Daytripper Series

---

We’ve had a couple of rainy weekends that discouraged us from going anywhere. It is hard to want to walk around when it is either pouring or drizzling; those days are best spent lounging about watching a movie.
The weather has finally begun to improve and it was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday so we thought we would go on another daytrip. We decided to go visit Gioia del Colle. This means “Jewels of the Neck.” According to legend, a queen dug up a cache of jewels and she had them turned into a necklace. My question was, “So where is this necklace?
Fortunately, Gioia del Colle is also famous for three other products that are very much in the present. In the 17th century, a local Benedictine monk found the vines of the Primitivo grape growing in the monastery garden. He later planted them in the local fields. The Primitivo grape is the genetic twin of the Zinfandel grape; one of my favorite grapes. The area is also famous for its olive oil. The richness of the oil is attributed to the red iron rich soil. It is quite red. I also can’t imagine life without olive oil. I used it before we came here, but not on the scale that I presently do. Now there isn’t much that isn’t cooked in, added into, and doused on with olive oil. The other famous product is mozzarella. Amusingly, we were given some as an appetizer for lunch even though we didn’t request any. Unfortunately, I am a bit lactose intolerant and do well only with very hard cheese.
So it was a beautiful drive, sunny skies, Mario Biondi blaring on the stereo, and driving like I was late for a meeting with the pope. And unsurprisingly of course, there were other folks also headed to the same meeting, but obviously more important than I. So we arrived and drove into the centro storico/historic center and we found a parking space rather quickly. Parking in downtown areas is always quite limited. I jumped out to pay for parking and as I was studying the instructions an elderly couple stopped to lend a hand. It was amusing since her interpretation of the instructions and the receipt were decidedly incorrect. Nonetheless, she got points for friendliness and sincere desire to be helpful.
Gioia del Colle is a very clean community and looks to have an active business center in the centro storico. In fact, we saw posters announcing “We are a Clean City.” Hmmm…Brindisi could take a lesson from this. We tried to find a tourist information office but were unsuccessful. We did find the signposts to the historical churches and the castle. These are conveniently always painted brown and easy to spot. We walked to the castle and since they were open continuously (no afternoon siesta) all day, we decided to take in lunch first. We went to a local trattoria that a museum guide recommended. It was ok.
We explored the castle and goofed around since it was virtually deserted. This castle actually dates back to Byzantine time and is one of the best preserved castles in the south. I can only conclude that living in a castle would not be pleasant. I can’t imagine them to be comfortable in any way. Later we walked around visiting some churches, unfortunately it was in the afternoon and it was quite lonely. Everything was closed down for the afternoon break so we decided to head home and take a nap. Which we did!

Note: I started to experience problems with the site and couldn't post the more photos. I will try again and just post photos.

---

Photos

Baroque, Baroque
The facade was quite plain but the interior magnificent.

Getting some sun
In front of the castle.

Overlooking the courtyard
It was starting to get a tad warm.

Waiting chairs
in the great hall.