Puglia- Brindisi in November - Ostuni

Ostuni

The weather forecast is threatening rain over the weekend so we decide to go to Ostuni straight away the next day, which is Thursday. We go by train. This time our apartment is quite near the station so it's a quick and pleasant walk through the early morning streets to get the train. The train from Brindisi takes just 20 minutes to arrive in Ostuni station but the station is quite far from the town itself. Fortunately there's a frequent and cheap bus service timed to coincide with the trains between Ostuni and its station. It's a really beautiful sunny day and the views of the coast as we ride up are splendid. It's quite cold though, especially in the shade and so instead of heading straight for the narrow streets of the centre we take a stroll around the walls to get our bearings, look at the views of the coast and Ostuni itself and bask in the warming sun.

The temperatures rise a little and we are warm enough to explore the historical centre, which in any case involves a lot of walking. We quickly discover that the old centre of Ostuni is really beautiful, everything is whitewashed and it may be November but there are still the warm colours of flowers and natural stone walls. 

We reach the top of the village where there's the archway called Arco Scoppa right opposite the 15th-century Duomo, a beautiful example of Romanesque and Gothic architecture,  dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. As we are standing outside admiring the facade the owner of a souvenir shop comes out to have a chat and illuminate us on the cathedral and Ostuni. The Cathedral was restored in the late 1400s after an earthquake, and features a particularly beautiful façade, topped by three rose windows. Our unofficial guide is particularly fond of the central one, the largest 24 ray rose window in Italy according to him, 

it's a triumph of medieval symbology,  with the figure of Christ in the middle holding the earth in his hand as a sign of protection, surrounded by the Apostles and cherubs, it is apparently also a calendar and a clock. He also tells us that coming uphill from the entrance to the historical centre one should always keep right (or was it left) to go straight to the top. Later on in the afternoon we try both and get pleasantly lost in Ostuni's pretty streets but definitely do not go straight to the top. I wonder if we are navigationally challenged or if he was having us on......

Inside, the cathedral is attractive but a bit gloomy, an elderly lady is cleaning the floor and encourages us to leave a donation. The morning passes wandering around Ostuni and then we head to the newer part of town for food. I had found a self-service restaurant with good reviews on TripAdvisor so we go there. This time we are not so lucky. The food is really nothing special, already sitting waiting so just lukewarm and it isn't even very cheap. It's also even gloomier than the cathedral. We are decidedly unimpressed, there was a very interesting smell coming from a Panificio near Parco Rimembranze and we had glimpsed pizza, probably we would have been better off there but it wouldn't have been so warm to picnic today.

Never mind, we continue our walk, 

and have a look at the slightly newer part before heading back to the historical centre with a look at the large and sunny square Piazza della Libertà with the Municipio buildings, San Oronzo obelisk and Chiesa di San Francesco on the way. The days are short in November so we decide to get the bus back to the station. Ostuni is indeed a beautiful White Town.