20240915 – Lecce, Otranto, Santa Cesarea Terme, Palacia Lighthouse, Torre Sant'Andrea, Lecce: Long day. Started out at 9:00 and not back to hotel until just before 6:00. First, at breakfast, for the second time on this trip, there were pistachio croissants. Good, too. Also, we are now in a big bus instead of the smaller van we had before. And I have to comment on the beautiful, thick clouds we see every day.
First stop was Otranto on the coast. Huge number of private boats in the large harbor. Walked by the castle and up onto route along the harbor from above. Nice weather. Blue sky. People bathing. Brief visit into the Cathedral of Orranto. Then lunch at Nastro Azzurro, where I ate one of the iconic pasta dishes of the area, Opecchiette alle cime di rapa. Oh, some gelato, of course. On returning to the bus, we passed a monument to refugees who had drowned trying to cross into Italy. It was the remains of their ship that had been turned into a sculpture.
Next was the town of Santa Cesarea Terme. Also on the coast with nice views. Walked into town and spotted a shop, Porta d’Oreinte, where we saw Hebrew words on the wall. Lucia told us this was a waystation for Jews coming from the concentration camps after WWII. Hope to get translation of what we saw.
Punta Palascia Lighthouse was our next destination. I did not think this very visually or photographically inspiring. It’s plain. To get to it, there is a very long and steep path. Almost all of us just went to an overlook rather than all the way down and back. Not really worth it from my perspective.
Last stop of the day was Torre Sant’Andrea. This was an ocean scene photo point where many used polarizing filters, ND filters, and tripods for smoothing out the waves in our images. Pretty area with its rocks.
Got back to hotel in Lecce about 6:00. Many of us left with Kathy at 6:15 for night shoot in the streets. About 8:00, we stopped at a café, Maccheroni, for supper. I had the other iconic local pasta shape. Nice.
Alan and I walked through the crowds back to the hotel. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post how crowded the streets are with hordes of people of all ages. Lots of dogs. And they go until way into the early morning.
Tomorrow we are free until 3:30 when we go out until well after dark. Hope I can sleep late!
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