Ostuni

Called Ostuni Bianchi because of its sparkling whiteness, Ostuni is perched atop a hill with the most amazing views.

We were starving when we arrived so stopped for a quick lunch, and a bottle of wine of course, we were on holiday after all. 

Before darting off to explore the ancient city.

It was my favourite city we visited in Puglia with twisting, winding streets revealing hidden restaurants, shops and little gaps in the building showing glimpses across the fields and down to the sea.

Espadrilles/Sunnies/Top (similar)/Skirt (similar)/Bag

After an hour or so pootling around we made for our hotel, Hotel Park Novecento. Only five minutes from the centre of of the city was a little oasis of calm. Nestled in 17,000 sqm of parkland, the majestic villa dates back to 1840 (although I imagine the pool may be a more recent addition).

My plan was to lie by the pool for the afternoon but after about an hour I was forced to do a runner when the heavens unexpectedly opened.

So naturally we grabbed a bottle of bubbles and retired to the little sitting room.

Luckily the rain cleared up for the evening so after a quick toast we headed back into town.

For dinner we headed to Osteria del Tempo Perso, again on a friends recommendation and we weren’t disappointed. If you go, make sure you ask to be seated in the cave part of the restaurant as this is where all the charm is.

Carved out of the rock, the cave dates back to the 15th century as has been home to the restaurant since 1983.

We wasted no time settling in and grabbing menus to peruse

Excited face right there ↑

We started with stuffed courgette flowers

Before moving onto two different pastas.

As orecchiette is a local speciality of Puglia we had to order some but sadly this one  was a little lacklustre (don’t worry, we persevered with the ordering throughout the week).

Luckily the ravioli with cream and truffle more than made up for it, although, to be fair, that’s a tough combination to beat.

The main event was a pork rib that I got talked into by H and our lovely waiter. I wasn’t overly keen as I thought it all sounded a little sweet but on this occasion, I was glad to be proved wrong. Meltingly tender pork with a perfectly balanced sauce. My only regret was not having left enough room to enjoy more of it.

Far too full for puds we settled for coffees and amaros, only just resisting the rest of the drinks we were sat next to.

After dinner we took a stroll down to a little bar we’d discovered earlier and arrived just in time to be serenaded by this gorgeous chap, I was even lucky enough to have a little dance with him.

We sat there for hours, worked our way through a bottle of red and tried not to get blown away- being on the top of a hill means Ostuni can get rather breezy. Eventually, in the early hours of the morning we figured we should probably tear ourselves away so jumped in a cab home to finish off the last of our bubbles before collapsing into bed.

The next morning was a lazy affair by the pool where I managed to thoroughly horrify my Brazilian boyfriend by having a cup of tea by the pool (full disclosure, I may have been a liiiiiiitle hungover).

By lunchtime H was officially bored of sunbathing and hungry,  so I was unceremoniously dragged off my sunbed and into town for lunch and a beer (I really didn’t put up too much of a fight) before we headed off on the next leg of our adventure.