Saturday May 24
We had a slower start to the day after our extra large day yesterday. We arrived in Cisternino by late morning and happened upon a marching band on our arrival into the historic center. Nice welcome indeed.
Cisternino is another hilltop town and known for its strong culinary traditions, in particular its grilled meats called bombette. I’m very sad to say we didn’t have time to sample any, because we have lunch reservations in another town and time was limited to a quick exploration.
One of the highlights for us here in Cisternino were these boards hanging above the streets with quotes on them.
If my google translate is correct, the English translation is:
“Create quality with the owner to make everything more beautiful…My perfect Monday!”
Lunch today is at Trattoria Il Cortiletto. Don’t ask me how I found this place, because I honestly can’t remember, but trust me…it’s a GEM! Located in a small town called Speziale, you could easily drive past this little restaurant and never notice it from the street. It’s very inconspicuous, we had to double check our google maps. The only sign above the green shuttered door, just says “Trattoria”. But if you love authentic Italian food, do NOT drive by! This is a place for you.
When you enter the front door, it looks like an empty room with a counter, but then they take you towards the back, through a beaded rope curtain to the courtyard with trees and flowering vines. I just love it here!
We started with an amuse bouche, which I’m not 100% sure what it was but it was delicious! Followed by the traditional bowl of carrots and cucumbers.
We ordered everything family style so we could all have a taste of everything. We ordered a carbonara pasta with asparagus, a pasta with grilled zucchini and sundried tomatoes in a saffron sauce, a pasta with green beans and tomatoes, pork tenderloin and baby spinach on a carrot and ginger cream sauce with black truffles, and duck breast and zucchini flowers with an orange sauce.
We were stuffed and couldn’t be happier! Definitely a highlight meal and would highly recommend it.
After lunch we drove to Monopoli where we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring. The weather had turned cool, overcast and windy so when we arrived at the Monopoli waterfront, it was pretty quiet. We enjoyed our time strolling around and seeing the sights.
We returned back to our trullo and made a light supper and had a beautiful sunset to close out our day.
Sunday, May 25
This morning we’re headed to a wine tasting at Cantina Masseria Torricella which is located in the countryside, just north of Alberobello. We did have a bit of trouble finding the place, our google maps took us to the Masseria Inn, which we were told is not the correct place and that it is further down the road.
But when we arrived at the winery (in the nick of time for our 11 am tasting) we were very confused because we were the only car in the entire parking lot. I walked around, and finally found an entrance and lo and behold I found the one worker on the estate – the wine guide! So we signed in but then we were told we were still waiting for another group. We decided to wait outside where we were immediately greeted by the vineyard mascot! This dog was a stray and when the owners of the vineyard discovered her on the property they decided to adopt her and call her Wine.
Once the second group arrived (20 minutes late and with no apologies) we started the tour with a walk out into the vineyard. The countryside is so beautiful here. Our guide explained the grapes that grow here, the terroir and the history of the estate.
After our vineyard walk we headed to the production area and cellar.
And finally the best part, the wine tasting! And what’s even better than tasting wine? A wine tasting with food pairings! I love how food and wine can compliment each other.
Our first pairing was a white wine paired with ricotta cheese and wine jelly, and a plate of bruschetta.
Next was a rosé paired with fresh mozzarella and grilled zucchini.
Followed by a Cabernet Sauvignon paired with a hard cheese and cured meat.
And our last tasting was a Primitivo paired with a different cheese and a type of cured ham with a side dish of local honey.
Our tasting ended around 1 pm, so we decided to head back to out trullo and spend the rest of the sunny afternoon by the pool and just relax. We stopped along the way to pick up some groceries for dinner tonight. After our cooking lesson yesterday we have tips from Chef Davide on what we should be shopping for: Rummo is the best brand for pasta and cacioricotta da grattugia for a locally made cheese.
Monday, May 26
Today is another BIG day! We’re headed to Polignano a Mare for a morning of exploring the town and then in the afternoon we have a private sailing charter!
Polignano a Mare is a beautiful coastal town, set on dramatic limestone cliffs that plunge straight down into gorgeously clear, turquoise water. The historic center is a maze of whitewashed buildings, flower-filled balconies, and narrow lanes that suddenly open onto breathtaking sea views. Polignano a Mare is also the host to Red Bull’s competitive cliff diving every year. The competitors dive from people’s balconies into the crashing surf below!
We arrive by mid morning, park our car street side in the city center and just start walking toward the coastline. The views are incredible!
We find the Grotta Palazzese, the famous restaurant in the cave, where we have dinner reservations for tomorrow night.
Eventually we get to the lookout point above the famous beach, Lama Monachile, a small pebbly beach that’s tucked between towering cliffs and framed in the background by a Roman bridge. Lama Monachile is one of Italy’s most photographed beaches and we can understand why. It’s picture perfect!
After taking about a billion pictures from the beach viewpoint, we decide to head down for the beach to dip our toes in the water.
The beach is very pebbly (like the large variety of pebbles), and it’s a bit tricky to walk on or even sit or lay out on, and the space is quite small. It’s the end of May and there are quite a few beach goers here, I can’t imagine how packed it is in the peak summer months!
We stopped at La Rotellina, which is located very close to the beach, on the other side of the bridge, for a quick panzerotti before our afternoon sail. A panzerotto is a classic Italian street food from Puglia. It’s essentially a small, deep fried pizza pocket, filled with tomato sauce, mozzarella and ham or veggies. Picture a small, thin crust, fried calzone.
After we quickly gobbled down our lunch, we hopped into the car and headed to Cala Ponte Marina for our sail with Almarano Charters!!!
We have a sailing catamaran all to ourselves for 3 and a half hours this afternoon! After we get settled on board and the Prosecco has been poured, we head out of the marina, pull out the sails and point towards Polignano a Mare.
We sail past the Lama Monachile beach, the Grotta Palazzese restaurant, the balconies where the red bull diving takes place.
Then we head to an area that is in a little cove where we drop anchor so we can go for a swim! Yes we are diving off the boat and swimming in the Adriatic in MAY!!!
After our swim our hosts have some snacks all laid out for us.
Then the girls decide to paddle over to the cliffs and check out a little cave.
And then we just bask in the sun and take it all in! It is glorious!
But all too soon it’s time to lift anchor and move along, but before heading back to the marina our captain takes us by the Abbey of San Vito.
We head back into the marina as the sun lowers in the sky, we had the best day together. Lifetime family memories were created today.
Tuesday, May 27
We decided to take a chill day today and lounge by the pool, read our books and relax. Stephen, Macy and I decide to head out and walk along the trails near our Trullo. There are extensive walking/biking trails that connect to the villages through the valley.
Tonight we have reservations at Grotta Palazzese, the cave restaurant in Polignano a Mare. Instead of Christmas gifts this year we decided that we would gift ourselves a dinner here. It’s ranked among the 10 most exclusive outdoor restaurants in the world. Fancy! Here we are before heading out:
We arrive at the Grotta Palazzese parking area just outside of the city and a shuttle van drives us to the restaurant. A set of stairs is just inside the entry and we descend countless flights of stairs until we finally reach the grotto. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels the thrill of just being here, and I don’t think my heart is racing just because of all the stairs!
We try to be cool and chill but the urge to capture the moment and take as many pics as possible is real. I can’t deny it.
After snapping a few quick pics we’re taken to the Maître d’ who welcomed us and then we were shown to our table, which was at the very back of the restaurant. I was initially very disappointed that we were not seated by the water’s edge (or even close to it). Tables along the rail are reserved for hotel guests only. Until I realized that our table had the perfect view of the entire restaurant, which meant we were in prime people watching position (which I do love) and this place had LOTS of characters to enjoy watching. There are some people here who want to take a few photos to remember their evening (cool – I’ll include myself in this group) and then there are the people who think they have an entire place for their personal photo shoots. They don’t care if they’re disrupting other patrons, in the way of servers and nearly causing collisions, or that they are literally pressed against our table while we’re trying to enjoy our evening. They move around the entire restaurant and take endless photos and poses. It’s such an odd time that we live in, but sometimes it’s interesting/entertaining to observe. It’s a fine balance between interesting and annoying let’s be honest.
OK enough of all that let’s focus on the food. The menus are preset, and there are 3 menu options to choose from: Sea, Meat, and Vegetarian. Each of the 3 menu options has 7 courses. Stephen chose the sea, Makena and I chose the meat and Macy chose the vegetarian . Unless you are actually vegetarian, we all agreed that this option seemed like the biggest rip off. Macy’s main was literally 2 white asparagus in a sauce.
Here are the meat menu dishes from the night:
The food was very good, there wasn’t anything that we were disappointed in and yet there probably wasn’t any dish that was out of this world amazing either. It was solidly good. The best, and most memorable dish for me was the spaghetti dish. Which was basically spaghetti with a parmesan and basil sauce! Have I had better dishes, most definitely yes. But the hefty price tag isn’t just about the food. It’s the entire experience. Location + Food = Grotta Palazzese Experience.
And I’ll close out our evening on some more photos of the restaurant:
Michelle's Travel Adventures 
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