20240914 – Matera to Lecce: Up at regular time. Same with breakfast. Had luggage outside my door before going down. Left in shuttle about 9:00. At van, used Find My to make sure my suitcase was loaded in the back. Got in main van and headed out. Pass though area of vineyards. Some of the vines were covered by netting and some by plastic to deal with different grapes, areas, and weather. And I have to note that the plastic water bottles we get have caps that unscrew, but are still attached to the bottle instead coming off.

Got to Grottaglieabout 11:00. This town is known for its ceramics (terracotta). Beautiful works in several shops. Spent about an hour-and-a-half walking around. Learned quite a bit about some traditions dealing with certain pieces. Here and elsewhere, we have seen clay drainpipes…sections held onto the wall every few pieces by metal.

Left that city and drove to Altemura vineyards arriving about 2:30 for wonderful lunch of what seemed like dozens of antipasto dishes along with tasting of five of their wines. Then tour of vineyards and barrel room before heading to Lecce, our stop for three nights.

Drove to Lecce getting there close to 5:00. I am in room 307 of the Risorgimento Resort. Lovely hotel and nice room. Did some downloading. Met group in lobby at 6:30 and walked around the city with Lucia learning about it. Around 8:00, a few of us went to a gelateria where I had a panini and some gelato. Then back to hotel for this set of notes, Facetime with Marian, laundry, shower, bed.

Tomorrow meet in lobby at 9:00 for drive to coast.

20240916 – Lecce, Galatina, Gallipoli: Long day, but really good. Up at 8:00, breakfast, met some of the group in lobby and went out at 10:15 with Kathy for photo shoot. Headed to Santa Croce area for artist who carved limestone sculptures. Now, next to the cathedral is the Jewish Museum. This area was Jewish Quarter. As we walked, saw several streets with signs in both Italian and Hebrew. Ended up going to café for coffee/hot chocolate near the main square. At Noon, a very loud song was broadcast. Back to the hotel. Met about 1:30 to go to lunch. Very nice place, Gusto Liberrima. Got some gelato afterwards.

At 3:30 we all met in the lobby, walked to the bus, and went to Galatina. Interesting city with its various palaces all privately owned. Rococo style architecture. This area’s families grew tobacco as a cash crop. Also, there is a native tarantula that is not poisonous, but there is folk lore that if a girl got bitten, she was not fit for marriage. Spent time going in to the Basilica Santa Caterina and its cloisters. Beautiful places.

Back in the bus, we went to Gallipoli. We were there for sunset photos from the ancient walls overlooking a huge beach area. Nice pastel-colored buildings. Spent lots of time taking images as the Sun went down and colors changed. All walked to a restaurant along the water for a multi-course fish dinner. I don’t think I have ever had so many courses that included mussels. Same with calamari. Plate after plate of food. Whole group of local men came in for the table next to us. Lots of fun and laughter.

Back to Lecce getting here around 10:30. Brief stop for gelato (I could not finish mine). Now it’s getting things wrapped up so we can leave tomorrow AM for Monopoli. Stops before we get there.

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!

20240917 – Lecce, Ostuni, Il Frantolio, Monopoli: I am writing this the next morning since I was falling asleep at the keyboard last night. Up at 7:00, breakfast, bags out of room, met in lobby 9:15 for walk to bus. Long day ending in Monopoli at 6:00.

During the day we passed by groves of Centennial Olive Trees, reputed to be 1,000 years old. Gnarled with huge trunks. Beautiful. Some oil is made just from these trees from olives at the top where they get more Sun.

Went to Ostuni for walk on and in between the old city walls. It was raining. Group had its various gear protected as best they could. I just used my small camera and had big stuff zipped up in camera bag. This is a “white city” with its building whitewashed at least yearly. So, we persevered trudging through the rain while taking images.

By the time we got back to the main square, we scurried to find tables under big umbrellas for lunch. And, while, eating, the rain intensified. But, when we were done, the Sun came out! Could actually take some images without getting drenched.

Went to olive oil factory, Il Frantolio. Lucia and the head of the factory took us through the process of turning olives into olive oil. Organic olive oil from 7,000 trees, olives hand-picked. There is a maximum of 12 hours to get pressed before olives start to ferment. Lowest acidity best. There are two ways to extract the oil. One is modern version of the old crushing wheels, then paste put on round sheets, stacked, and pressed. Finally, centrifuge used to extract olive stones and to separate the oil from water. Second type of production more modern. Stainless steel machines. Some oil left with the stones. Some not. And there is flavored oil. Flavored olive oil fruit crushed with olives. 

We went into a tasting room and six oils were described and we tasted them in order to see the difference. Went into their store where there was not only a huge variety of oils, but also cosmetics. And beer made from the olive tree leaves.

Then it was a drive to Monopoli. Walked up to main square for our hotel, Palazzo Indelli. I am in room 115 with view of the back of the cathedral from my window. About 7:00, some of us walked around the city with Kathy. Saw colored round sheets hanging over the street…recycled from how they press olive oil. Met rest of group back at hotel and walked to a restaurant for pizza dinner. Back to the square and gelato. Up to my room where I fell asleep over the computer. Showered, shaved, washed clothes, and it was midnight!