Part 1
We are feeling pretty well recovered from the symptoms of whatever struck us down, but still keeping it slow today, and breaking up this longer section into two.
12 km’s; about 5 hours.
14 deg, and blue skies.
Highlights – coastal paths and views out of Otranto.
The route today heads through the old town, past the cathedral where we revisit the mosaics, through the gates of the castle, then along the coast.
We have been so slow through the old town, and along the coast past the Serpe tower on a rise above the coast, that by the time we reach the Bauxite lake we are already almost two hours into our day.
The trail continues inland, along quiet roads and easy trails – past the ruins of the Abbey of San Nicola di Casole, large estates and farms, and olive trees.
In general it is a very quiet route, with only the occasional vehicle on the nearby coastal roads. After our break along a tree-lined path I turn into the sunshine to hear the rustle of lizards, scurrying amongst the rocks to safety. We have seen lots of lizards, but none as bright green as these. Several freeze in place, so I take some time to appreciate their colours while waiting for DC to catch up, at which point the last of them disappear into the crevices between the stones.
You rejoin a busier road for the last km into the town, leading us to the main piazza, with it’s church, christmas decorations, and setting up for an evening market.
Stay – Casa Noemi B&B, as recommended in the guide. Very comfortable room, and breakfast included.
Eat – Great pizza nearby at Bingo Bongo pizza, one of the few places we have eaten that starts filling up from opening time; most of the time we are eating alone, almost every night, in almost every town.
Part 2.
A quiet day on the trail, 12 kms in about 4 hours.
14deg, blue skies – overcast.
We retrace our steps back to the piazza Umberto I, home to the church, Santa Maria della Maddalena taking a few minutes to appreciate some more Baroque and Roccoco style.
It is then only a short path through the town before we are back amongst the fields, the olive trees in their varied forms, and the stone lined paths.
Two small towns break this section up into an easy three parts. There are some short sections on busier roads, but largely very peaceful.
My highlight in this section, is the colours of the housing throughout the towns today.
As we enter the town, we pass a Nonna seated outside her home – she wishes us a Buon Natale, Buon Anno, and Buona Salute.
Stay – Affittacamere Oltremare, as listed in the guidebook. here we are also greeted by the Nonnas, while we await to be shown to our room. Another very comfortable stay on the route.
Richo and DC 
Hello Richo and DCI love your blog. I walked the Via Francigena sur Rome to SMdL last October November but was too tired at end of day to even consider blogging. You are helping me re-experience the wonderful route. I too wondered about the plastic bottles in the wall and thought they might be a type of rebar use. An anchor to build the next levels around? Plastic – fairly rigid and does not rust away?AnneAustralian living in San Miguel de Allende Mexico
Yahoo Mail: Search, organise, conquer
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Thanks Anne. I agree that it takes time. I am glad it helps you to remember; i also like to look back and remember what we did.
I ran into a block in uploading while on the route, so here i am a couple of months later writing up the last two weeks and going back and adding to previous entries. Really enjoying doing that without the pain and fatigue – forget so quickly how it feels.
And despite the challenges we had, and how tired we were, i am already thinking about what we can do next time – i will have a few years probably to think about that.
We saw the bottles were fitting inside a pipe – one theory we had was the pipe helped provide to that support, and the bottles were jammed in the keep the water out?
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