had beautiful ocean vistas from Impalata and began seeing Trulli – the odd, conical-roofed (also comical-roofed) buildings that are endemic here. We stopped for a break and coffee in Castellana then continued to a Masseria (farm) not far from Alberobello. We had a huge lunch there, including local wine, and then set off to our hotel, the Olimpo, in Alberobello. We stayed at the Olimpo for two nights.
We walked into town and admired the Trulli in Alberobello – there are around a thousand of them in two separate areas, one very commercial and touristy, the other more residential. Had a great meal at Miseria e Nobiltà, then wandered back home through the residential area.
Day 5 – Alberobello
After waking up in a fog, we had a guided tour of Alberobello, starting in the residential area and ending up at the Trulli-topped church at the top of the opposite hill. A quick coffee stop then off riding to Locorotondo, which featured spectacular views and a picnic lunch. A short extra loop got us hungry enough to have gelati at the artisan gelateria in town. Finally, we had a fabulous meal at La Cantina, where we also were saying goodbye to a large fraction of our party, who had foolishly only booked the 5-day version so were leaving us the following morning.
Day 6 – Casa Isabella
We said goodbye to our 5-day friends and the Hotel Olimpo and the remaining nine riders set off toward Mottola. After passing the “golf ball” we had a good, stiff climb into Mottola itself, which is a pretty little town. We ate our sandwiches there, overlooking a slightly hazy (smoggy?) Taranto and the Ionian Sea. From Mottola we headed off to our lodging for the night, which was Casa Isabella, a beautiful villa more or less in the middle of nowhere. At the Casa we had a demonstration of mozzarella making before another lovely dinner.
Day 8 – Matera & Montescaglioso
As we emerged from our breakfast cave the following morning we were stunned to see a dozen or so hot air balloons cruising around the area. They were coming down the ravine toward the church on the cliff (San Pietro Caveoso), then climbing up over the town toward the cathedral. Totally amazing.
Our final ride began and ended in Matera. We started off with 8km of descent on a wide, smooth road with long curves. The valley was covered in clouds, terribly picturesque. We rode for a while and then tackled a tough climb into Montescaglioso, another hilltop town. Back down the hill – hairpin turns, so no speeding here – and off to lunch at L’Orto di Lucania, an agritourism resort that featured much of its own produce in the meal.
After lunch we set off back to Matera, with the 8km reversed and a long grind back in the heat of the afternoon. But with enough water we made it.
Ben had not stopped the first day to take pictures – we were all tired and trying to collect at the van to figure out afternoon plans – so he decided to take his Nikon and trusty GPA to find the original route into town. Successful in this, he captured the views that were so impressive the first time. What was totally astonishing was how impressive they were even when he knew what to expect!
Only one of our party, Jake, had been to Matera before (on a previous Ciclismo tour), and Matera had been the main reason he was willing to return to Puglia. While the entire trip was great, Matera really is quite magical and capped off the tour amazingly.
We had another fine meal, our last, in another cave: Ristorante Baccanti. One of the highlights of the meal was the 3 Kilo (!) loaf of Matera bread they brought out, freshly baked. They should have had a chain saw to slice it, but made do with a knife.
The next morning was sadly our last. We had breakfast, than came outside again to see more balloons. Said goodbye to our new friends and flew off to Rome and Boston.