The Bottom-most Point of Italy's Heel" Leuca and Adriatic Seaside Towns
Today, a drive to Santa Maria di Leuca, the southern-most tip on the heel of Italy. There are grottoes galore for exploring, and Filippo, out host, insists all the towns from there up the Adriatic Coast are beautiful and charming, and he's correct! Between Leuca and Castro is a demarcation in the water where the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea meet.
The grotto excursion boats were done for the season, and the grand cascata between the flanked pair of million-step stairways was dried up, yet still it was a place of beauty.
I met a couple, originally from Taranto, but have lived for 40 years in Freiburg, Germany. They were delightful to chat with! Polite and curious, and filled with charm. While I was talking with them, Joe disappeared. I found him, and we walked down to the lungomare. This place must be a mecca in summer. Unlike other Italian seaside towns we've seen, this one has year-round homes along the sea amongst the vacation rentals. And they are magnificent.
After Santa Maria di Leuca, we hugged the Adriatic coastline... breathtaking vistas at every turn, whose photos do not do justice.
We made stops in Cala di Acquaviva, Marina di Castro, Grotto della Zinzulusa, Baia di Porto Miggiano, and, finally, Otranto. We pulled into Castro to eat at a casual place called L'Isola del Sole Friggetoria 365, where we wrote our order on a paper notepad checklist and were brought out food on paper plates with plastic forks and knives. Definitely a seaside lido set up. And it was all so good. Crudo fasolari, anchovy-stuffed zucchine blossoms, pasta allo scoglio for me, linguine with cozze for Joe. And wine, in plastic glasses. I'd like to come here in the summer.
There were torre, fortress ruins, castles, rocky promentories, grottoes, and azure and turquoise blue sea all around.
Full from lunch, we waddled to the car and continued our drive up the coast, ending the seaside drive in Otranto as the sun was setting. There wasn't a ton of time to explore a city this size before dark, and Joe had a work call, so our visit was brief, albeit still a pretty one.
Back to Lecce.
I put my feet up at the B&B while Joe made more work calls. We also got a call from his nephew Jeff, telling us about a horrible hit and run accident his son Alex was a victim of. Jeff had legal questions. Alex miraculously survived, but is in a long haul recovery from it. Terrible news but not fatal news; thank God for that.
We were still full from lunch, and decided tonight it's a wine bar and a light dinner of aperitivi.
Or not.
We walked, picking up taralli for Stacy and Ron, then to an enoteca with great reviews. We walked and walked; the streets got darker. We found the Enoteca, closed up, with a smeary looking window. This has been the theme of the day!
Let's head back "home". Walking up near our favorite breakfast spot, but approaching from a perpendicular street, we saw what our host was talking about! THESE are the Roman ruins in front of it! We just didn't look over far enough, past the new archeological dig. Wow.
Back toward the B&B we went, as there were some wine bars I noticed last night, but thought they were birrerie until I checked online (likely I assumed beer, since 'Birreria' was emblazoned over the doors — they have both).
On a whim, we did a 180⁰ and decided to pop into a local bar and get drinks and snacks.
There's an important soccer game tonight, Inter (Milan) vs Liverpool. One customer in particular was very engaged. I told Joe, "His wife probably said go to the bar to watch the game". The food was meh, but the drinks were good, and the atmosphere was delightfully local. We relaxed a lot and had fun watching the game and the clientele.
Tonight, organization of the suitcases! Tomorrow, our favorite breakfast spot one last time, then on to the region of my people. And meeting Stacy and Ron Allen in person!
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