Thursday

 It’s another beautiful day in Polignano a Mare. We were happy to see that Luna’s was open today. 

We are taking a road trip to Ostuni. It’s about a 40 minute car ride away. We passed so many olive tree groves. Some trees are more than 1500 years old. They worry about a blight that is taking some trees. They have no cure for the disease. 

We had made plans to meet our family friend, Glenn, in Ostuni for lunch. Glenn originally from NJ, moved to Ostuni 9 years ago from London. The last time we saw Glenn we were all snowed in and had a blizzard party at the Lewis’ house. It was great seeing Glenn and we picked up right where we left off. He owns several trullis in Ostuni and now is his busy time of getting them ready for his full rental season. It was so nice of him to take the afternoon off to be with us. We had a delicious lunch at Al Solito Posto in Ostuni. 

After lunch we took a tour of old town Ostuni. It is the white city. They painted all the buildings with a lime based paint. They credit this paint for keeping the plague away. Ostuni is very hilly. Glenn said it is great training for Positano where the steps and hills are even more plentiful. Churches are usually built on the highest point in the city. Ostuni had been invaded many times. They had devised a type of fire chain for letting towns nearby know that they were under attack. It’s purpose was twofold, please send help and get ready they are coming to you next. 

We said our good byes to Glenn and started for home. We saw signs for Villanova and we had to make a quick stop there. It’s a seaport town with a castle. Castles in Italy are not as ornate as the UK, or NJ sand castles!

Back to our house for a little relaxing, reading, and blog writing. 

Tonight we are going to a repeat restaurant, Ristorante La locanda Porta Picc. It was Susie’s favorite meal so far. Just this afternoon, Glenn was telling us about sea urchins. You can eat them raw with bread, or cooked with pasta. The waiter came to our table with a plate filled with about a dozen. It was a featured special of the day. They are pretty scary looking.  

You eat only the orange part. Steve and Jeff decided on cooked with pasta. Susie and I had her meal which was sausage and artichokes in a light sauce and big pasta called pacchierò. We also had fried calamari. It was the best I’ve ever had. So soft and a very light coating.

They gave us fava beans too. I asked, how do I eat this? The waiter said to squeeze out the bean inside the green coating. It’s more like peas in a pod than green beans. I tried the outside and it had an earthy taste.

Back to our house. Today is Mike’s birthday. So we sang the birthday song to him! Goodnight! We’re ready for tomorrow’s adventure.