We make our way across the Italian boot through Cisternino, Locorotondo to Giovinazzo

This morning we get to savor  the spoils of our cooking class from last night and three large pieces of Tiramisu remain in our fridge. For those that did not know Tiramisu is a breakfast food , I remind you that it is soaked in good quality espresso coffee making it perfect to start the day with. It is a little more cloudy today and a coldish wind is blowing. In the courtyard we wrap ourselves in some blankies and still have breakfast outside. We have come across quite a lot of cats here in our journeys and Tanya always tries to connect with them, with a “ puss, puss, puss”, however they remain oblivious to that. She has now found the Italian link to their hearts as they all respond when she calls them “pussycatto”.

We have a resident puss that is eyeing off our Tiramisu in the courtyard, so I go and get a little plate and feed him our remaining milk. A universal cat food it seems 🙂 We are set for the next adventure as we head towards Cisternino. I have plugged into my GPS the route we want to take but of course it was not to know that it is market day there.

Parking is at a premium , and as we round the corner to the square where the market is being held it is a bit of mayhem, but a spot appears and I do a triple attempt at backing into it. There is still a gap from the curb but I think a mirror folded in should give us the buffer we need. Just as we are about to leave, two police women appear and they look like they will be writing tickets. I go over and it seems right here, where there is a line of parked cars is actually a no parking zone. Sure enough within a minute the owners of all the cars surrounding me are popping out of the market to move their cars. Tanya bravely confirms that we have not been issued a ticket as I start moving the car.

Cisternino is very cute , with lovely, narrow alleys and whitewashed houses. There are quite a few artisan shops with beautiful ceramic light and candle holders and whimsical creatures to put on walls.

Tanya tricks me by sweetly suggesting she will take a picture of me against one of the houses and guess what she captures? There is also a very tempting leather goods shop that has at least 4 bags that Tanya is interested in, so in the end too much choice and we leave the decision till Milan.

Our next stop is Locorotondo. This little town is ultra cute. This time all the walls are made with perfectly hewn sandstone blocks. We are so impressed with the craftsmanship of the blocks lining the alleys, no trip hazard here.

The little streets are so pretty at this time of the year with spring bursts of cyclamens hanging  in boxes in windows and along the walls.

Today is obviously a “pussycatto “ kind of day as we come across this little, rotund cat of body proportions similar to Daisy as it descends it’s stairs to get their owner from the local bar, it  puts it little paws on the glass door and soon the owner comes out.

Locorotondo has a beautiful, small Basilica dedicated to St George who slew (checked with the dictionary) the dragon. Tanya finds some surprises to get for back home and it’s time to move on.

Near the car, strategically positioned is a little pasticceria, it’s perfect timing for a  cioccholatto caldo. The process that follows is fascinating. The young man serving us places the jug for the milk on the scale and very slowly, making sure something is not exceeded fills it with organic, full cream milk. This then goes to the frothing spout, once frothed it goes back to the scales where carefully teaspoon by teaspoon as the scale weighs up, the jug is filled with shavings of dark chocolate ( no cacao powder will do here). At last a perfectly thick but not too sweet brew gets poured into our cups – it is rather yummy but I dilute it with a mug of hot milk.

It has started to rain, so unfortunately Alberobello will get a miss again today. Off to Giovinazzo we go. It is a fairly straight forward drive to there, although the GPS keeps telling us it is a restricted zone and we can not go to the Palazzo. I communicate with Giuseppe the owner and we are all clear for the parking spot in the Palazzo.

OMG this turns out to be the most hair raising experience to date, trying to inch in (no sorry mm in) my way between the historical cathedral behind and the XVth century doors. We fold in the mirrors but even that does not give much of a buffer. Anyway we are both having kittens while Lorenza just calmly holds on to one of the doors. I think she has seen this once or twice before.

The place is amazing with family crests and centuries of family tree on the wall. It comes with 20 foot ceilings, a sitting room and it’s own ballroom, a couple of terazza and a lot of historical books mentioning the family Framarino.

The ceiling fresco in the ballroom depicts the victorious entry of the first Count.

We need a fortifying cup of tea after the car experience. It is just enough time to explore the inner “city” and find out that again we will not get food before 8-8.30pm.

Tonight we go for a pizza restaurant recommended by some young people we meet in a boutique.

It turns out to be very yummy, Tanya goes for the thin base with prosciutto and I have a thick base vegetarian one.

Should we have shared?