Day 4 Locorotondo Loop

June 17: Fully outfitted with our own biking gear (hurray for padded shorts), we DECIDED to do a short ride today - only 22 miles. We had breakfast at the hotel local bar (110 Dock) with loud disco music playing in the background . We DECIDED out to prepare our meal tonight, taking advantage of the tiny kitchens in each flat. Happily, there was a large Friday market in the nearby plaza, where we got all of the fixings, except olive oil.

We then got onto the bikes for a ride down off of Locorotondo, through the lowlands (agriculture) and up into Martina Franca. It is a rather large city, with several squares or piazzas and parks. We navigated through the city and continued south, passing an area of gated villas, some very nice and a few abandoned, many with trullis. We had a nice ride along quiet roads east and then north back toward Martina Franca. The route on the map Looked like a big isosceles triangle. We took a different route (from the one recommended by our guides) back to Martina Franca, thanks to GPS MotionX, to avoid riding on a highway.   from Martina Franca, we Followed the same route back to Locorotondo.

After parking the bikes, we had some light refreshment at 110 Dock, a local bar. We retired for a restful, quiet afternoon.

We Gathered at the Oster's apartment and dinner prepared using the ingredients we Purchased in the morning.   We had lots of beer and wine, appetizers of prosciutto and melon, main course of orecchiette with tomatoes, pesto and roasted vegetables, farmer's salad (tomatoes, cucumbers , and peppers), a local soft cheese and bread.   We had a great time prepping, eating and languishing 'on the veranda.'