Puglia, Part 1.

The 15th century tower which was transformed into Dave and Sue's beautiful home in Puglia

In June Rick went to his 55th Andover high school reunion in Boston. He hadn't seen most of his old classmates since 1968. It was a very pleasant weekend for him not least because he was reunited with Dave, someone who lived in his same dorm. Truth be told, neither one of them remembered knowing one another well back in the day, but they definitely connected in a nice way over the reunion weekend. One thing they have in common is that they both live in Europe. Dave and his wife Sue have a house in Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot. Shortly after returning home, Rick received an image of the tower above which came with an invitation for us to come visit them in October. Since we have always wanted to explore this part of Italy, we very happily accepted and made plans to stay with them for a few days and then travel around for a few more days on our own.

Puglia, the boot heel and spur of Italy is an ancient land, rich in archeologic treasures. It was first settled by the Mycenaean Greeks and then conquered by Romans. It was passed between the Byzantines, the Saracens, the Venetians, the Spanish, the Turks and even the Norman French. The area was not incorporated into Italy proper until 1861.

Puglia, the heel and spur of the boot. Our first travel destinations

indicated by the orange lines.

We discovered that we could fly directly from Paris to Brindisi airport, not so far from where Dave and Sue have their house, which was expanded from their 15th century watchtower, a photo of which was a very effective enticement.

Since we have so many lovely photos and stories to share from our time in southern Italy, I have decided to break up my report into a few parts. The map above shows the trajectory of our first days, landing in Brindisi, driving in our rental car to the city of Lecce, suggested by Dave, where we spent our first night, and then on to Gallipoli, notthe WWI Gallipoli, which is located in Turkey, this is an Italian town of the same name.

We arrived in Lecce after dark on Friday night. It is an ancient town, at least two thousand years old. Our hotel was in the historic center which meant that there was absolutely no parking anywhere in sight. Parking garages don't exist and many of the streets are pedestrian only, so getting around is difficult while at the same time ditching the car is also quite a challenge. After circling the town a few times, stopping to ask a couple of random strangers where we could park, we finally saw a policeman at the side of the road and stopped to ask him about it. Once we had given him the location of our hotel, he kindly gave us an address for a parking street, which we were able to put into our GPS. We finally found what seemed to be the last parking spot in the whole town and were able to exit the rental car. By this time it was almost 10PM and I was totally famished, and quite despairing of finding a place to eat. I need not have been, as the fun in Lecce was just getting started. We walked in the general direction of our hotel and found a little restaurant in a back alley that seemed pleasant. A very kind waiter, who spoke good English seated us and proceeded to shower us with attention and impeccable service. On the menu were a number of horse meat choices, which was a bit of a surprise to us, but we found out later that horse is served as often as beef in the south. We chose pizza, which was scrumptious and horse meat free.

Our restaurant and hotel room in Lecce

Our small boutique hotel was just a few blocks away and we were able to find it without trouble. We had been given self-check in directions since we were arriving so late. We found that it was located on a pedestrian street where there were any number of bars and cafes and a huge congregation of people right outside the door leading in. The music was blasting, and my heart sank. I was so tired and I could only imagine that the decibel level wouldn't be going down any time soon. We used the code to enter the hotel's front door, which lead to a courtyard, beyond which was a building and an elevator waiting to take us to our second floor room, which was behind another set of doors that required another code. Our room was at the far back of the hotel and the sound of the street and its happy activity was no longer audible at all. Our room was very sweet and the bed was comfortable. We slept like babies.

In the morning we had a pleasant buffet breakfast on a stone terrace overlooking rooftops and a beautiful church. The woman who served us our coffee and took our payment was such a charming person. Her English was minimal but it didn't prevent her from having a long and lively conversation with us. When she heard we were Americans she wanted to tell us about her upcoming vacation to New York City. She said she had visited most European capitals, including Paris, but had never been overseas. She gave us the run down of what she had planned and told us about the hotel on Times Square that she had found online and took a piece of paper out to write down numbers that represented the cost of her flight and accommodations. She was very proud of how economical she had been able to keep her plans for this big adventure. Americans don't mind talking about what things cost, but this is definitely not a French thing, so it was rather refreshing and surprising to be presented with her vacation budget even before we had learned her name.

The facade of the Basilica of Santa Croce

Lecce is a beautiful town in its own right, but we didn't have the time to explore it, as we were on our way to our friends' house by way of Gallipoli, the can't-miss coastal town on the Ionian Sea. But Dave and Sue said that the one thing we really couldn't neglect visiting in Lecce was the Basilica of Santa Croce. It was just a few minutes walk from our hotel so we made a quick pilgrimage there before leaving town. It really is a marvel of decoration, full of sculpted animals, grotesques and vegetation. The stone glowed in the morning sun. Apparently the structure took two centuries to complete, finishing in the mid-sixteen hundreds.

Awaiting the bride

There was a wedding about to begin inside the church, so our only view was from the outside. This was not the only morning wedding we witnessed in Italy. Apparently weddings occur before lunch here and, I would have to guess, are followed by a big luncheon celebration somewhere. That seems like a pretty good system to me.

The Roman amphitheater

Between the Basilica and our hotel is the Roman amphitheater when this was a Roman enclave. The city has obviously grown up around it.

Our charming waiter gives us advice

On the way to our car, we passed by the restaurant where we had such a pleasant time the evening before. Who should we see, setting up tables, but the kind waiter who had served us. I called out to him and he stopped what he was doing to chat and ask us where we were headed. When we said we were on our way to Gallipoli, he wanted to tell us where to have lunch and how to find parking there. He ran inside to get a paper and pencil and explained it all as he jotted it down. We felt as if we were very lucky to meet such warm and thoughtful people on our first day in southern Italy.

Most of Puglia is quite flat, so the drive to Gallipoli wasn't particularly remarkable. This part of the world, of course, isn't terribly wealthy either so the infrastructure is much less refined than France or even northern Italy. Driving is bumpy. This summer, if you remember, the heat reached a milestone here, in places over 113º fahrenheit, which has left the fields dry and thirsty. Millions of the olive trees, some a thousand years old, in this part of Italy have died from a catastrophic bacterium carried by an insect that arrived on a boat from Costa Rica about a decade ago. The landscape has suffered terribly for all these reasons. But when we reached Gallipoli, a lovely gem of a town on the Ionian coast, all that barren feeling was assuaged.

Fortified walls around the town of Gallipoli

The word Gallipoli means beautiful town, which it certainly is, at least the old part. The new part has extremely unattractive apartment blocks and other inharmonious modern elements. The old town, located on a limestone island, is another story. Gallipoli is on the inside of the heel on what is called the Salento Peninsula. The inhabitants still speak a Greek dialect. The town was part of greater Greece more than 2000 years ago when it was founded.

We followed our friend from Lecce's instructions to park down by the port and we walked up into the city. We were due at Dave and Sue's house at the end of the day so we planned only to have a tour on foot around the city and find the recommended restaurant before heading on.

Cattedrale di Sant’Agata

The narrow streets of the town were filled with people enjoying the pleasant fall weather. We climbed up and enjoyed the pretty buildings and bustling crowds.

Door of the brotherhood of San Giuseppe

I was very attracted by this lovely carved stone portal. The color and texture were delicious.

Close up of the carving

Speaking of which, our lunch at our Lecce waiter's favorite Gallipoli restaurant was spectacular. It was our first, but by no means last meal of ocean fresh fish. I ordered seared tuna which was served on fresh lettuce with tomatoes and grated cheese.

Lunch in Gallipoi

After lunch we walked along the shoreline back to the car. The route took us past the beaches, which are considered some of the nicest in Italy. Our hotel hostess had told us that swimming is the most important thing to do in Gallipoli. The water really is an incredible color, or should I say several colors and though we didn't verify this ourselves, I believe it is safe to say that the water is warm.

The amazingly colorful Ionian Sea

There were definitely lots of people taking advantage of the water and lovely day.

Bathers

at Purity beach

Gallipoli harbor is so nice, the boats are charming and modest. We had a happy moment there before heading off to meet our friends in their 15th century fortified tower, which I'll tell you about next Sunday in Part 2.

Harbor at Gallipoli