The Warmth of the Salento

This summer I decided to stay in my beautiful Italy..... by now I'd got it into my head that if I don't take a plane it doesn't feel like a holiday... but after doing 1,000 km and spending 10 hours in the car I changed my mind a bit....

I was more drawn to choosing an apartment around Gallipoli... though there was no good reason, maybe just because it's more famous... but everyone kept telling me that the best part of the Salento is around Otranto, so I listened to them.... and they were right!

I found the website of a Salento agency that rents holiday homes (if you ask me, I'll tell you the name).... and I called one of the numbers that were listed.... I was answered by a really friendly and kind operator who was able to advise me on the best area and the best apartment at a really low price. It's a very serious, youthful agency that I warmly recommend to everyone.

My operator (by now trusted) and I decided we didn't necessarily want an apartment on the coast... since we're two young people with a car, it won't be much effort to drive ten minutes to the sea... and I accepted... after all, I don't fancy spending the whole week on the same beach... I like going round and round and round and seeing all there is to see.... to the joy of my boyfriend.... who by the end of the holiday is usually more tired than when he set off... and this decision also considerably lightened our budget... I saved at least €300....!

The place we chose is Martano.... a little village ten minutes from Otranto that at first didn't seem up to much... but then turned out to be lively and also very pretty, with several shops, little restaurants and an old centre... the residence is called ORE LIETE and is an old oil mill now converted into about ten studio flats, all brand new and really tastefully furnished.... and let me tell you, I'm very fussy about the hotel or the house I go to, because if I don't like it, it spoils part of the holiday for me! From next year I think they'll also add a pool, so it'll be even better. What's more, the owners are two young people and so genuinely easy-going.... if we noticed something missing in the house, we barely had time to tell them before they'd sorted it out the next morning..... truly warm and welcoming, friendly and kind people.

Moving on to the beaches section..... for my part the Otranto area is really the most beautiful.... the water is sky-blue... while around Gallipoli I noticed it's more on the green side...

IN THE OTRANTO AREA it's worth visiting TORRE DELL'ORSO.... a long white beach with several beach clubs and also a free beach; on the right, at the far end, these very high cliffs dominate, from which two enormous sea stacks have broken off, called “Le due Sorelle” (The Two Sisters); there's a legend about these two rocks that you'll find on many Salento websites; SANT'ANDREA where those beautiful sea stacks are that we see in all the tourist brochures... they're truly a spectacle, and bear in mind that here there's no beach... you can still have lovely swims and dives in these crystal-clear waters! BAIA DEI TURCHI.. for me the most beautiful... a lovely peaceful beach with crystal-clear water and knee-deep for quite a way... and off you go with relaxation... you also have to take a nice walk through the Mediterranean scrub to get there! LAGHI ALIMINI...

they're just before Baia dei Turchi, they're large lakes that plunge into the sea... a beautiful sight! OTRANTO... there are several little beaches in the surroundings and the sea is beautiful everywhere... just think, our neighbours even swam in the harbour, it was that worth it!

IN THE GALLIPOLI AREA, I repeat, the water is always nicely clean and transparent, but a bit more greenish.... we did the whole seafront from Santa Maria di Leuca to Gallipoli and it's all one enormous beach divided by the various stretches.... the most famous is called LIDO DELLA SUINA and is very much aimed at young people... in fact it's packed, a nice little bar on the beach with music all day long... and the best moment is aperitivo time... you can drink a delicious mojito and sip it in the water while dancing to the music....; another famous lido is called “LE MALDIVE” and is characterised by an enormous deckchair with a huge parasol set along the road... (see photo)... but nothing special. SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA, also called “de finibus terrae”, is worth visiting... even just to think that you're on the heel of Italy....

but also to visit the sanctuary and the beautiful view you get from there.. (and also to eat in one of the little restaurants that appealed to me a lot...).

As a city to visit there's GALLIPOLI, with its new part crammed with nice shops open until late, and its old part which you reach by crossing the bridge.... this is the most beautiful part... with all its narrow alleys full of little shops and typical restaurants... and then going round the walls there are lots of very nice places to have a drink because they overlook the sea directly.

OTRANTO is truly special because its real life unfolds inside the castle that dominates the whole harbour... and there are an enormous number of restaurants, each more beautiful than the last, and all these souvenir and costume-jewellery shops all carved into the castle walls.... maybe it's because I'm Tuscan and I love old places with walls, little bricks and alleys... and I liked Otranto more than anywhere else!

On the way back we stopped to visit Alberobello and the trulli area... I find it strange that people used to live inside such small, pointed constructions!!! Very nice and visitable in half a day... if you can, stop there to eat... there's a little restaurant you have to go down underground right at the entrance to the trulli area that must have been a little gem... shame that at half past ten in the morning it was closed!

Sorry if every other line I talk about restaurants... but eating is my greatest passion and I like trying out all the oddest and nicest little places! BYE!!!!