Olive Oil and a Medieval Village

Docking
Brindisi Harbour, Italy
May 19, 2024

 Our ship, Celebrity Constellation, sailed into the Port of Brindisi this morning for our port call. Chris and I were scheduled for a much shorter 4-hour tour rather than the 8-10 hour tours we have been enjoying. Today only had two stops: the medieval village of Ostuni and an Olive Oil factory in Cisternino, Italy. 

Out the Bus Window
Ostuni, Italy
May 19, 2024

We also had a much more reasonable departure time for the tour of 11 AM, rather than the 7:15 AM departures of the past two days. That meant we could enjoy breakfast. Our first stop of the day was Ostuni. It was about a 45-minute drive from the port. Ostuni is a village atop a mountain and the entire village is white. Tradition has it that the whitewashed buildings protected the village from the plague during the Middle Ages.

Piazza della Liberta
Ostuni, Italy
May 19, 2024

We enjoyed a couple hours in Ostuni. The town was alive on a Sunday morning and we walked to the cathedral at the top of the village. Seeing the sights and enjoying some local pizza and gelato for lunch was how we spent our time. Almost too quickly, it was time to get on the bus for the next part of the day's touring.

Old Method Olive Crushing
Nettare de Olivia, Cisternino, Italy
May 19, 2024

We were off to the Olive Oil factory. This was a most interesting experience. I found the process of producing oil from olives to have some similarities to the that of getting juice from grapes! There is the sorting, the washing, and then the pressing of the olives. 

Selfie in front of a Blooming Olive Tree
Nettare de Olivia, Cisternino, Italy
May 19, 2024

What I learned, however, is that there are two ways to press olives: with and without the pits! Without the pits is a new production method and only being done by seven olive oil facilities in Italy. We were treated to samples of olive oil from both processes infused into bread so that we could experience firsthand the differences. The factory also produces wine and beer as well as cosmetics made from olives. No part of the olive goes to waste and the busy season is from September to January as the olives are picked and processed. We weregild they work 24 hour per day to process the olives as quickly as possible once they are picked.

The day was over, almost too soon and we returned to the ship. Yes, we have some olive oil with us to help remember our time in Cisternino.

Tomorrow is a down day for us. The ship will dock in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but we do not have a schedule tour and will take some time in the morning to ourselves before hearing out to explore during the afternoon. 

-- Bob Doan, about the Celebrity Constellation in the Adriatic Sea