Normally, it does not rain very often in Puglia

But when it does, the grounds flood - too dry to absorb it - and the roads aren’t designed to cope with that much water. Apparently Puglia never experienced so much rain at this time of the year. Schools are closed because of the bad weather. So it is just happening when we are here on bikes.

Our first day was… memorable. It started in Brindisi, where assembling the bikes after the train journey took far longer than expected. We had ambitiously planned quite a few kilometres for day 1, but it didn’t take long to realise that wasn’t going to happen - especially once the rain began pouring down with real conviction.

So we took the train to Fasano to shorten the ride to our destination: an agriturismo near Castellana Di Grotte that we know and love. The journey from there was something else - at times, the water level reached our pedals. We retreated to larger roads, where passing cars made sure we were thoroughly splashed, just in case the rain wasn’t doing a sufficient job already.

We finished the day soaked, cold. In any case, we started to enjoy the wonders of Puglia. For lunch, we had real pinsa, enormous, topped with fresh stracciatella - heaven.

Tonight, we’re staying at the agriturismo Serragambetta (we highly recommend this place), and we know that dinner will be another heaven.