{"id":9623,"date":"2024-09-09T19:28:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=9623"},"modified":"2024-09-09T19:42:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:42:25","slug":"day-36-alberobello-ostuni-brindisi-and-ferry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/09\/day-36-alberobello-ostuni-brindisi-and-ferry\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 36 – Alberobello, Ostuni, Brindisi and Ferry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Well, we\u2019re either being very lucky with our weather predictions or we\u2019re should apply for a job at the Met. Office!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After checking the forecast for today, we decided we didn\u2019t need to pack up the van last night. Apple Weather said 35% chance of rain at 10am, which would give us loads of time to decamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was a reasonably leisurely start, pootling about having a shower and coffee while we tore the camping stuff down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side note: both of us got bitten really badly yesterday, so we\u2019re desperately trying not to scratch today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just as we were leaving, the heavens opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Igoumenista ferry departure was 22:30, so we had loads of time to do the 100k from Alberobello to Brindisi. So decided to stop at Ostuni on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it didn\u2019t half rain on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Good job this is a travel day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We got rather ripped off for a parking space in Ostuni, \u20ac10 for what turned out to be an hour. And the double parking around the town as we entered was legendary\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Post Italia van wouldn\u2019t budge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We navigated over 20 double parked cars heading to Ostuni but this Post Italia van just wouldn\u2019t move. And with 10 cars behind us honking, we took to the pavement and got round him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostuni was pleasant enough. Old streets a Cathedral and a 28,000 year old woman (we didn\u2019t go into that museum), it was worth a stop. But it was wet, and gave us a hoot as we watched the torrents poorimg out of the drain pipes as we sheltered in the arches of a rather impressive underground toilet\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Impressive water works<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ostuni Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ostuni Streets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And because of the rain, it seemed that most of the cafes were shut, with forlorn staff watching the rain like the rest of us. Even with the rain there were tonnes of tourists. Must have been on day trips from the cruises we thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
And to pervert Chief Brody – You\u2019re going to need a bigger brolly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then on to Brindisi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had lots of time to spare today, so we took a stop at the Brindisi Decathlon (Sue bought some more flip-flops), then headed to a shopping mall for a mooch\u2026 and to get some snacks for the ferry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next it was into the old part of Brindisi for a couple of hours wandering the streets. The old town is worth a wander if you\u2019re in the area, and there\u2019s a couple of really interesting historical crusades places of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We parked the van in an out of town parking area on Via Spalato. The parking was free and there were a dozen or more other vans parked up there\u2026 safety in numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Via Spalato parking – you can just see Ollie between the two vans on the right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We first came across the old Roman pillars l, one now collapsed that were set at the entrance of the old town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Old Roman pillars – there are lots of these sets of steps in Brindisi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Roman Pillars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just past those pillars there\u2019s a plaque showing how a house in that street was once lived in by Virgil, the poet, wrote many of his works and died there in 19CE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next we came across the Cathedral and a wedding. There was also a wedding going on at the church in Ostuni, is Monday a wedding day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brindisi Cathedral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Bride seemed to be enjoying the day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
She arrived in a classic Rolls Royce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the Cathedral we headed for Lonely Planets top must-see place in Brindisi – The Church of San Giovanni Al Sepulcro. This is one of the stopping off points for the crusades and was built in 1128, modelled on Temple in Jerusalem, the \u201cumbillicus mundi\u201d. Much of it was in ruins, but was restored when the local government took charge of the site. Well worth the \u20ac3 each to get in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Church of San Jiovanni Al Sipulcro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Inside the Church of San Jiovanni Al Sipulcro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The final stop of the day was to take a look at the castle. But despite all the tourist signs pointing you at it, when you get there you realize it\u2019s still being occupied by the Italian military and you can\u2019t get in, or anywhere near really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brindisi Castle – clearly still in use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are some pretty big naval ships parked behind it though\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Naval ships in Brindisi harbour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And finally it was time to head to the port\u2026 3 hours early. Considering the number of people that probably go through the terminal, it wasn\u2019t exactly the Chunnel Terminal\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Grimaldi Limes Ferry Terminal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And because Sue seems to have finally given up on her beloved Flip-Flops, we had a ceremonial throwing away picture..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
They\u2019re pushing up the daisies from six feet under<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, as I write this, we\u2019re killing three hours before we can board at 9. It was worth getting here early as the car park at the terminal is small and it\u2019s wet. The weather in Greece and Corfu isn\u2019t looking great for the next week or so, but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll find some sun somewhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow we\u2019ve got a campsite confirmed for 2 nights outside of Igoumenitsa and then we\u2019re off to Corfu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently parked next to a couple who have driven from Germany because the dog couldn\u2019t fly and it was born in Greece\u2019s on their way to see South African family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2074 miles on the odometer sat in Brindisi port terminal car park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thought of the day: clearly the car manufacturers are missing a trick in Italy. We suspect that all the cars sold here probably do have indicators installed, but for all the use the Italians use them, they could easily not be installed and nobody would notice!! We also suspect that when you do see indicators being used, the driver is probably foreign and in a hire car, or the driver must have nudged the indicator some time that day accidentally!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, we\u2019re either being very lucky with our weather predictions or we\u2019re should apply for a job at the Met. Office! After checking the forecast for today, we decided we didn\u2019t need to pack up the van last night. Apple Weather said 35% chance of rain at 10am, which would give us loads of time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240909_184619_917-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2vd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9602,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/08\/day-35-alberobello\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":0},"title":"Day 35 – Alberobello","author":"John Martin","date":"September 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"5 weeks! Another day in Alberobello before we head south to Brindisi tomorrow for the ferry to Greece. The campsite is next to a tennis club and they were partying until well past 1AM. Elsewhere there were fireworks and dogs barking well into the early hours. It\u2019s not exactly peace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/746a0996-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9922,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/24\/day-50-goodbye-greece-hello-italy\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":1},"title":"Day 50 – Goodbye Greece, hello Italy","author":"John Martin","date":"September 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We had a 2PM ferry from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi today, so we were afforded another leisurely start. And of course what better way to start than a long chat with Helen and Jeremy. That\u2019s when we found out their van had been flooded in the port they had left the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10470,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/10\/09\/day-65-home-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":2},"title":"Day 65 – Home Again","author":"John Martin","date":"October 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"And so our mini adventure ends. There\u2019s not much to say about the day itself and I\u2019ll leave the conclusions to further posts where I hope to pull some more considered thoughts together about the trip. However, for today, we did manage to get off from our one night stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9875,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/22\/day-49-igoumenitsa-and-the-parrot-sketch\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":3},"title":"Day 49 – Igoumenitsa and the Parrot Sketch","author":"John Martin","date":"September 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"End of the seventh week and it\u2019s another travel day. After 10 days on Corfu (thoughts on Corfu at the end), we\u2019re on the homeward stretch now. It was an early start for Phil and Linda with a 5:45 taxi to Corfu airport. They had two flights today, one to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7615.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10042,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/day-53-gallipoli-to-matera\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":4},"title":"Day 53 – Gallipoli to Matera","author":"John Martin","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another travel day\u2026 the relentless pull of the road never ceases! Not much to report today, and the Dashcam was playing silly buggers (needed the SD card reformatting) and so there\u2019s not much from there either. Camping Torre Sabea was a nice little site. Very tired, quirky, but we enjoyed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9569,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/07\/day-34-bari-to-alberobello\/","url_meta":{"origin":9623,"position":5},"title":"Day 34 – Bari to Alberobello","author":"John Martin","date":"September 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another great day today. A village full of crazy round houses and some retail therapy. The first thing to remark on today though is Sue\u2019s alarm at trying out a bum gun at the B&B last night\u2026 the less said about that the better I think! But back to today\u2026\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9623"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9645,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9623\/revisions\/9645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}