Salento

May 1, 2006 to May 3, 2006

I don’t know how well known the region of Puglia (Or Apulia) is. When we started planning a tour in this part of the country, it felt pretty well off the beaten track, and we couldn’t find a great deal of travel information about it. I remember it as just beginning to be described as the New Tuscany, an up and coming region of whitewashed towns and unique architecture in an idyllic sunbaked environment. By now I imagine (hope) it’s still relatively quiet, protected by its relative remoteness from any of Italy’s really big tourism draws. It’s far enough south that you have to make an effort to get down there.

Even if it’s better known now, I imagine there’s still not much awareness of how large the region is. It’s best known as the heel of Italy, but this is really only the half of it. At its greatest extent it is over two hundred miles long, and it has a longer stretch of coastline than any other Italian province. It has an area of roughly 7,500 square miles - about three fourths as large as Sicily, the largest region in Italy. By US standards it’s still pretty small though, a bit less in area than New Jersey.

Puglia is larger than you might have thought.

On a bicycle, there is enough to see here that you could pretty easily fill up a month-long tour. We were only there for about ten days, which was enough to give us a taste (the right noun for a region with such great cuisine), and we came away feeling like there were many reasons to return for more. This post covers the first half of our visit, in Salento - the southernmost and probably best known section.

Having no written journal to draw on, I don’t have many specifics to share other than the photos themselves. What I do have though are impressions. Probably the first thing that comes to mind when I recall Puglia is the wildflowers - it felt like we were bicycling through one gigantic parks, with gorgeous uncultivated fields in bloom everywhere. It really felt like a fairyland.

I recall it as feeling like the ideal spot for an early spring tour - warm, sunny, comfortable, and fairly flat. We had a week of easy riding to build us up for the more challenging miles down the road. There is just enough contour to make the landscape interesting.

I don’t remember thinking this at the time, but looking back now I see that we were really moving too fast and packing too many miles int our days. When we go back next time we’ll definitely travel more slowly, take more multinight stays, and allow more time to relax and soak it all in.

And we both remember it as the site of one of our favorite dining experience anywhere - in Lecce, at a small restaurant just outside of the city core. We were recommended it by our hotel, and I remember being anxious about our choice as we walked down a dimly lit road, wondering if we had our directions right. When we arrived, I recall it as a converted country farmhouse that seated about a dozen tables. The staff spoke almost no English, and offered no menu to choose from. There were a couple of other English speaking diners who assured us to just go with it and take the courses that we’re offered.

If we were eating there now, there would be food photos and some sort of description. Without that though, all I remember was that there were beans, and it was all incredible. I’ll have to pick Rachael’s brain to see if she remembers more, but 13 years is a long time.

An update: Rachael remembers this place just as warmly but doesn’t recall any more details either.

A second update: I think this place is still around! Reading reviews of Lecce’s best restaurants, I’m sure this is Trattoria Le Zie. Hopefully we can get a reservation our next time through. If we do, trust that there will be photos.

More than anything else, this is how I think of Puglia.

Porto Cesario, on the west coast south of Taranto. I was sorry we didn’t stay here.

Gallipoli. Salento is renowned for its whitewashed towns. This one is Gallipoli, where we stayed the first night.

The Salento coast is lined with ruined watchtowers, reminding me of the Corsican coast.

In Salento. As I was saying, it would be hard to find a better spot for a springtime tour.

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Today's ride: 140 miles (225 km)
Total: 140 miles (225 km)

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