Salento

Salento is the boot heel of Italy, an area with deep roots in Greek and Roman culture, language and architecture. It is dominated by its largest city Lecce, but there are many other beautiful cities here, where the Adriatic and Ionic Seas meet. There are some sandy beaches here, but mostly there are ragged rock croppings that sit high above the pristine blue water. This is where many Italians take their summer vacations, in cliffside villages such as Santa Cesarea, Castro or along the expansive beaches near Porto Cesareo

Carrie and I ventured to this out of the way place to find a haven away from the crowds of tourists we knew were gathered in the more trafficked parts of Italy. Tourists are everywhere in Italy, even in the less trodden far reaches of the country such as Lecce. Even so, there were fewer crowds here and the atmosphere and the people are less hurried and welcoming.

Lecce

I’m not sure what I expected to find in Lecce. I had an image in my mind that it would be the typical crowded, chaotic small town that resembles what I thought the real Italy is all about, full of mostly non English speaking locals going about with their lives, with a few tourists in the mix. But it was much more than that. Lecce embraces its past, with a castle and a Roman amphitheater, twenty seven churches and numerous landmarks linking it to its history. However, it is also a modern city outside the historic district. We stayed in an apartment just inside the old city walls, where we could easily find a grocery store to fill our refrigerator and still walk through the enchanting old town, dotted with numerous restaurants and soaked with its ancient history.

In Lecce we were excited to catch up with our good friend Renae again. She had been traveling in Scotland and Ireland, and decided to meet us in Lecce before moving on. One of the most fun things we did was take a cooking class, where we made orecchiette, or ear shaped pasta, from just semolina flour and water. We had a lot of fun with other tourists trying our best to create the perfect shaped pasta. After fumbling through the process, the chef gathered our imperfect attempts, cooked them and served them in a rich tomato sauce. We all enjoyed the meal with lots of delicious local wines.

Day trip to Galatina, Otranto, Lueca and Gallipoli

We took a driving tour of a few of the most prominent cities in Salento. We started in Galatina and then moved to the seaside town of Otranto. From there our guide followed the coastal road, pointing out the numerous watchtowers that dotted the coast, reminders of when the Spanish ruled this part of Italy. The views from the road were spectacular, as we made our way down to Santa Maria di Luca, the most southern point of the peninsula.

The day trip to these four cities, with a drive along the coast was breathtaking. We were happy that we had a good tour guide to explain the sites were encountered and the history of the region.

We are starting to wind down on our trip and will be heading north, with our next stop in the eternal city, Rome.