Day 31 Monday 16 September

The palace suits our constitution so we slept a little longer than intended. Breakfast on the terrace is very relaxing and memorable overlooking the absolutely gorgeous sea. It is so inviting in the balmy morning, flat as a pancake and perfect blue. Other swimmers had the right idea already enjoying it, but today we planned to go to Lecce so we didn’t dally too long.

On the way down we stopped by reception to get some help on public transport to Lecce. He was very helpful, even printing us a to and from timetable and highlighting for us important connections. There are not may trains from Otranto and we only had 45 minutes to make it to the train station for the only option to Lecce.

A mad rush ensued to get ready for the day before heading off via the car park to grab our hats and 15 minutes later, sweating and heart rate elevated we made it up the hill to the train station with about 5 minutes spare. I bank these cardio spurts and enjoy my food later without any guilt! The station looked derelict and was essentially unmanned, and the old diesel graffiti covered train on the dead end tracks added to an abandoned atmosphere. The only people around where a couple of men standing on the platform near the train. We managed the ticket machine and for a cheap €3.40 each we had a 1.5 hour trip with one change. As it happened the men were train drivers and staff and boarded when we did.

 

Even though the seats were comfortable and there was a bit of air it was still very hot and we started to melt a bit. These things are all part of the travel experience and getting local, so we sat back and enjoyed the trip as much as possible. It was great for Vern to be able to have a break from driving and see the scenery, and for both of us not to worry about parking and crazy Italian drivers. On the way home we chatted with an English couple who said they attempted to drive to Lecce yesterday but after 1hr driving and not finding a park they gave up and went back home – therefore trying the train today.

At Maglie where we had to change, all the passengers we were escorted very quickly across the train lines by a staff member to another train like school children – it was very quaint. The second train was also lacking air conditioning even though it was more modern. Resigned to the heat, we settled in, consciously trying not to think of our wet sticky backs and savoured little sips of nice cold water packed from our mini bar. On arrival at Lecce we double checked our printed information about the return journey with the staff at the ‘I’ stand, as our connections were not easily accessible on line and the line wasn’t on any boards at the station. With limited services we didn’t want to risk missing our connection home.

The area around the train station is a little rough feeling being generally run down, a bit dirty, and lots of transient looking people about, and wafts of marijuana as we passed them. The first thing we noticed was a lot of black refugee type people around and even passed a growing queue at an immigration office waiting for it to open. As mentioned in other blogs last trip – this whole refugee thing is a hard one to reconcile, personally I have difficulty with a global melting pot concept. Part of this is rooted in my belief of the importance of cultural identity, and connection to ones homeland.

Old town is an easy 15 minute walk from the train station. Lecce is often nicknamed the Florence of the South owing to its large amount of beautiful historical buildings such as the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Porta Napoli (triumphant arch – city gate) and its Duomo. Inhabited since the times of Emperor Hadrian and the Roman Empire, the city was conquered by a myriad of empires including the Saracens, Lombards, Slavs and Ostrogoths. Interesting to note that it is directly opposite Albania on the Adriatic Sea and has a current population of approximately 94,000.

Lecce is quite different from the other cities we have visited – it is not on a hill, is a lot larger, has Roman ruins at its centre, and its not white. The region is famous for its stone of which is a major export, and accordingly it is made of this light golden stone, many of its buildings in the elaborate Baroque style.

The main duomo charged €5 for entry so I didn’t go in out of principle, however what I saw from the door was lovely browns and some gold and large pillars. We pretty much wandered around getting lost and following the tourist markers for sights. Certainly some pretty buildings but I didn’t get a great vibe from the town. Just too big, busy and overtired from tourists. (Photo below: see the lady smiling – love the imagined story behind this one).

Because I am fussy, I didn’t eat much breakfast so I was ready to hunt out a feeding station. A lot of the cafe type places were boring tourist traps so we headed out of old town and came across a sandwich joint (baguette) where you can select your fillings by completing a check sheet and the same for an array of salads. Kind of like a boutique subway! The freshly baked baguettes also came in an array of flours and seeds.

We had a bit of fun translating some of the ingredients but ended up with a yummy roll for Vern and a large colourful octopus salad for me. So nice to get a good variety of vegetables on board! All up €15 which is not bad for the quality and portion.

The lunch place was near a square (Sant’Oronzo) where they have excavated in part an old amphitheatre from the early Roman times. The photo below shows the join of the stone, magnificent craftsmanship still evident centuries later.

Most of it still lies under the street … We heard from the British couple that they visited a museum where a man was going to build and set up a trattoria (restaurant) and when he started to excavate for the build he found up to 4 different layers of ruins underneath, the last being a crypt – burial place. Instead of the trattoria he now has a museum – guess that is a lot less work! It is typical of this southern region – very rich in history and layers upon layers can be found.

There is one notable green park (Villa Communale) on the edge of the old town so we popped across to view it in the hope of being able to put our feet in a fountain. Out of luck on that part, as it was fenced off. However, I spied behind the water feature what looked like a WC building and was correct. This was exciting as it was one of the cleanest I have visited so far in Italy this trip. A sit down seat, soap, air dryer and a bag hook completed the experience. Ah, the simple pleasures. We did see some interesting trees in the park including a couple of feijoa with small fruit – little things that remind you of home and we wondered how on earth it got there alongside the pomegranates and other exotics.

After the park we crossed the road, went through what looked like a grand old palace courtyard into a square where the highlight of the Baroque architecture was displaying its over the top decoration shining brilliant white in the full afternoon sun. Santa Croche was worth sitting and viewing for about 10 minutes, taking in all the detail of the facade.

Quite special and incredibly rich and showy. It was built between 1549 and 1646 and is the most important expression of the baroque style in Lecce – having had the best architects and tradesmen working on its creation.

Further wandering around the streets included the Duomo courtyard and its huge bell tower. Lecce certainly is a treat for the architecturally inclined. We had a coffee – I had the lovely almond iced coffee and we shared a pastry pie filled with a lemon creme. As planned we made it back to the train station in comfortable time. On the way another couple spied us and saw our back pack with the NZ and silver fern and asked if we were kiwi’s – yes of course. We had a little chat and found out they are from Auckland and are on a 6 month holiday – something we aspire to!

We managed to successfully get on the right train, and work out the necessary changes to get home just before 7pm. For the size of the city, the train station is very basic – as mentioned, not many boards, and not even an electronic information screen on the platform. Vern enjoyed chatting to the English couple along the way and I worked on blogs. We found out the olive trees can get a disease and this is the cause for all the die back. Sad to think of the effect as this region relies upon this industry being a major quality growing area for good oil, and it’s not affluent at all.

As we made our way home from the station we decided to walk along the waters edge and paddle our feet. It felt so good to be back by the water after a hot dry day and it was a perfect finish with the sea turning oily in the sunset and the stone old town illuminated in gold against a dusky pink sky.

Back home we enjoyed a delicious shower to get rid of the dust and sweat before heading out at 8pm to find dinner. We couldn’t get into anything good and ended up in a woeful cafe. This is the major disappointment in Otranto – prettiest place to stay here in southern Italy, but the food is really poor standard. Maybe our last day will flush out a grand finale?