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Published: October 13th 2013
October 13
On Friday our friends Brian and Catherine arrived. They are Americans, originally from Santa Cruz but most recently from Portland, who now live in Martina Franca, in Puglia. I first "met" Catherine through her blog and we connected after I read her post that showed rain in Portland and started out, "This time last year..." and reminisced about how different their lives were a year later in Italy. I could relate. I soon learned that she was a good friend of the President of Willamette University (having worked together at UC Santa Cruz) and had moved to Puglia from Portland. Brian and Catherine export olive oil from their trees in Puglia to the United States and Sam and I have enjoyed several tins of the oil already: pascarosa.com In June they were in the States and came for dinner with us and now we are in Puglia and they arrived to spend a night at "our villa."
Soon after Brian and Catherine arrived we set out to drive along the coast to Santa Maria di Leuca. We stopped and admired the views and then found a restaurant that had been recommended to Catherine.
When we got there some people were sitting and chatting out front but didn't appear to be customers - Catherine (who is fluent in Italian) inquired regarding lunch and was told that yes, we could have lunch. An outside table was quickly set and we settled in for what was a spectacular meal. We shared antipasti of various vegetable-based dishes and the flavors woke up my taste buds. Then we had primi courses that ranged from seafood to Orecchiette, the pasta that is special to Puglia. We enjoyed a dessert of various biscotti and a very sweet Primitivo dessert wine and then finished with espresso.
After lunch we walked through the marina area and then drove up to the lighthouse and church that sit on the point where the Adriatic and Ionian Seas meet. We have heard that the two seas are different colors and you can see where they meet, but the light was not such that we noticed that day. We'll try again. According to tradition, St. Peter landed here and declared this area so beautiful that it should be seen at least once in a lifetime. Finally we made our way back home and
enjoyed an evening on the roof top terrace- sharing wine and cheese, bread and grapes and great conversation.
Saturday, after many tiny Moka pots of coffee for the four of us, Catherine and I drove into Salve. We needed more cat food (already!) and several other items. After our stop at the "Dok" Supermercato, we went to the panetteria for bread. It is so great to have an Italian speaker so that I can purchase the best products from the best places rather than relying only on the Supermercato. I got a loaf of fresh baked bread as well as local products; pastries, and savory rolls with zucchini, peppers and olives in them. There were others in the store when we went in, but they wanted us to go first. The smell was delicious!
As we started out of town we noticed the "Caffe Roma," and decided that we probably needed to have cappuccini. I parked like an Italian (on a cross walk at the wrong angle) and we went in. Again, it was great to have an Italian speaker. We ordered our cappuccini and Catherine asked about the fresh cornetti (filled croissants). We
ordered one with Apricot jam and it was delivered already cut in two. Our first bites were delectable - this was an exceptional experience in all things Italian. As the Blues Brothers sang "Soul Man" on the bar TV we stood at the counter drinking beautiful cappucini and eating the best cornetti.
After arriving back home we loaded up the men and started out in separate cars. Our goal was the town (city) of Lecce where we would have lunch, walk a bit, and then say good-bye to Catherine and Brian. We followed Brian and Catherine who were in a (very cool) 1979 Fiat, up along the coast stopping several times to admire the views and take photos and finally we parked in Gallipoli. This time of year things are relatively quiet on the coast of Puglia, but on a warm (hot) Saturday, there was traffic. We finally found a place to parallel park and it took me...oh, maybe 15 up-and-backs to get into the tiny space. Meanwhile a line of cars waited for me to park so that they could squeeze by on the less-than-one-car-width road, and no one beeped. We only had a short time
to explore this ancient town, which has existed since before Christ (Sam and I will probably go back), but one of the things we did was tour an underground olive oil press. Throughout the ancient town, which sits on an island just off of the mainland modern town, there are underground olive presses. In the past olive oil was shipped all over Europe from Gallipoli and in these underground caves, horses, or oxen, turned the presses that squeezed the olives. The men, and the animals lived in these caves working for 4 hours and sleeping for 2, around the clock. The animals worked until they died and then they were eaten by the men. The oil was used for lamps, and ships lined up several times a day, every day, to take the oil to Northern Europe. Old Gallipoli is lovely, clearly prepared for tourists, but fun to wander through.
Back in the cars, only three attempts to get out of the parking space, and then we were off to Lecce. Lecce, a walled city, is called "The Florence of the South," because of the Baroque architectural monuments. The city has existed since at least the 3rd
century BC, and endured many conquests from Hadrian to the Normans, in the 11th century. Catherine had made a reservation at a favorite restaurant and, oh my, what an experience. The restaurant has a genuine family feel and the mother does the cooking with many visits to the dining room. Catherine described it as being "real Italian home cooking." She and Brian have been eating here for 18 years and they were welcomed by the entire staff. We shared an antipasti that had various vegetable offerings including fava beans, marinated eggplant, and then a pasta dish with chickpeas. Our meals were fabulous with Catherine having the Eggplant Parmesan and the rest of us enjoyed Puré di Favi which is a puree of fava beans and wild chicory. The chef/owner came out to teach Sam how to eat this dish. First she added some olive oil and then croutons; she picked up some chicory on the fork, scooped up some fava beans and a crouton, twirled it all and put it into Sam's mouth. We all followed suit and enjoyed a spectacular meal. For dessert Sam and I split a chocolate soufflé and Brian and Catherine shared an almond milk custard.
After espressos for all we were out on the street ready to explore! Honestly, we were more ready for a nap, but oh well.
We walked the streets of Lecce for nearly 3 hours. As Catherine and I enjoyed every peek down each street, and numerous cathedrals and churches and even some clothing shops, Sam and Brian followed along talking about cars and bikes and motorcycles. At one point I said to Catherine, "we could be walking around downtown Burbank and they wouldn't know the difference," but we agreed that they both needed this time. For Brian, he is an American in Italy who is not yet confidant with the language, and for Sam - it has been just the two of us for over four weeks! I think we all had an excellent time. At the end of our day we stopped at a bar for some refreshment before saying good-bye. It was passeggiata time and we enjoyed watching families and grandparents and kids and teen couples and old couples, dressed up and holding hands - all strolling along together. This is one of the finest things about Italian culture (and Spanish), and it happens every
evening in the largest, and the smallest, cities and towns. A bride and groom came along the street and ended up at the table next to us. We could not figure out what was going on, but they had several friends with them and they were happy.
After our farewells (which were temporary because we will see Brian and Catherine next week), we went our separate ways. It started out well, but then we got ridiculously lost. We had two GPS devices and they didn't agree and finally after bumping along a path through numerous olive orchards, we turned onto a real road that took us to a place we recognized and we found our way home. The cats were very happy to see us!
Today has been a total down day. We slept in, fed the cats, had some breakfast and went up on the terrace to read. This was perfect until a Praying Mantis landed on Sam's face and in an attempt to swat it away he launched his Kindle Paperwhite through the air where it flew until landing in the courtyard. At this moment I was down below taking laundry off
the drying rack, but I could tell from the sounds above that something very bad had happened. As Sam coped with the consequences of his misadventure, I went back up to the terrace and enjoyed reading with "sweet kitty" on my lap.
Finally we went to the beach, which is only one or two kilometers away. This time of year most of the roads down to the beach have a chain across, but we found one that was allowing cars to park. We left the car in the lot and then walked several minutes up the beach from the "crowd" (15 people), and stopped in a sandy spot with a gentle slope into the sea in front of us. The water is warm and although we did not get more than waist-deep, we enjoyed bobbing in the waves. We sunned a bit and I did my traditional "Italia" etching in the sand, with the date. I could not get the date to stay as waves kept washing it away, but I thought, really that is fitting since we are in the days when our trip is beginning to fade - even with more than a week to
go, we are winding down. I am able to admit the things that DRIVE ME NUTS, and we both look forward to our own bed and bathroom and coffee machine and all those other things that make life in the United States so simple and convenient. This trip has been such a treat, but in some ways, even I am ready to be home again.
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