May 30, 2023
Santa Maria di Leuca to Otranto
Today, we head north along the Adriatic. We never truly know what the landscape will be like but based on other CB journals, we expected a rugged rocky coastline. And, did it deliver! We loved this ride, detour and all.
Christian’s mom had laid out breakfast for us on a cart, which we wheeled outside so we could have breakfast on our patio. Then we pushed off and headed downhill for the harbour.
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Our first destination was the magnificent lighthouse that marks the south of Italy, situated on the Punto Meliso.
There is a large plaza and a church next to the lighthouse. This is also the site of a man-made waterfall that marks the end of the Apulian aqueduct. These days, they only run the water on select days of the year.
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The road surface today was smooth. What a treat. Even though it is the main coastal highway there was no traffic to speak of.
The rugged coastline here was dotted with grottos and although it doesn’t show in the pictures, the water is dark emerald and crystal clear.
Soon after the photo above, we came upon a road closure barricade. Local residents were allowed through so we carried on too, as per usual. We didn’t think too much of it as these worksites are not uncommon here. Very often, there is enough space for pedestrians and small cars to pass through.
We enjoyed sailing along the highway and about 40 minutes later we came to the actual worksite. A bridge was undergoing repairs and it was blocked off completely. We spoke with one of the workers who said it would be impossible to allow us through, even though the bridge was completely intact. He said we would have to go back to Leuca. A sign pointing to the left directed pedestrians to a very rugged trail that could technically lead to the other side. I considered ferrying the panniers and then the bikes across until I did a recon up the trail and discovered it was clearly not an option for us.
So, off we went. I had seen a tiny slip road with the name of a town on it, so we hunted it down and found it at the site of the first barricade, so we shot up it and jumped off when the grade hit 15%.
The town, Gagliano del Capo, was non-descript so we passed right on through. As we exited, we found a small road that cut through the olive groves and eventually dumped us back on the highway on the other side of the bridge. Throughout the olive orchards were trulli’s, small round stone structure that were built as field worker’s huts. All the fields, orchards and roadways were lined with old dry-stone walls and draped with grasses, wildflowers and the occasional fig tree.
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11 months ago
11 months ago
Many of the olive trees along here were dead and as we descended back to the highway, we came upon a crew that was chainsawing the trunks. All we could think was, there is enough wood to fire Italy’s pizza ovens for years to come. David briefly though about how nice it would be to bring a piece of olive wood home but that would not be easy to pull off. In any case, I am sure they will make good use of this wood right here in Italy.
At Marina dei Novaglie, we popped into a beachfront bar for a cappuccino break. They were playing Bob Marley tunes.... ‘Don’t Worry About a Thing’.
The internet connection is in the naughty corner once again, after losing my work for the umpteenth time. Darne these stone walls! So, it's just a few photos to finish off this day.
It was another extraordinary day of classic cycle touring and tonight we are staying in a gorgeous B&B with yet another set of super hosts).
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Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 629 km (391 miles)
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11 months ago