Puglia #3

Another day we were taken down to Polignano by the coast. The Adriatic sea was such a vivid blue and it is where the young dive off high cliffs into the sea.

We walked around streets in the ancient part of the city looking at how people live even today in these crowded cities.
Next stop was at the Grotte di Castellana caves which were discovered in 1938. These are a vast network of caves scoured out of limestone over millions of years. Some of the narrow paths we went into opened out into caverns that were 60 metres high. We were so far underground that we came back up to the surface by a lift.

That day we came back to the girl's Trulli for a late lunch. We had to eat indoors as there was alot of thunder and lightning and the odd spot of rain. That seems to be the pattern of weather we have been experiencing here and in france. Quite hot during the day and black clouds forming later in the day with thunderstorms around us but luckily we have missed out on any rain.
The meals we have been served by Chris and Lyn have been amazing. Chris drives the van and Lyn acts as the guide and after a long day out they seem to be able to turn on a wonderful Italian meal without any trouble. It's great to be able to eat outside as much as possible.

Last evening the girls took us to a local village where we were met by two young blokes who took us for a horse and buggy ride through the countryside for almost 2 hours. It was great to be able to see over the rock walls at a gentle trot.

There are stone walls everywhere around this countryside. It's hard to see where they would have got the rocks from as there are just so many walls. No wire fences to be seen anywhere. The paddocks seem no bigger than about 2 to 5 acres in size. The grapes are planted close together and the olive groves are cultivated in both directions exposing the rich red soil.

A local farmer insisted that I  try out his tractor .