We headed for Taranto, on the Ionian coast this
morning. Our GPS indicated that we’d be
at our destination in the Old City just a half hour after leaving our trullo,
but that didn’t take into account the hour that we spent crawling through the
traffic in the New City. Once we’d
crossed the Ponte Vecchio into the old city, which is on an island, we circled
the perimeter, then parked the car along the water and walked through the
pretty gritty old town to the duomo, with its ornate chapel to the patron of the
city, St. Cataldo, an Irish bishop!
He’d stopped in Taranto after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and decided
to stay and clean up the degenerate populace. We walked down the Via Duomo to the town’s
castle, which is now a naval base. After
our experience getting to the old town, we decided to exit it via another
bridge and another route, through the city’s industrial zone, home to Italy’s
largest steel factory – not scenic, but efficient.
We stopped in hilltop, ravine-perched Castellaneta to wander
through its winding lanes and then spent a short time in Mottola, before
visiting Massafra. Massafra is bisected
by a deep cave-dotted ravine, with the two halves of the town connected by high
bridges. Throw in a castle perched above
the ravine and you have a pretty dramatic setting.
By 4:00, we were back in Martina Franca to meet Tommaso, who
wanted to show us his family’s farm.
Though his parents live in town, they run the farm, which has been in
his father’s family for many generations.
At the beginning and end of each day, with the help of one milking
machine, his father milks the 90 sheep!
We saw the hens whose wonderful eggs we’d enjoyed the other day, as well
as their chicks. Pigs, goats, ducks and
dogs were all in attendance as we explored the trulli that comprise the
farm. Some of the trulli where the
animals now live were, in previous generations, part of the family’s living
quarters. We climbed on narrow steps to
the top of the trulli for a view of farm and then Tommaso took us inside to see
where his mother makes the wonderful goat milk cheeses that we’ve been enjoying
this week.
Soon Mama Angela arrived home from shopping and Papa
arrived, driving the sheep and goats in from their pasture. We had a very special time chatting over
espresso, taralli (Pugliese snacks), and Angela’s homemade Limoncello, with
Tommaso translating our English and fractured Italian for his parents. Tommaso had told us earlier this week that he
works in Milan and travels back and forth when he has guests in the trulli. Today, we learned that he is a plainclothes
policeman there and it was so interesting to listen to him describe the
differences between Italians of the north and south; it sounds as if the
stereotypes have some basis! 
By the time we left the farm, Tommaso had exacted a promise
that we’d go back to working on our Italian; he even suggested that we Skype so
he could check up on our progress!
For dinner tonight, we loved the leftovers from last night’s
huge meal – what a treat! We’ve had a
great stay in Puglia and now we’re ready to pack up the memories (and the
food!) and head north a bit.
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