(Day 3 is also known as Stalagmites, Stalactites and Scarpi!)
I think they got the gist of the American style breakfast at Boezio . This morning the table was set with all kinds of goodies: Croissants, breads, jam, cream cheese, peach juice, apricot juice, a plate of cold cuts including salami and prosciutto, and a bowl of whole fruits. Then we ordered a couple of omelets and coffees and a chamomile tea for Charlotte whose throat was not well.
Today, we were going to see the famous Grottoes of Castellana– the second largest underground caves in Europe (the largest being in Slovenia). First, we drove to see Monopoli. Having played the game throughout my childhood, I thought it was fun to see the town! It’s an old port town, but with a fairly new town square where lots of folks were just hanging out. We walked along the water of the fishing boat harbor and old fortress of Monopoli. Once there, we discovered a major regatta was taking place. It was the Italian National Championships for Lasers. We watched for a bit. Then, we visited the ancient Piazza with its old Cathedral built in the Southern Baroque style. The juxtaposition of the Church and the square lined with palm trees was truly Southern Italian.
When we arrived in Castellana and found the entrance to the grottoes, we panicked. Not a soul was to be seen, and the posted sign indicated that in low season, the last guided tour of the caves was at 12:30pm. It was now 12:40pm. We had been unaware that there were pre-set guided tours to see the grottoes. What a shame! Josh jumped out of the car to see if we might be able to catch the last tour that departed. He discovered, in typical Italian style, that the information posted was incorrect. Thankfully, there would be another guided tour starting at 1pm and it was in English. Perfect. Also, this would be the short tour – 1 km in duration – the one we would have wanted for the kids anyway.
For the second day in a row, my expectations were exceeded. The grottoes were vast. We walked down to the first cave, the one that was initially discovered due to a small hole in the ground, it was 100 meters in length, 50 meters in width and 60 meters in depth! But this was just the first cave, there were many more. In fact, we found out that the “long tour” is 3 kilometers meaning that these underground grottoes, full of stalagmites and stalactites were over 1.5 km in length. The caves were discovered in 1938 but they are between one and two million years old! The guide pointed out some of the more interesting rock formations – those shaped like animals, which the kids really enjoyed – but in reality, the whole place was very cool.
We’d come to the conclusion that the best way to eat authentic, very good food, and cheaply is to eat in restaurants that are off the back roads. While we are always interested to see the towns, their historical centers, Piazzas and cathedrals. The quality of the food (yes, we are in Italy so it’s all relative but..) is more uneven and many of the restaurants cater to tourists. But on the outskirts, on or near the farms, and where many of the restaurants produce their own products, we’ve had very good luck. Today, we followed the signs to a place called La Piatta Fuminata (the smoking plate?). Again, when we pulled up the driveway, we discovered a play area for kids: nothing wrong with that.
What was wrong, is that shortly after Josh and I were seated and ordered inside, Charlotte came in to tell us that Olivia was missing a shoe. OK, so we asked her to help Olivia find it. But, according to Charlotte, they had already looked for it and came up empty-handed. So one by one, first Josh and then I, were all out in the parking lot looking for Olivia’s shoe. Suspicious that Avery had hidden it somewhere, we offered him a gelato to find it. That didn’t work.
Olivia was very distraught; not because her shoe was missing, but because it was preventing her from playing in the play ground (pebbles on the ground). We were all perplexed. So were the restaurant staff and guests when Josh carried Olivia in with one shoe and one bare foot.
Still we enjoyed our lunch: the antipasti, the fresh grilled fish, the pastas and salads, the wine. After lunch, we looked around again for the shoe. Nothing. Even though she denied it, the shoe must have fallen off her foot as she got back in the car near the Grotto. So back we went to Castellana in search of Olivia’s missing shoe. Much to our surprise, when we returned to the spot where we had parked, no shoe was in sight. The whereabouts of the shoe remain a mystery!
We still wanted to walk around Ostuni. But now we were losing the light, and Charlotte, who had not been feeling well since yesterday, was feeling worse still. Time to head back to the Masseria, but by taking the back roads, the views of the countryside and the Trulli made for a very nice drive.
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