About 10 km to the south is the old island town of Gallipoli. From Santa Maria al Bagno we could see the town lights and also the very prominent lighthouse (one of the tallest on the Mediterranean). Early in the morning we drove down to park near the port on the mainland and did the short walk to the island. Gallipoli is such a cool little place! The wind on the shore was pretty severe but already there were small groups of people trying to make the best of the nice beach. Since we were there mostly to sight-see we took to wandering the very quiet neighborhood streets. We saw people doing their laundry, making deliveries with nimble small trucks, and running quick errands. Once lunchtime rolled around the narrow streets became incredibly busy with shoppers and tour groups.
Hans picked out the best sandwich shop I've been to in a long time. Baguetteria De Pace is labeled "fast food" on Google Maps. Y'ALL. The truffle salami sandwich I had was so soooo delightful. For good measure I had it with a glass of one of Puglia's well-known wine varieties: Negroamaro.
That was kind of our day. We returned back to the home-base for one last evening and I took advantage of the lovely weather by going down to the town beach. Hans wanted to read back at the hotel so I took a solo dip with all of the locals. The water was more active than on the day we arrived but even with the waves you could see all of the way down to the fine sandy bottom. I could even swim with my eyes open underwater and see pretty far. Like the beach club we went to yesterday it was a peaceful experience.
For dinner we went to a kind of touristy/trendy cocktail and snacks place so that we could enjoy the sunset during aperitivo hour. Honestly the food was a bit "meh" but the drinks were decent. I got to practice more of my Italian with the patient wait staff. Tomorrow we're heading north to our next hotel.
The Cathedral of Saint Agatha was crammed within the tight little streets
so it was difficult to photograph from the outside.
As I was trying to photograph the reliquary I heard a voice behind me say "attention!" and it turned out to be a Dutch tour guide reaching through the iron gate bars to flip on a light switch so that his group could view the room. I was temporarily trapped in a corner while the rest of the group scuttled forward to see and/or take pictures of the bones and other relics.
How could you not love just wandering streets like these?
16th century Greek Fountain (for a long time people thought it was from the 3rd century B.C.)
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