Sunday, 23 July 2023

Puglia towns: Ostuni

 

Ostuni is La Cittá Bianca - the town of flat-topped white-washed houses. 


Our first visit there coincided with a late-summer thunderstorm and torrential downpour.

Moments before the thunderstorm in Piazza della Libertá, Ostuni


We ran all the way up the steep narrow streets to La Sommita, the summit, perched above the historic centre in what used to be the town's castle, where we dried off over a stretched out lunch at the Ristorante Cielo, hoping for the rain to stop. It didn't, though lunch was excellent. 


Lunch at Cielo

But the second visit, in gorgeous sunshine, was beyond expectations. 




From the Piazza della Liberta, with basilica and outdoor cafes, 
we walked up the winding streets for the second time. 

Wandering the endlessly twisting narrow streets and alleyways we got lost multiple times, 





but there were surprises around every corner - a lovely cathedral, a 'bridge of sighs', perfect tiny homes




We had a glass of wine in a piazzetta next to the cathedral




then dropped in to visit Delia, the 25,000 year old pregnant woman in the Martire church museum.




Descending to the Piazza della Libertá we had early supper as night fell, sitting outside the Garibaldi on the piazza where I had possibly the best pizza of my life - the thinnest, crispiest almost-not-there base topped with aged parmigiano, parma ham, cherry tomatoes and arugula, with a good Puglia wine before driving back to Borgo Bianco in the dark.


Ostuni, Puglia, Italy, September 2016

Puglia trip



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