June 11, 2005: The Scenic Route through Puglia to the Brindisi Ferry to Greece

PUGLIA: The warm sun and cool breeze made it a perfect morning for a fast walk around the village, up and down hills, into the modern town to upload dispatches and check my email, and back to my trulli to pack up and meet with Donato for my motorcycling itinerary. The route he recommended was absolutely stunning. I took off at 1:30 when everyone was out to lunch so the roads were empty. The road to Locorotondo was as picturesque as Donato had promised, dotted with whitewashed trulli and fields of grain and olive trees. The tiny town of Cisternino is called "the white village" because of its pretty white churches and whitewashed buildings. I stopped to admire the view from a small park on a natural balcony. The pointed roofs of trulli poked out from the landscape of fields and vineyards. The next sign I was looking for was Ostuni, still a "green route" and then I turned east toward the Adriatic, which I could see sparkling blue about twenty kilometers away. I spent some futile time trying to find a seaside route but here each beach is a dead-end road about 2 km from the highway, so I just went on to the Brindisi Port which was obvious from the big ship signs on the highway.

GREEK FERRY: There's a big ticket office before the turnoff to the port that sells tickets to all the ships. The place was absolutely empty - my motorcycle and the four employees vehicles were the only vehicles in a parking lot built for hundreds. "You would need a reservation after July 15th" said the ticket agent...but now, you will probably be alone in your cabin for four people."

I rode the eerily lonely road to the port and parked in the eerily empty parking lot and found the GA Agent office among 10 agencies with no lines out front and paid my tax for myself and the Breva and then, as it was only 4pm and I couldn't board until 5pm, I made some lunch on a stone bench outside the agency.

At 4:50 I rode the motorcycle to the ferry and followed the attendant to the side railing where I parked it close and we tied it down tight. Up to the check in and down to my room following a steward to my cabin on Deck 4. I started to get settled but the noise from a group of about 20 American teenagers was overwhelming and I didn't think I'd be able to sleep with their shrieking and laughing and somebody seemed to be bouncing a ball off the adjoining wall.

Moreover, it sounded like someone in a cabin two over was telephoning the cabin adjacent and yelling over the telephone so loudly that he could be heard through the three rooms, never mind the phone. For about 5 minutes I tried to appreciate what it might be like for an American teenager to travel in a Greek ferry, but five minutes was about all it took for me to ask the steward to request a room change. "I thought you were with the group," said the steward, who congenially installed me in another room.

SHIP FOOD: I'm not in Italy any more. Potatoes, a meaty lasagna, I think, and other heavy brown stuff. There was one remaining salad made of cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, and olives with a big slab of Feta cheese on top, and so I chose that. To drink? No Italian rosso, here. I was given a half-bottle of Axaia Clauss Demestica Blanc. A translation in English of its qualities goes like this:

Since 1901, DEMESTICA is the first bottled wine in Greece, which acompanies our everyday enjoyable moments. Today, DEMESTICA is one of the most well known wine abroad, since it is exported to over 40 countries in the world. The lively golden color and the delicate taste is best enjoyed with seafood, light cuisine, and Greece "meze". Suggested serving temperature 10-12 degrees C.

It's okay.