John was up fairly early today, and while I packed things and worked on photos, he explored a little more of Leuca. There is a small beach here. The communities makes the most of it and whimsical sculptures help make it more memorable. Our hotel is in the background.
During the latter part of the nineteenth century, Leuca became a place for the wealthy to come for cooler summer weather. They built enormous villas on the promenade.
John liked this one with a Chinese theme.
Many of them, unfortunately, are not in great repair such as this Florentine mansion.
The Hotel Terminal had a pretty uninspiring breakfast, including possibly the worst crepes either of us had ever tried, but we met a charming couple from England there. They mentioned that the pool was their favorite part of the hotel. We were not even aware there was a pool, so John immediately had to check it out. It was lovely, and there was almost nobody there even though the day was already starting to get hot.
We would have loved to have spent a restful afternoon by the pool, but he had a full day of cycling ahead of us. So John mounted his spiffy new bicycle and off we went. There was a modest uphill climb out of Leuca, but he handed it easily with a full complement of gears. We stopped in a tiny village dominated by a medieval fortress.
We went on to another town where we saw the grocery truck. In southern Italy many villages are too small for a store, and not everyone can drive to the nearest city. So the grocery truck comes through and people come out to buy what they need. There were two trucks here. The one on the left was selling fruits and vegetable - you can see John in the background there - and the one on the right sold everything else.
In this same village they had apparently had some kind of festival the day before. We think this was part of a larger celebration for Saint John the Baptist. Although the first century prophet hardly seems like someone who would have approved of festivals and celebrations, his feast day on June 24 was used by the Catholic Church as a way to give existing pagan celebrations of mid-summer a vaguely Christian meaning. So, down deep, I think these people were really celebrating the summer solstice.
In another town, we stopped briefly to examine a twelfth century chapel.
John was fascinated by the statue of Jesus in a glass coffin in the back.
The really important thing here, however, was the ninth century tomb in the church yard. Nobody is sure exactly who was buried there, and it may even be older than they think.
From here the route took us downhill - did I mention how much we like downhill? - to the beach. We stopped at a beach club for lunch. In much of Europe, the beaches are not particularly open or free. Local businesses such as hotels or restaurants own the beach and you have to pay them to use the beach. The system is not all bad. They keep the sand nice and clean and you generally get an umbrella and a couple of chairs provided. We had a pretty decent lunch, and as you can see, being close to the water keeps John happy.
After our meal, we paid for our umbrella and chairs and we spent a happy couple hours napping and swimming. The water is a little brisk, but not cold, and there are no waves. Edie would love it.
Around four in the afternoon, we finally decided we had to keep on going. Our destination was the town of Ugento, about 18 kilometers away. The road sent us up hill through some ugly trash-strewn fields for a couple hundred meters, but soon we were once again riding through olive groves and vineyards. In a small village, he had to stop for the train to pass. If you look on the other side of the rail guard you can see a man in a blue shirt. He was actually manually raising and lowering the crossing arms.
In a short while we came to Ugento. This is not a tourist town. Ugento is the real southern Italy in the way that Red Bluff is the real northern California. And sometimes it is really interesting to see where ordinary people spend their lives.
We were originally supposed to stay at a masseria, a farmhouse bed and breakfast, outside of Ugento. For some reason this was changed and we were put in the Porto Paradisio Bed and Breakfast here. This has been our biggest disappointment of the trip so far. It’s a classic European pensione complete with a scowling old proprietress. The rooms are clean, but so small you barely have room, as John said, to swing a dead cat.
We walked around town endlessly before finding the recommended restaurant. The food was excellent, but we ordered way too much. You never are sure in Italy when you order the antipasto what will come. Sometimes you get a plate with a couple pieces of cheese and salami and some black olives. But here we had an enormous spread of a dozen dishes. And they were all excellent.
We were stuffed after this, but the primi and secundi courses had still not arrived yet. We’re never eating again. Or going anywhere near a scale.
