Day 99 - Adriatic Coast

20 March 2022

Up early. Breakfast provided. We hit the road with no real plans. Follow the coast from village to village. The day is fine, the wind is cold. Locals tell us it is unseasonably cold. After the mild winter, we might be in for a cold spring.

I have decided to live in the mountains. I get to the ocean and change my mind. I will live near the ocean. They are similar, in different ways. Both make you feel small. Both remind you how short and insignificant your time here is. Mountains and oceans have seen mankind arrive, they will see us depart. They will not care.

“It was in my twenties that I felt old, that was when time was an abrasive wheel grinding me down. But it was not so much death I feared as insignificance.” ― Arthur Miller

Savelletri then Torre Canne. South we head. One village looks similar to the next. At each stop, it is the sea that impresses you. Pilone, Monticelli, Villa Nova. If the wind was not so chill we might have kept going. We head home just before lunch.

“I looked upon the sea, it was to be my grave” ― Mary Shelley

Selva di Fasano seems to be a pilgrimage for motorcycle riders. The steep, windy roads up the mountain would be fun on motorcycles. I have nothing against motorcycles. I like the way riders think everyone wants to hear the scream of their engines. I can’t tell you how impressive it is to see a fifty something out of shape man in leather take his Ducati to 14000 rpm and a billion decibels. Announcing his arrival or departure with such flair. I am truly in awe.

“It's without doubt my main subject. The way masculinity can go wrong. And I'm something of a gynocrat in a utopian kind of way.” - Martin Amis

With the crotch rocket gang here by the dozens, everything is full. We head back to our accommodation. The restaurant here is also booked out. A Baptism celebration. Another soldier of God signed up before they have a choice. Conscription is key.

The restaurant kindly sets us a table outside in the garden. The food is OK. The perfect environment for a long boozy lunch. In the sunshine out of the wind. The bottles tumble. A great afternoon.

“We thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also as a great giver of happiness and well being and delight.” - Ernest Hemmingway

We order a bottle to take back to our trulli. It arrives with focaccia and cheeses. The afternoon drifts into evening and we decide to stay one more night.