Day 8 Otranto to Lecce

June 21:  Today's ride, our last on this trip, was from Otranto to Lecce.  It was mostly level through farm lands but also mostly into the wind, which had increased from the previous day.  We rode just under 31 miles, either bypassing small towns or going quickly through their centers.  It was difficult to tell whether these towns were active, since most of the buildings were shuttered against the summer heat.  The most challenging aspect of the ride was deciphering the Randonnee instructions.  They are reliable and coherent in the countryside, but get very confusing whenever we hit a densely settled area.  We had a picnic lunch outside a cafe on the outskirts of Lecce, and arrived in Lecce at around 2:00 pm.

On our ride we passed by some lagoons (lakes) just outside of Otranto, then rode around Borgagne, through Melendugno, Castri di Lecce, Lizzanello,  Merine, and into Lecce, which is quite a large city (pop. 100,000).  We followed a rather roundabout path to a pleasant hotel in the heart of the city - L'Orangerie d'Epogue.  It is a 'courtyarded' building, probably a palazzo, and we each have a different ground floor, very spacious room, with breakfast tables in the room.  There are two hospitality cats in the courtyard, one a small black shorthair (whom we met - Molly), the other a small white and black long hair.

After checking in, having some re-hydration, stripping the bikes of our stuff, and cleaning up, we hustled out to meet up with a guide, Simone, for a tour of the old part of the city.  She was very nice and informative, even though we were somewhat tired and seized every opportunity to sit in the various churches, cathedrals and basilicas we went into.  She told us about the impressive stone carvings on the church facades, about olive oil 'fermentation' and the use of the oil as a fuel, and specific details on paintings, etc. inside the churches.  We started at the main square of the city where there is a partially restored Roman amphitheater and a large column marking the end the of the Apian Way, the road that connected Lecce to Rome.  Most of the significant buildings in Lecce are highly ornamented Baroque masterpieces, built to celebrate the city's prosperity.  Lecce was quite an artistic and cultural center in its day.

We found our way home to the hotel, had a bit more hydration (i.e., happy hour), and then went for pizza.  We arrived at a pizza restaurant, La Perla, at 8:00 pm and were the first people to be seated.  We had ordered four pizzas, two salads, water and wine within minutes of sitting down, were eating by 8:20 and were done by 8:45.  By 8:30, the entire restaurant was full, mostly with families and small children, and noisy.  Sergio, our waiter, and one other, managed to serve the entire restaurant with speed and efficiency.  The slowest part of the process was getting our bill.