The truth is that after 3 days of searching and asking our hotel, we really did not find any pleasant beaches around the town. There are various little resorts –not really like towns, but more like summer resorts or neighbourhoods with people’s summer houses- down by the coast, only a couple of minutes away from the hill top town Ostuni –with car. The most lively and perhaps the biggest one –like a town- was Torre Cane –also the farthest away, 15 km.
On Sundays, there is also a bazaar at Torre Cane with the most bizarre scenes. There was for instance a donkey inside the bazaar, and then there were salesmen, who made elaborate demonstrations of their products. Otherwise, there were clothing items, food items, ceramic works, fake bags and fake sunglasses in the bazaar.
After a little tour around the bazaar, we started looking for beaches. There are private beaches called ‘Lido’s on the way to and around Torre Cane. By paying a marginal amount, you may enter any one of these beaches and be entitled to a tanning bed. For umbrellas, you need to pay an additional amount. Our hotel had given us the name of Lido Bizzarro, which we were unable to find until the last day, but still did not end up going there.
Another recommended beach was Quarto di Monte in Villanova-Monticelli –approximately 9 km away from Ostuni. Quarto di Monte did look very lovely with an establishment that looked like a cozy café. There were a few big pillows on the grass-paved ground, a few hammocks and a few chairs and sun beds. To go to the sea, however, you had to walk a little (a tiny path for about 4 minutes). The beach, you reach is very narrow with a lot of people and some dirt… So, despite the stunning atmosphere, we left here also to find another place.
We ended up somewhere a little out of Torre Cane, called Santos’ Tavern (Taverna Da Santos), a little Greek tavern like restaurant with a decent dock and grassed-paved tanning area. The sea was not dirty here, but it did not feel fresh like the Agean Sea either. The nice thing about Santos’ Tavern was that the food was also fresh and delicious –unlike some other beaches we’d been to in which there were only pizza houses. We had gamberoni (shrimps) and cacik (a Greek and Turkish dish made from cucumbers and yogurt) and Greek salad. They were all appetizing.
You will find on Donuz, everything that is unique to where we have been and where you would want to be. Be it food, be it lodging, be it a special feet massage, a bottle of wine, a person… Be it for 7 days, a day, a week, 36 hours or a single moment. On Donuz, is everything, you will need to make your holidays special. We hope you share with us your experiences.
Thu, Aug 6, 2009
Puglia