TRAVEL MEMORIES: POLIGNANO AND OSTUNI

POLIGNANO & OSTUNI

On Tuesday, we visited the seaside town of Polignano followed by a visit to Ostuni. Unfortunately, it was raining in Polignano so we sought shelter in a coffee shop and had a Bailey's coffee with a pastry....very yummy....but this meant that our touring time was reduced.

Polignano is a small fishing town and is famous for the song 'Volare', (which we heard just about everywhere), cliff diving and ice cream. Volare was written by Polignano's native son, Domenico Modugno. For the past few years, the town has been hosting an annual cliff diving competition sponsored by Red Bull; it attracts about 40,000 visitors during this time. The ice cream we can attest to as we had an ice cream cone which was very delicious.

POLIGNANO

We weren't sure where this water was coming from but we believe it was rain water coming through the grates.

Regardless of the origin of the water, it made its way under this bridge....

And ultimately into the Adriatic sea.

A view of the buildings perched above the cliffs.

This is the statue of Domenico Modugno. It was amazing to see Italian ladies in what seemed to be there 'senior plus' years, clambering atop this statue and posing the same way as Domenico's replica. It was quite another story when they had to get down. Some ladies weren't as adventurous.

OSTUNI & MASSERIA BRANCATI

The town of Ostuni has a population of about 32,000. During the summer months, tourists can increase that population to as much as 100,000. Ostuni is famous for producing high quality olive oil. Our visit to Ostuni included a tour to an olive grove/olive oil production farm called Masseria Brancati.

The main square of Ostuni......

With Saint Orontius' column.

The 'Old Town' of Ostuni is built on top of a hill fortified by very old walls which are not high. The Old Town is famous for its white walls.

These two pictures of the Old Town were taken from within the walls.

This picture of the newer part of Ostuni was also taken from within the walls of the Old Town.

This domed structure was quite interesting but unfortunately, I don't know what it is.

A view of the industrial area of Ostuni with the Adriatic Sea in the far distance.

MASSERIA BRANCATI

The information here relates to the production of olive oil as it was done centuries ago since the current production is done off site using stainless steel tanks with temperature controls. We were disappointed to learn that we would not see the actual processing/production of olive oil. Masseria Brancati is now in its 7th generation of producing high quality olive oil. The ancient production methods took place in a cave because of the beneficial temperatures. This is what our tour covered.

This was the first wheel used in the production of olive oil. Picture this off the ground and pulled by donkeys.

This wheel was an improvement by the Greeks. The olive oil was used for fuel in lamps.

This is an improvement by the Romans over the previous two when the Romans began to commercialize olive oil.

This was another Roman press and the olives were emptied into the press through holes above the press.

This was a storage room for the olives.

This is soap made by the owner's grandmother over eighty years ago. It looks petrified but the inside is quite smooth and a bit oily.

This is a washboard used for washing clothes. My late Mom used one of these before she got her first washing machine.

The entrance to Masseria Brancati. That tree isn't actually growing out of the top of the entrance.

This is one of the very old trees in the grove. It dates back to the days of the Romans. While it is impossible to tell the actual age of the tree, carbon dating comes pretty close. This tree still bears olives. The trees have to be pruned and the farmers are allowed to remove the suckers (such as the one seen in this picture).

There are over sixty million olive trees in Italy. By law, olive trees cannot be cut down. There is a census done of olive trees and the tag on the left is part of that census. The tag on the right has a chip embedded in it which allows the government to keep track of the tree; i.e. make sure it's not destroyed.