Puglia Cycling Day Three - Il Melagrano to Alberobello to San Domenico

On the morning of our third day of the Puglia Backroads Cycling trip we woke up at the usual time and had a quick breakfast at our hotel, Il Melagrano. This was a 'Moving Day' so we had to leave our bags outside of our hotel room so the Backroads staff could transfer them to our next hotel, The Hotel San Domenico, near Monopoli.

We departed at 8:45 am on our way to Alberobello where we were meeting up with a guide to give us a tour and also a demonstration of how to make mozzarella cheese. This was going to be a 50 mile day with some solid climbing, so I knew I wanted to start out slow. The scenery was beginning to get even more picturesque as we meandered through farms and meadows in the countryside.



Jeff and Adam Riding in the Italian Countryside

We arrived in Arberobello around 11 am and a few of us opted to do an extra 10 mile loop before meeting up with our tour guide. This is a common technique in Backroads trips. Oftentimes most of the group will prefer to take a break and walk around the town before a tour while the more serious cyclists want to get in as many miles as possible, while still being part of the group. On this day there were 4 of us who decided to do the extra loop and we were all very glad we did. We meandered through gorgeous fields and farms with horses, cows, rock walls and farmhouses. The only challenge we encountered was some pretty aggressive flies.

After finishing the extra loop, we parked our bikes by the Backroads Van and headed down to a little restaurant in Alberobello where, 'Memo,' our guide, was waiting. Memo was a real character! We had a few pieces of Focaccia and, of course, some local white wine. Then Memo took us around the town for about an hour giving us the history of the distinctive architecture of this region -- specifically, he explained how the Trulli were constructed.








After Alberobello, we got back on our bikes and headed to our new hotel, the Hotel Masseria San Domenico.


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