How did we ever manage to find our way around Italy (or Pittsburgh for that matter) before the invention of the iPhone (or GPS)? Italy is notorious for confusing road signs ( or lack of signage) and before the days of GPS navigation systems in our cars or on our phones, we either used paper maps, asked directions from the locals or just got lost!
Today we relied on Google maps to help us get around some small cities/towns in Puglia. The plan was to start in Lecce, visit Alberobello, then drop off travel companions in San Pietro Vernotico, backtrack up to Ostuni, return to San Pietro and then to Otranto for dinner before returning to Lecce for the night.
The sweet dulcet tones of Siri’s voice can really be irksome when she tells you to proceed where it is physically or legally impossible, like across a road divider or the wrong way on a one-way street.
The road Google maps picked for Alberobello included a steep uphill climb on a winding narrow road that had a stop sign at the top – we have a manual transmission without a clutch but almost stalled out ( and there was a car behind us). But we made it and joined the tourists enthralled by the trulli that are now essentially all souvenir shops of restaurants.
We came upon another wedding (saw on two days ago in Lecce)
and bought a refrigerator magnet and Christmas ornament. There are 1400 trulli in town and many others scattered throughout the region, many renovated into vacation homes or hotels. They were originally constructed in the 16th century to avoid paying taxes because they could be dissembled when the tax collectors came around. The road out of town thankfully avoided serpentine switchbacks!
However, Google maps thinks that San Pietro is a car body repair shop off the main highway. But we eventually figured it out.
On the highway near Brindisi, we had a religious experience as we saw a tour bus burnt to a crisp on the side of the road!
The next town was Ostuni, the “white city” perched up in the hills overlooking the Adriatic. Narrow cobblestone streets, alleyways, arches and whitewashed buildings fill the centro storico, again mostly shops and eating places.
We had a quick lunch, a gelato and a latte di mandorla (almond milk specialty ).
After picking up our travel companions, and pretty much traveling down every narrow one way street in San Pietro, we made it to Otranto just at sunset. It is a lovely seaside town with a gorgeous lungomare for an evening stroll. It was a bit chilly and not crowded at all as it is off season.
After a pizza dinner, we left for Lecce with only one misdirection and found probably the last parking spot within walking distance of the apartment. We’re off to Matera in the morning.
Camino Musings 