Day 7 - Cisternino and Ostuni

Bit of a quiet day today, since it's our last day at the trullo in Puglia.  Tomorrow we change locales and drive up to Le Marche - so this morning, we just had a leisurely breakfast and did some laundry.

But even the quiet days in Puglia, Italy are beautiful.  We decided to go for a little drive to see a few of the towns around here that we had not visited yet.  Started out in Cisternino.  Like most Italian towns, it's built on top of a hill, from which you get a great view of the valley below.

And like most towns in Italy, it claims to be the most beautiful village in Italy.  They are all so similar, and so beautiful, I think it's fair that they all make that claim.

And yes, that's me all decked out in my RedBlacks gear.  Thinking of the boys as they get ready for Game 2 in Edmonton tonight.  Go RedBlacks!!!

Cisternino follows the theme...  churches for the faithful:

Castles and forts on the top of the hill for protection:

Lovely quiet piazzas with open air patio restaurants for eating and drinking in the beautiful Italian outdoors:

...and little narrow alleyways for wandering and getting lost while admiring the bleached white walls and colourful planters.

After wandering around for a while, we headed further south to Ostuni.  Yes, this town also has a historic centre with a cathedral up on the hill and narrow streets and cobblestone roads.

First church we saw was San Francisco del Assisi.  It's off the main square as you come into town.  Beautiful old church with a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi in a niche on the façade.

The old town was built off the main square and up a hill, at the top of which you get a very nice view of the Adriatic sea.  The water is about 10 km from the town.

We stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant right outside the main cathedral.

That's the cathedral, not the restaurant.  Had a nice local pasta dish with a great white wine from Locorotondo - Leone de Castris.  Will have to find more of that before we leave the area, because it was very good, and probably less than 10 Euros - it was only 14 Euros in the restaurant.

On the way out, I couldn't help but take a few more pictures of the narrow passage ways.

Then back at the main square or piazza, I suddenly remembered that I needed a selfie for posting on Facebook.  Took one with this pillar in the background.

Tonight we plan on going out to dinner in Martina Franca, another beautiful town nearby.  They have a Festival of Light going on, so the old town should be nicely adorned with fancy lighting.