Ostuni

Moving on from Monopoli

Our first taste of Puglia had been magnificent Monopoli. And leaving was hard. Part of my travel strategy has always been to leave a place before you really want to. Before you get complacent and feel like you are ready to leave. It was also some of the best career advice I received, many many years ago. “Leave a party whilst you are enjoying it the most”. This way, you will always hold on to those magical moments, and perhaps long for a return.

OK, maybe not to an old job, but definitely to places you visit. We had spent two days in Monopoli, wandering the old historic centre, soaking up the slow life of Southern Italy. Even at a distance of several weeks, we certainly want to return.

Driving in Puglia comes at a cost

But life moves on, and so do we. After a visit to Alberobello, we made our way to Ostuni. Victoria in the driving seat, me navigating, we were soon parked up in a large dusty car park on the edge of the city. Having a car to explore Puglia is essential. And it comes with a price. Quite literally. Two nights parked in this dusty field, with no security cost us 30 euros. Crikey, almost $60 to park in a field.

Mumbling about the cost, and dragging our cases over very uneven streets and cobbled pavements, my mood didn’t improve when I saw the steep hills we had to climb to our accommodation. Following the video we had been sent by the bed and breakfast host (which seems to be a thing in Italy), I was soon sweating in the mid-day Italian heat, desperate for an Aperol Spritz.

Checking into our accommodation my mood immediately picked up. Our bed and breakfast was cut into the rock face, meaning that the exposed brick walls perfectly insulated us from the oppresive heat. With a large, very comfortable double bed, modern shower, a fridge, and a kettle for me to brew my morning coffee, all was good in the world.

La Citta Bianca

Ostuni is known as the “la citta bianca”, the white city. And it is easy to see why. Perched high on a hill, fortified walls keeping the city safe from the regular invaders, everything is an almost perfect white. Very reminiscent of Mykonos in Greece, with narrow cobbled streets, and white paint everywhere you look. Sunglasses in Ostuni are more than just a fashion accessory.

I have previously mentioned how we find many of the places we want to visit through videos and pictures we see shared on Instagram. Ostuni was no different and Victoria had one “must do”. A bar that has the perfect location, perfect cocktails, and perfect view of the sea. OK, the sea was quite a distance away, but you get the picture. And would you know, as we left our accommodation, strolled along the narrow street, and turned a corner, voila! The very same bar was mere steps from where we were staying.

Calling back later in the evening, it was already starting to get busy. Walking up the steps of the bar, which was located across three levels of outdoor stairs, we spied one free table and immediately pounced. It was only a little later, sipping our Aperol Spritz and nibbling the cheese from our aperitivo, more on that in a moment, that we noticed the bar has a queuing system. With many people waiting patiently at the top of the stairs, scanning for a free table. Whoops.

Aperitivo time

Just a quick word on “aperitivo”. The word, loosely translated, means “to open up the appetite”. And, traditionally is quite small. Similar to the pinxtos you get in San Sebastian, or the tapas throughout Spain. With this in mind we ordered an aperitivo with our drinks at Borgo Antico. What arrived was a full meal. So much so it ended up being our dinner.

Exploring Puglia with our stomachs

Exploring Ostuni, or pretty much anywhere we visit, inevitably involved food. A great passion whilst travelling is trying as many of the local foods as possible. One such food was “pucce”. A Pugliese style sandwich. A panino of sorts, but slightly more expensive and a lot more tasty. I will just put it out there but THE best pucce in Puglia can be found at Crumb35. We also got to try more variations of the local pasta speciality, orrichiette. These little ears of pasta can be found on every menu across Puglia. And alongside the orrichiette, on those menus, who can go past burrata and local meats?

Something else we discovered in Ostuni was what we came to strart calling “little coffins”. Strolling past a pastry shop we were lured in and ended up buying our first ever Pasticciotti. They weren’t to be our last. Remember when we were in Porto and became obsessed with pastel de natas? Well,, this was a similar situation. For 2 euros each we had a coffin of deliciousness filled with creme.

Hotter than hell

I would love to say that we walked off the calories, and we tried. We really did. The key was trying to escape the intense heat of the day. Morning walks and then an evening passeggiata, hunting down a cold Menabrea beer. Each day so far we had temperatures that were up in the high 30s. With little air conditioning in places it was hard to stay cool. There is only so much gelato that you can eat. Maybe coming to Southern Italy in August was not the wisest decision.

We had a wonderful couple of days exploring La Citta Bianca, meandering and getting lost in a maze of cobbled streets. Finding the kind of book stores that I could spend hours exploring. Why is it I always come home from holiday with more books than I went with? I also added to my collection of classic Fiat 500 photos. A tradition we started some years ago. Trying to find one in every Italian town we visit.

When not looking for old cars, we were looking for old buildings. At times it was fascinating to stumble across a piece of history, such as the old church we saw, the remains of which have been built around as the city has grown. Down many laneways we saw grand archways framing outsize doors, adorned with dates going back as early as the 1400s. 

The Florence of the South

Such a short visit, and we packed up knowing that this wouldn’t be the last time we see Ostuni. But the road called. It was time to trundle back to the world’s most expensive car park and collect our Fiat 500. We were heading further south, to the Florence of the south. Our next Aperol Spritz would be in the city of Lecce.

Ciao.