Last day in Salento

Salento is the bottom part of the "heel" of Italy. It's a very popular beach vacation spot for both Italians and people from all over Europe but the Ionion coast looks TOTALLY deserted now and the Adriatic coast is only slightly more inhabited. Today we we to the city of Otranto and did some driving along the Adriatic coast. This side of the heel is very rocky, some hills and some very dramatic vistas with not too many sandy swimming beaches. The Ionion coast is almost all sandy beaches and has ZILLIONS of vacation apartments and home, all totally boarded up for the winter. The picture is of the Adriatic coast that we saw today.

The drive over to the coast (only about 20 miles) revealed just how stormy it was last night. We had a torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightening and the rain went on for hours and hours. Our landlady said the "cantina" (I think she's talking about the basement) was completely flooded and they are having to pump the water out. Many of the olive groves we passed were quite submerged and there were lots of big puddles. The day began as bright, sunny and humid and ended with some more showers but nothing like last night.

We visited the city of Otranto where we saw a castle (it appears that every town has one) that is being used to display some local art. It adds to the interest of the visit significantly. The castles that we have seen are quite different from those we have seen in England and France. They are possibly older for one thing but the influence is from cultures other than French and English....Spanish, Saracens, Moors, Byzantines, etc. and most were constructed in the 1200-1400 period. They are rather stark, unelaborate affairs though many are HUGE. here's a pic of the one in Otranto which is pretty typical of what we've seen. We also visited the cathedral in Otranto that had a beautiful mosaic floor, much of which was covered and in the process of restoration.

A bit further south along the coast is the small town of San Cesarea di Terme. The "terme" part of that refers to hot springs that have curative powers and there are treatment centers there to take advantage of the springs. It's something like the Calistoga hot springs but apparently lots of Europeans have health insurance that covers treatment in these places. One of the buildings there was built by some one that admired buildings he had seen in Egypt so he built this:

We had lunch in Otranto then back "home" to Copertino where we visited the castle and cathedral, both of which were closed. Tomorrow we move to a new location in the center of the "heel" where we can visit the city of Matera in Basilicata (where Passion of the Christ was filmed if anyone saw that film) and see the "trulli" dwellings in central Puglia.

We've been pretty fortunate in having good places to stay...hope it continues.