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My House in Otranto
The place I'll stay for 2 weeks!Woke up at 6:00 am, packed, had the B&B breakfast of sweet cream pastry, pear juice and strong coffee. Managed to get my bag down the stairs and walked to the train station, about 5 blocks.
I saw my nice train agent and asked him again to help me remember my schedule. It went like this:
Gallipoli to Zollino: 9:25 – 10:03
Zollino to Maglie 10:07 – 10:18
Maglie to Otronto 10:19 – 10:45
You can see that I had 4 minutes for the first connection and 1 minute for the second. I wrote down the next trains because I did not expect to be able to drag my heavy suitcase out of one train, across tracks, and on to another train. Amazingly I MADE ALL THE CONNECTIONS! It was difficult to figure out which train was which since they had no numbers or names. I think it had to do with the track and the time.
The connection I did not make was with Paolo, who was going to help me find my apartment in the old town of Otronto. I bought a local phone card and finally
Living Room
Living Room of our house in Otranto found a pay phone. After several combinations, I got the right numbers and area codes and got Paolo. I was in the wrong place! The store owner said I was at the gate of the castle but instead I was at the gate of the old town. So after an hour I tried Paolo again, and I sat on a bench under a tree and waited. There was a large sign blocking my view, and Paola was waiting on the other side. Poor lady!
I finally got into my apartment about 1:30. I can’t believe it! It is 2 stories. On the first is a laundry room and a small bedroom and bath. Upstairs in the main part… living room, dining room, full kitchen, 2 large bedroom, 2 baths, a lovely balcony where my laundry is now hanging! I will be sharing the apartment with Martha Bergman (Gamblin Paints).
The Marthe Keller and I took a quick swim in the ocean…. quite chilly but very refreshing! I unpacked and did my week’s worth of laundry, and hung it on the balcony to dry. I wandered around the town for several hours, finding my way.
Dinner at Paola's
First night dinner to meet and greet I impulsively bought a huge red sunhat, so cute!!! I had a beer overlooking the harbor, and read for an hour. When I returned, Martha arrived and we talked. She is going to be a great roommate!!!
Dinner for the group was hosted by Paola, Martha and Dagmar, our BAU Institute staff members. We had chicken, salad, chopped greens (spinach?), mozzarella, tomatoes, and a wonderful lemon cake for dessert. There are 15 of us (2 Marys, 2 Julias, 2 Robertas and a Robert, and 2 Marthas). They are all painters except me.
Returned home and sat on our balcony with our wine. Great evening!
More Photos Below.
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