travel - poggiardo and otranto, italy
after lecce our first impressions of poggiardo was rather downbeat... and it lived up to the first impression.
my good lady and i with our hosts, the local church, snails and pizzas we ate in poggiardo
not much to report about this little town hence i decided to combine it with a day trip to otranto
but first some music ....
bob dylan - the times they are a changing
a day trip to otranto , a real holiday village dominated by a huge fortified castle. This area was first inhabited by the greeks and if you did not know better you would think you were in greece ...except for the loud italian language and hand signals....the streets are full of little stores and many sidewalk restaurants. we took a long walk on the quieter beach and found some interesting sandstone caves.
the train to the coast was basically a diesel bus on tracks... manual gear shift and all. straight out the fifties or 60's.
more often than not beautiful places have historical pasts that are like version of game of thrones... otranto was invaded in 1480 by turks who killed 12000 inhabitants and sent 5000 into slavery. found hiding in the cathedral 800 woman and children who were given the choice to give up christianity or die. all were beheaded and their bones and skulls are built into the walls of the cathedral. they are know as the martyrs of otranto. ....we am loving discovering and understanding snippets of italian history
needless to say we had our costumes with us and swam in the literally azure sea.
that's it for today... thank you for stopping by and your support. stay safe, stay free and remember to love the one you with.
