First full day of cycling

We were really eager to get a full day of cycling. We woke up to another fantabulous breakfast with to die for coffee, then were oriented to our day's ride by our guides. Our destination today was Monopoli, and back. This picturesque town on the Adriatic Sea has long been an important port, and was guarded from marauders with a formidable walled castle, only part of which remains. The town is punctuated by many small beaches, and being Saturday, the locals were out enjoying the sunny upper 70's degree weather, as were we.



Here we are at the shore, enjoying the view with our guide, Debora.



Here is the beautiful shoreline in Monopoli.



Ann in front of the castle.

We most enjoyed walking around the town and visiting the church and the farmer's market.







With the opulence of the marbled, gold leaf, and silver adorned interior, you can understand why Protestantism eventually rose up to, well, protest such concentrated wealth, but there is no doubt about the incredible craftsmanship of the stonework in this church. We were told it consisted of 'many marbles' (a slight mistranslation).



The farmer's market was very lively, and we purchased roasted almonds, wonderful olives, pistachios, tomatoes, beer etc to complement our rolls and pecorino cheese brought on our bikes. The olives and almonds were a highlight for me. No wonder the Mediterranean diet is so healthy!



The streets of Monopoli were filled with interesting things, including a shop where you could buy horse meat (at David's urging, we did - some salami, which was tasty!).



Many streets were narrow and picturesque.



We ended up walking along the ocean and seeing some colorful fishing boats and beautiful sea coast.

Finally, we returns to our bikes and rode back to our humble (not!) abode at Masseria Torre Coccaro. At th entrance to the hotel Ann and I made the decision to switch bikes and ride an extra 15 miles or so to have some extra discoveries, as our guides call them. Beautiful scenery, but I want my bike back! Ann may try to switch to a road bike tomorrow.

As if we hadn't packed in enough for one day, we then went to the beach and enjoyed a cool beverage next to the raging surf. Large dinner coming methinks, if last night was any indication. So far, not losing weight on this trip...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Around Savelletri