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Published: July 12th 2023
Viewing Ostuni old city from below.Final day in the beautiful Pulgia region.
Today was driving slowly to Bari via the white city of Ostuni, La Citta Bianca, with its whitewashed walls. It was sighted when we were still far from it as the old town is built on top of a hill and is still fortified by its ancient walls.
From high above, for as far as you can see, the plain below is a sea of olive trees. The region is a producer of high-quality olive oil and wine. We circum-navigated by walking, the strong defensive walls built upon the hill-tops protruding rock. Tumbling clusters of white-washed houses wind around the hillside, at the top of which, proudly surveying the surrounding land, sits the magnificent Gothic cathedral.
Originally the practice of lime-washing town's served as a means of lightening up the dark, labyrinthine medieval streets, but in the 17th century it became a matter of life and death and was used to limit the depredations of the plague.
The narrow back streets, little passages and the numerous flights of steps made it easy to lose one's bearings! We did a few times, particularly when searching for a toilet!
Upon reaching
Getting closer.Bari and ‘sorting’ the change-over of the hire vehicle, something we will not do again, it was onto the port and our ferry (not Rotto size) check-in to Dubrovnik. All is not as it seems or is advertised to be in Italy when it comes to organisation. The taxi took us to the designated check-in place. We paid our fare, go to the closed window, and find a message that the Bari-Dubrovnik ferry is not at this venue but has moved to 3kms away to the port entrance from whence we had just come! Other people came and were in the same predicament. I went to a traffic warden who informed us that a shuttle bus would be along in 20 minutes which we could take to the correct venue. Heart rates decreased. We upgraded to a sleeper berth after being originally informed that all were taken. Great move as we slept well on the sail across. It must be said that for every hurdle we had, along came a guardian angel in the form of a very helpful person who readily put us on the right course or solved our hurdle. We are saying it’s ‘good karma’.
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Pat
non-member comment
Lots of change.
New scenes each day and all filled with character. Have fun. XX