We are going down

Finally, on the third day we got some down time. The day started off with a quick down hill run from Ostuni to the train station, all 2.7kms. We caught a train to Lecce and then rode a mere 50 kms on pretty flat roads to the sea and Gallipoli. (The Italian version, not Turkish). The whole group were on the train. We were the first to make it out of the city, and all was going to plan until we missed a turn. Ray is getting used to missing things now, so it was no big deal. We could work around it, and found ourselves back on track and in Coppertino for a pit stop. I just made it to the closest bar, which happened to be outside an amazing castley fortress thingy. We just had to explore it. The castle was unlike any of the castles inScotland, which were blown up or burnt down or in some way rendered as a pile of ruins. This place had walls metres thick and they were restored or hadn't fallen down in th first place. 

After a very cheap lunch from a pane caldo shop we hightailed it to the sea, passing many olive groves and tomato plantations along the way. My how one's mood brightens when the sun is shining and the clear blue Mediterranean Sea appears before you, along with a gelateria. We arrived at our hotel to find that we didn't have to drag the bikes down lots of steps or round the corner and up a hill. The staff took care of that. And, our bags were already delivered to our room. And as an added bonus, not only were chocolates sitting on our pillows, but they have heated towel rails so we could do some washing and get it dry!

After doing the washing we were off for a stroll to the island which makes up the old city of Gallipoli and to watch the sunset. We stopped for a drink at a perfect spot for sunset watching, and not only our drinks, but a veritable array of snacks were delivered, free of charge. The sunset actually set, it didn't just disappear in a haze. To cap off a great day, we found a lovely restaurant to have some fresh fish. Ah, life on the road. It ain't all uphill.

Ciao for now

Brenda and the downhill racer