VF del sud day 20: Ordona to Cerignola, 24km

We did a double day according to the app, but instead of 41km we did only 24km. The route took a wide loop so we optimized our effort. And our route was awesome. All sorts of agricultural activity – large production horticulture with planting, harvesting etc happening in all directions, and grape harvesting as well – both mechanical and hand-picking. There were tractors pulling small wagons with the hand picked stuff (both the tractor and trailer need to be small enough to move around under the grapevines. The mechanically harvested grapes are grown vertically so that the harvester can remove the grapes. The output from this harvesting method are loaded into large dump trucks, which barrel (pun intended) along the narrow lanes under the assumption that everyone will get out of the way, including pellegrini. Off to the north what we thought were oil storage tanks turned out to be a large winery.

Stornara was our cafe stop, and as a town only memorable for numerous murals and graffiti art commissioned to brighten up the place. Actually the town could use a decent thunderstorm to wash all the dirt from the streets.

The afternoon’s diy path was mostly through large olive groves, either on a dirt track or lightly traveled road. If the internet is to be believed, Cerignola is a variety of olive. We were pondering who all the workers were and their status, as a significant number appear to be either African or Middle Eastern in appearance. Not far off our path there was what appeared to be a shanty town for migrants, so we speculated that at least some of those engaged in the harvest are here in search of a better life.