Bella Italia Stage 23

Matera to San Giorgio Ionico

Strava: 89.7 km, 654m, 3:43, 297 shifts

We woke up in our cave and managed to get going before 9. We found a café within half a km for breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice and croissants… Nice.

Then we headed out of town. It was cooler today, and a bit cloudy so I didn’t sweat so much. Wytze kept a fast but sane pace and we had soon cranked out half of our distance. It was mostly paved with a little gravel. We stopped for drinks and focaccia in Palagiano.

The second half was similar but there was an interesting gravel section. We were on gravel in the usual middle of nowhere when we came to a tall and solid gate. Fencing made going around not possible. So I went over and Wytze went to the top. All four bikes were passed up to him and down to me. We kind of knew we were due for a repeat and sure enough after less than a km we had to do it again. We were going around the small bay in the Gulf of Taranto, part of the Mediterranean Sea. We hadn’t seen it since the early days around Cinque Terre.

It was only a little further to our town, San Giorgio Ionico, which looked sleepy and definitely far from the tourist track. Wytze called and our young, friendly host, David, showed us around the apartment. It was modern and clean, with a view. Soon, showers and laundry were done and it was still only 3 pm, luxury.

Later in the afternoon Wytze suggested a plan to pass the time until dinner: since we had another big smart TV, watch a movie. He picked “A Special Day”, a 1977 Italian film starring Sophia Loren. Set in Rome in 1938: fascism, Hitler & Mussolini, very well done film.

After that it was dinner time and it took a while to find a place that was open. If there is one thing San Giorgio Ionico is not, it’s touristy. Eventually we found a focacceria and had a filling meal with four large beers for well less than a tenth of last night’s gastronomic extravaganza. We bought dessert at a pasticceria and ate in the almost deserted town square.