Rome 2

This has been a very full day taking buses, subway rides, and lots of walking. We started by walking across the River Tiber encountering a well dressed man in a very nice car asking to use our map then offering us a designer handbag for 150 euro so he could buy petrol. Judy offered him 10 and told him we were on out way to the bankomat and thanks but no thanks. Then we found an Ecology fair where the minister was going to speak, fashion show of Eco friendly clothes and children creating toys from discards. Ben and Jerrys was one of the exhibitors and 2 nuns were sampling. On we went to the Victor Emanuel Memorial a very impressive structure honoring the king who united Italy in 1861. There was a very nice and reasonable outdoor cafe on top of the building overlooking Rome including the Coliseum. Our next stop was the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peters pictured here. Our bus didn't seem to go where we thought it would and we then rode the subway. The museum is magnificent and our guide was a Rick Steves write up which was very helpful. My binoculars proved helpful for studying the wonderful art in the chapel. We were able to get seats along the wall which eased our neck craning. St. Peters is huge with incredible sculptures but we have seen so many elaborate churches that I was not over whelmed. We ended up making the long walk back to the hotel but saw many interesting shops along the way. A short time later it was back on the street to the metro same bus as in the morning but then it became more challenging with major traffic problems apparently caused by some sort of work stoppage as a prelude to a major strike that is scheduled for Monday. We were assisted by a young Romanian woman who led us on a long walk to our evening activity. I'm actually trying to shorten this story but it keeps going. After touring Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, a delicious dinner we headed for the subway to hotel area only to find that station closed and instructions to reroute to a bus. Following the crowd we finally emerged above ground in an unfamiliar area and few clues of which direction. It took some sorting out with helpful locals and eventually a bus back to the area of our hotel. A 13 hour day and sore feet but still having a sense of humor the day is done.

Touring Rome

Our plan for easing into Rome was discarded when our recommended guide Frank Van den Broeke offered an afternoon walking tour accompanied by his dog. After a quick "fast food" pizza this 23 year resident Phd. Belgium born man led 6 of us on am amazing and entertaining tour including many sites on my list. He also made arrangements for other activities the next 2 days including suggestion to assist our visit to the Vatican Thursday. We had sore feet and whirling minds collapsing at a sidewalk cafe on Piazza Navone before finding our bus and amazingly our hotel. The photo was taken inside the incredible Pantheon.

Lecce

Walked our feet off on our one day here. Visited at least 6 of the 88 churches working around their various openings, closings including weddings. Most interesting archeological museums with many artifacts going back to prehistory. Special meaning were those found in ares were we have been touring the last week. Ducked out of rainstorm into a pizzeria for the first pizza here. The photo is the remains of the Roman Amphitheater from 1st century part of a main square near the hotel. Also saw an exhibit on the design of 1960 amphitheater built in Rome for the Olympics in a special tribute to Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi.

Back roads

Our final day of cycling took us along small back roads such as the one pictured. We worked our way to the eastern most point of Italy with Croatia, Albania and Greece coast lines not far away though not visible with hazy conditions. Our ride also took us along the sea shore but became very challenging as the road rose up many hills which finally became too much for me and I opted for a ride in the support van for the last few miles. Other highlights of the day were a very tasty picnic lunch over looking the sea and a visit to a private home to see a demonstration of hand made pasta as it has been done done for generations.

Otranto

Our 20 mile ride today took us thru villages and courtyard back roads some with hills most of which I was able to make. Lunch stop was Otranto a seaside town pictured above. We joined 5 others from the tour at outdoor tables for a lunch of rustici a hot pocket type sandwich of cheese and tomato sauce. Quite tasty but not too much to have room for Gelato coffee gelato served with expresso a dish called affogatti a meal in itself. Lots of people were cooling in the Adriatic waters which were very shallow near the shoreline. Sailboats could be seen in the distance but didn't seem to have much wind. We remounted our bikes and rode away from the town and the sea to our Masseria our home for the next 2 nights a beautiful peaceful place in the countryside. Tonight we will return to Otranto for more touring and dinner. It will be difficult to match last nights multiple course feast of local medieval specialities.

Trulli

Today we rode a shuttle van to Alberobello, aUNesco World heritage site because of it's many loose stone cylinder buildings with cone shaped tops some having mysteries chalk marks to "ward off evil or to bless the house. Our tour guide was a young California woman who had fallen in love and stayed here. She said the original trullis were built by Turks trying to avoid paying taxes assessed based on roofs. The could remove a stone and collapse the roof. Later used for storage the are now used again as housing. She arranged for us to visit one such property in the town. Many are also used as gift shops in the popular tourist town. We saw many more trullis as we pedaled 24 miles through the countryside.

Olive Oil

Today's ride was18 miles for me. I opted out of 7 more which were advertised to be mostly uphill. Olive trees of all sizes and shapes were along the way. Our first stop was an olive oil museum which stopped production in the 40s but illustrated the equipment and process that had been used. Today the former family farm is a popular place for weddings and the evidence of a recent one was still there. As in other Masserias there is a small chapel that was used by the workers and family. This was also true at our lunch spot a still active olive oil producing Masseria where we had a six course lunch featuring their organic home grown produce. We were encouraged to try different olive oils with the different courses. I purchased a bottle of one of them. We are now in Ostuni further south in Puglia area and known for their white buildings as the pearl. From this hilltop town the Adriatic can be seen in the distance. Photo taken as some of our group stopped to photograph farm workers in the fields. Much of planting and harvesting done by hand including olives shaken from trees into nets.