First Day in Ostuni

Tuesday June 7

This morning after breakfast I went out to explore Ostuni, and just outside my hotel I found I had a great view of the centro storico (historic center) of Ostuni! It is easy to see why Ostuni is called Città Bianca, the white city.

It was a short walk to the centro and there were photo opportunities around every corner, especially since it was early and not too many people were out yet.

I went inside the cathedral, a 15th century Romanesque-Gothic style church dedicated to the Madonna of the Assumption. It was really beautiful.

While browsing around the narrow alleys in Ostuni, I ran into Lucia, the girl I met yesterday on the shuttle bus. She showed me her house, which is tiny but spotless and meets her needs. Actually for a 19 year-old girl to be living on her own and supporting herself in southern Italy, she is doing great. I was impressed with her motivation when she told me she wants to be independent.

Needless to say, her traditional Italian parents do not approve. I encouraged her, and if she can get an education, she has a good chance of doing well. She was very inspiring, and reminded me of a time when my son moved to NYC at the age of 20. Go Lucia!

I spent the afternoon in my hotel doing some writing and catching up on laundry, and deciding how to spend the next few days in Puglia. I also discovered the great rooftop view from my hotel!

Just before I went to bed I heard this horrific noise from the bathroom, and suddenly water was everywhere. A pipe had burst as the radiator/hot water heater that is attached to the wall broke off. I couldn’t see any way to shut off the water and immediately called the front desk. Within minutes the bathroom as well as the bedroom were flooded. So at 11:30 pm I was packing things up and moving to another room. The upside to this saga was that I now had a room with a view of the centro!