Oria

Not much going on as most of the young people are back in the North. Saturday morning I did the usual shopping (Oh, and I don’t think the cute girl at the bakery was hitting on me last week, purtroppo) and cleaning so Sunday I decided to get out.
I finally decided Sunday morning that Oria would be my destination. I remember it being a good walking town and I just wanted to do that (being the middle of the afternoon there is not much else to do).
The town of Oria has a medieval history that I have yet to learn about or see. The first photo is the road to Oria. It’s falling apart but the photo shows you the typical landscape, which is flat with grapes on one side and olives on the other. The town itself is on a lone hill in the middle of very flat land. The second photo is of their sign marking the winners of the town's “palio” (horse race). Siena has the most famous palio of Italy but Oria has a similar, but much smaller celebration. They have a whole weekend of people in costumes doing plays and of course, food. I think it’s in June but I’m never around to see it. One of these days…
The next photo is of the main cathedral in town. Open up and look at the picture full size to see the colored tiled dome. It is very similar in style to the church in Brindisi with the main difference being there is a wonderful view of the flat land below the front of the church. The cathedral is on top of the hill and from here you can almost see the sea. The hill is what makes this a good walking town for me. Getting up to the cathedral is a good walk especially if you obey the traffic signs that say only locals can drive up there! It was a little foggy yesterday afternoon but it had the wonderful smell of burning olive wood. It seems people are always trimming and burning olive trees around here. I like the smell and I think I will forever associate it with driving through the countryside of Puglia.

The castle is another important part of draw of Oria, part of it is up for sale for 5 million euros if you’re interested. There are two high towers like the one pictured here. It also is supposed to have a really nice garden inside but they don’t open until March so I’ll have to wait to see that.
A lot of people come to this town to have wedding photos, taken even if they were married in a neighboring town! There is the cathedral, the castle, and the castle gardens that all make good backdrops for wedding photos. I didn't get to see all of that but really I just wanted to walk and enjoy the sun, which is what I did.