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Published: January 5th 2007
Cool little piazza
oon the harbor, it was the weekend and Italian tourists were our and about.The Christmas break routine has been largely one of staying up late and sleeping in late. On some days we woke up with yen for a daytrip to go lunch somewhere different. We decided to combine that with a little sightseeing. We haven’t looked around the heel too much, so we went exploring. We headed south along the east coast of the Salentine Peninsula, this is the heel of Italy. We drove out of Brindisi and then took a left hand turn onto the first available road that would take us along the coast. We headed as far as Otranto on one of our expeditions.
The drive wasn’t particularly beautiful or noteworthy. The little towns along the coast were largely ghost towns although I am quite sure that they are lively rocking towns during the summer. Everything was closed up and very little evidence of life could be seen. The towns themselves were…well…blah. Beth and I surmised that a lot of the houses must be summer homes and the local population must be quite small. Still it was a nice sunny day drive with little traffic. This makes for pleasant driving conditions - I can actually look around and relax.
Otranto
"Old Boys"
They always snag the best seats in the piazzas :-) was quite a pleasant surprise. It is a pretty little harbor town. The historic centre is compact and very clean with great views. It was sunny but the breeze had a definite bite. We did observe that the cold temps didn’t discourage folks from eating gelato. We would have liked a cup of hot liquid chocolate or mocha - neither of which can be had in this country. We walked around the centre for a bit and took a look inside the town cathedral. There was a chapel in the basement. It had numerous pillars that provide support for the floor of the main church. What was fascinating was that each pillar had a different design. There were at least 20 such pillars; I would have taken a photo but it was forbidden.
We ate at a cool ristorante that we spotted as we were searching for a parking spot. I failed to make note of the name…oops! The service was excellent. Our waiter was prompt and friendly. The food was equally as good. I had calamari that was “fritto” and was crisp and crunchy. It was fresh, fresh, fresh. I regret not taking a photo of the fish that
Old castle
The historic centre is contained behind the city wall...part of the castle ramparts. Beth had for her meal. We have seen them at the fish market but we don’t know what they are called. They are an odd-looking kinda guppy-like fish. I haven’t bought any because I wasn’t quite sure on how to prepare them. They are tasty! We had a bottle of white that was a regional wine. The waiter picked it for us and it was very good.
Tangent: The cap that I am wearing in the Rome photos is called a “Coppola.” If you know your “Godfather” lore, you will recall that Micheal Corleone and his bodyguards are wearing them when he is in Sicily; hence the term “Coppola.” Daniela (school sec) and her mom told me so. Old guys wear these, and not backwards! I’ve taken a shine to this cap, drive like a wannabe Formula I driver, put lots of sugar in my espresso, have a nightly “digestive”, watch “Cultura Moderna” on Sunday night, taken to wearing a neck scarf, stop and look at shoes in shoe store windows, developed a taste for horsemeat, and grappa, pass cars on two lane roads in town…next development…start learning some really keen swear words or expressions!
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Judy and Stephen
non-member comment
Hats and shoes
The Manolo would be proud! We are enjoying all the entries lately - you should be on break more often.