Giving up wine is never the answer

We awoke yesterday morning with two strong resolutions for the day and trip ahead. Number 1: we would not sacrifice our two hour lunches for the pursuit of further kilometres. Number 2: after taking a look at our waistlines and being less than content with the marginal improvements given all the cycling we had been completing, we decided to give up wine and pasta for the rest of the week. As I write this 24 hours later I can confirm two things. One: we ended up cycling 104km straight without a lunch break as no suitable venue could be found along the deserted seaside towns. Two: following a pursuit by wild dogs which resulted in a crash early in the day that left us banged up, but not broken, our egos bruised we broke down and had a couple beers upon arrival. Clearly the wine has never been the problem and we were silly to think otherwise as nothing went this wrong when we were relaxed and enjoying the local vintages.

Rewinding it a bit - we spent 3 nights in Noci visiting nearby towns and villages on day rides. It is amazing how much easier it is to cycle and how many kilometres you can manage without pannier bags. That extra 20kgs really does weigh you down! We made our first stop on Sunday in Alberobello, a town famous for its Trulli houses. The trullis are stone huts that historically were dismantled and reassembled in new locations for the avoidance of taxation. Clearly Italy's current economic woes and history of widespread tax evasion started early. Whilst picturesque (some photos below) it was a rather tacky town catering to the cruiseship set in search of trinkets and kitch. We didn't stay long.

Our next stop was Locorotondo, another hill-top town along our route. We arrived at lunchtime so it was a bit of a ghost town but were treated to some lovely architecture and quaint alleyways in the centre of town. We have yet to experience a bad meal in Puglia however were subject to service with an attitude from a teenage boy who clearly wasn't happy with his job. He seemed to be irritating half of the restaurant and his only saving grace was the fact that the food was good. We won't mention anything more as despite this we wouldn't recommend a visit as there are plenty of other fabulous restaurants where the hospitality, as I've said before, is second to none.

We headed home that evening where we had planned to stay in and eat a light meal of mozzarella and wine but were again treated to a feast by our hosts at the B&B. An open fire in the garden produced impeccable steak and delectable wild boar completed by homemade bruschetta. Christine/Angela - the region is famous for wild donkey and horse meat - thinking of you two, you will be happy to note we didn't try either of these delicacies.

Monday we got back on the road and headed towards the baroque town of Martina Franca. It is interesting how some towns manage to maintain their authenticity in spite of tourism and Martina Franca was a pleasant surprise. A beautiful main square, quality shops, and great restaurants make this town a winner on our list. Having some admin to attend to - ie our laundry - we spent a few hours wandering the town. I managed to pick up our last haul of mozzarella, a new pair of sunglasses, and clean clothes for the road ahead. We had yet another delightful meal at La Tana trattoria. This trattoria epitomises our love of eating out in Italy. From the outside, there was nothing flash about the place, in fact we would avoided it had it not been recommended by our friends at the bar. Thankfully we went in. Simple decor but five star, yet unpretentious service. Great food, a spectacular local sparkling white, and reasonable price tag make this another winner. As always, a few photos below.

Needing to recuperate some mileage lost over the past few days we headed straight to Taranto, a large port town on the Aeonian sea. Nothing spectacular except for the abundance of Mussoliniesque architecture (which we liked), grotesque 70s disasters (which we disliked) and a quick transition from the Rodeo drive of town to East LA within a matter of blocks. There were gunshots (unsure if cap or not) and seedy characters - never have I seen the Senior Sutra walk so fast and with such fear. He knew something bad was going to happen as we passed not one but three funeral parlours on our way back and then upon our departure from town the next day, a hearse crossed our path. He thought "this is not looking good."

We made our way out of town Tuesday morning, finally on the coast and ready for a delightful day of riding ahead. Each beach more beautiful than he next. At around 11am, my father was concerned we had missed a turn towards the coastal path and decided to turn down a side road. Hence we return to the beginning of our story. There is a real issue with stray dogs all over the place in the south. I am a dog lover myself but some of these guys look pretty nasty and are afraid of he bikes so you don't know what to expect. Two dogs leaped out from a garden unexpectedly and we started to move pretty swiftly down the road but in our panic and another dog coming the other direction managed to collide at high speed and crash into a stone wall. Fortunately we had an emergency kit and bike repair kit (as handlebars were mangled at an unfortunate angle) and managed to get back on the road again for an epic ride. In the interest of good taste we won't post any of our wounds, but JD - they are worse than any pain you underwent on the Grouse Grind.

We have had no choice but to take today as a day of rest and recovery. Yet again we have lucked out and found a fabulous B&B in Gallipoli. Derek's bedroom is housed in an old chapel which he is crediting to the speed of his recovery. The sun is shining, the sea is calm, and we look forward to wandering the streets and finding some fresh fish for lunch. A photo below as a teaser of our view from the rooftop terrace at breakfast.