The “White City”
The beauty of the landscape that greets you here around every turn can feel like the backdrop of a movie set. In fact more than one visitor has exclaimed, “Driving through this countryside makes me feel like I’m in a movie!” I get it. Haven’t we all seen a RomCom or two set in Tuscany?
And then there’s Puglia, that province in the heel of “The Boot”. As Mary, Rosemary and I saw Ostuni rise up on the horizon, it wasn’t a RomCom we were starring in - oh no! This felt more like The Wizard of Oz! I wouldn’t have been surprised if flying monkeys swooped overhead!
Ostuni, known as the White City, sits high on a hill over the Itria Valley
In the busy-ness of hosting earlier visitors, I was grateful that Rosemary had taken the lead in organizing this trip. I was a little embarrassed to admit I hadn’t done anything to check out the details of the itinerary- like Googling the places we’d be visiting. So, the apparition of Ostuni, Puglia’s so-called “White City” on the hilltop was especially thrilling for me.
Inside Ostuni- whitewashed buildings and lots of stairs
Our three nights here were magical. Rosemary had managed to book three rooms, one for each of us. It was only after we arrived that we found that not only did we have three rooms, we actually had three separate apartments. Nestled atop a series of three treacherous flights of stairs were our apartments - one on each “landing”- Rosemary’s was up high, Mary’s was a little higher up and mine was at the very top.
Rosemary unlocks the outer door to her apartment while Mary, up one level, tackles the stubborn inner door with a skeleton key which proved to be a daily challenge. No electronic cardkeys here! My apartment was up one more level and to the left. Yikes!
Rosemary, the retired corporate attorney, said she couldn’t believe there wasn’t a disclaimer in the AirBnB listing, or at least a note: Not suitable for anyone unable to climb stairs (or do hand over hand rock climbing which was about what it took to get our luggage up!)
To call our AirBnB arrangment “apartments” is misleading. These were unlike any apartment I’d ever encountered. Beyong each set of double outer doors were state of the art accomodations built into the caves of the hillside. The contrast between modern amenities and the rustic, cavernous walls was stunning.
I’d never slept in a whitewashed “cave” before!
My very comfy bed was like a nest beneath the vaulted ceiling of my “cave”
Opposite the bed was a niche divided for a tub/shower and toilet with a sliding door shared between the two spaces
Ostuni, like Puglia itself, has millenia of history. Each successive wave of settlers, conquerors and traders - Aragonese, Angevins, Normans, Byzantines, Longobords, and Spanish has left a mark. But it is the influence of the Greeks which feels most pronounced. If you were dropped down into one of its narrow winding streets you might easily believe you’d arrived in Greece!
Rosemary and Mary with the dreamy blue of the Adriatic Sea in the distance