After spending all day Monday walking around Lecce and loving it all, I felt I saw most of all I wanted to see. So that night I wrote in my little notebook directions to Gallipoli, an hours' drive away. I really don't know why I bother with writing directions to anywhere. Street signs and sometimes highway numbers do not exist. I kind of just find a sign to a town, look up on my map and if it's in the vicinity of anywhere near where I am going, I go there. The advantage of this, as I repeat myself, is I get to see a lot of the countryside otherwise never experienced. On my drive to Gallipoli, I drove through many farms. In fact all farms on both sides of the small country road. Still olive farms extend over to this part of the "boot". I also saw a field of pomegranate trees all overloaded with huge fruit hanging down. There were also many grape vines extending as far as I could see.
I drove past a Henny Penny grocery store in Nardo before heading in the direction of the coast.
I knew my hotel by its' pictures was the tallest building in the area so it was easy finding it just before going over the short bridge to the old town of Gallipoli. There is NO parking at the hotel but was told I could park for free at the church just a short walk away. So my Aygo is parked there all day yesterday and overnight. I will have to go and see if it's still there although I have never seen a single tow truck while in Italy. I think the worst is a ticket costing some money.
Lunch at the hotel yesterday was in an impressive looking dining room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the harbor with many sail boats and fishing boats.
The lunch was a "salad bar" consisting of iceberg lettuce, shredded carrot, wedges of tomato and CORN! That was it. A bread basket of the traditional Taroli and sliced bread was served. Then came a piece of baked fish (sea bream) topped with diced tomato. I didn't care for it. The fish although mild in taste was so dense and not to my taste. Then a dish of fresh fruit consisting of a almost white-colored melon with very little taste, a bunch of white grapes, a piece of pineapple and a few chunks of coconut. Then a tiny scoop of Tiramisu'. This is the second time I've had Tiramisu' while on this trip and not to boast but the Tiramisu' I used to make was way better. They soak the cake until soggy. So I concluded this was not the restaurant to eat at again. Although since this hotel is a B&B it does have a free breakfast buffet which I just came from. Trying to eat healthy is challenging at best. For breakfast many, many sweet cakes are served. All kinds. I think the best is the pastry cream filled ones that I must stay away from. So I had a little bowl of dry cereal with milk, a lovely very fresh piece of crusty bread with sliced cheese on it, a scoop of scrambled eggs and 2 cups of cappuccino. I grabbed some fresh plums for later.
At lunch yesterday as well as today at breakfast there were about 20 or so school aged children about the age of 12 in this dining room. The boys sat with the boys and girls sat with girls. Each attended to their smart phones. The boys all had the same haircut; shaved sides with a wide but short mohawk. The girls all had extremely long hair.
The wind outside yesterday was so strong I had to stop and stand up against a building for fear of loosing my balance. Once I got over the bridge and between to 2 story very old buildings it wasn't so bad. I had to remove my sunglasses before they flew off though.
Last night I went to dinner. When I packed to come on this little 4 day excursion, I could not imagine needing any of the warmer clothes I had brought.
Because of the extreme wind, almost everyone in town had Winter coats on, zipped up to their neck. And me with my sleeveless shirt and capri pants. I wasn't cold though. I'm hoping I can get through today without having to buy a coat. I don't need another coat. But I'd be happy with just a shirt with sleeves today. The wind is much stronger today that yesterday. Back to dinner last night.
So far this trip I have not eaten any meat except for a few slices of deli meat in a salad. Last night I couldn't eat where I wanted because they didn't open until 8. It was 7 and I needed to get in from the wind somewhere. So I went to a restaurant that was open. It had lamb on the menu; my favorite. So here I go in the description of my dinner:
Three rolls of lamb filets each wrapped around a whole or piece of lamb liver and kidney or heart and held together with a string-like looking thing which turned out to be the lambs' intestine, all baked to a med-rare. I know, sounds disgusting but with the proper trimming, I did enjoy the taste of the lamb meat and the kidney and liver was probably healthy for me. But I niched the intestine. The potatoes they served with it were good. I think I will stick to some seafood and mostly vegetarian meals.
I'm on the 9th floor and the wind outside is howling like crazy. I have to venture out to see if my car is still where I parked it. Then I will make my way across the bridge to"Old Town" again. The white caps in the ocean are now white-capped waves. No boats out.
Well my car is still there. I ended up buying a sweater made in Italy so I could stay out in the Old City and walk every street in comfort. But it's a sweater I really like and will wear again.
There is a family of all black cats living over the sea wall in and amongst the rocks at the sea. I have to believe they eat well because all along the road there are many restaurants. So They probably get lots of food from them.
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