Complaining works! We sent an email to the tour operator in Glasgow as well as a text to the local tour operator. We heard right away that they would be here this morning with a new bike. And sure enough Francesco came by just before nine o’clock with a new bike.
He explained that John would get an even better one either this evening or tomorrow morning, but that this one was the best they could do for today.
We finished packing up, and set off along a road that reminded us both a great deal of the California coast. As you can see, the weather has been perfect since we started our ride.
We passed sixteenth century fortifications designed to repel the Saracens and the Turks. This is the Torre San Emiliano. Today in Italy that just suggests a fine artisanal cheese made in the area.
This is supposed to be the longest and hardest ride of the trip with three gut-busting hills. After we made it through the first one, admittedly walking our bikes part of the way, we stopped at the small village of Porto Badisco. I immediately mispronounced it as “bad disco” and even though I have been corrected I refused to give up such a wonder mnemonic. There’s a great swimming inlet here.
Lots of people from Otranto come here, particularly on a Sunday.
Our next stop was the town of San Cesare Terme. The mineral springs and mud baths here have attracted visitors ever since Roman times. But it really became most popular in the nineteenth century after rail lines and roads linked it easily to the rest of Italy.
The big attraction for us was the Villa Stricci, a house built for the operator of the hot springs.
Just on the other side of San Cesare Terme, the guide materials suggested we stop as some sea cave. We were not sure we were really interested in this, but we decided to cheek it out - anyway.
Instead of going in the caves we took a boat ride to see some other caves nearby. Our fellow passengers were straight out of a Fellini movie.
And the lanky captain was straight out of El Greco!
The water in the caves was an eerie shade of blue.
Like the Amalfi coast further south, this part of the Salento coast line is marked by steep limestone cliffs. We not always traveling on the edge of the cliffs, but we were never far away. This was the first time, though, we had spent most of the day on a road with a significant amount of car traffic, so that left us a little on the edge in another way.
After 60 grueling kilometers and two more steep hills, we finally arrives at Santa Maria de Leuca, usually just called Leuca. There is a bit lighthouse here to let you know that you are coming to the southernmost tip of this part of Italy.
Right next to the lighthouse, on the right, almost hidden by other buildings, is a bell tower. This is part of the church of Santa Maria de Leuca and the town takes its name from this church. We probably should have stopped to look at it as it was an important pilgrimage church in the Middle Ages. Legend has it that this was where Saint Peter landed when he came to Italy, and that he celebrated the first Mass on the Italian peninsula near a temple to Minerva on this bluff. The Romans there were immediately converted, and from that time onward the pagan temple became a Christian church. Although the story is historically implausible, other than to being the kind of site where the Greeks, who first settled this area, might have build a temple to Athena, it did prompt tens of thousands of pilgrims to come to Leuca for centuries. But we did not make the pilgrimage because we had been riding on and off since morning and we were tired and ready for a shower and some supper.
We arrived at the Hotel Terminal, right on the waterfront, and one of the team from Salento BiciTours, our local tour operator, was there with John’s final bike. This was Giulia, and she had a spiffy new bike with a large frame for John.
The Hotel Terminal was probably built in the late sixties. The design is a bit dated, but it is in good condition and is obviously popular with Italian tourists and business travelers. There are some large meeting rooms on the first floor, and each of the rooms has a balcony with a view of the water.
Nothing makes John happier than being able to look at the water. For me, the best part was taking the shower after that long day of riding.
We had dinner, courtesy of Salento BiciTours, at a wonderful little restaurant here called the Hosteria del Pardo.
