Otranto

May 20, 2019

We’ll get to our day in a minute, but first let’s pause to marvel a bit more at the string of coincidences linking us with out new friends Jack and Maria. We received this photo in the mail late last night, with the cryptic comment “Of all the B&B’s in Taranto, which did we choose at random?”

Maria and Jack, with the host of Buonanotte Marguerita B&B (Julia?).

After leaving them in Porto Cesareo two days ago, they biked to Lecce for a night, and then back to Taranto today where they’ll catch the train home. They decided to stay on the island between the canals, and booked a reservation at Buonanotte Marguerita - a very nice place that we can recommend because we stayed there too! They discovered we had also been guests there when their host mentioned that she had hosted a couple traveling on folding bicycles two days earlier. Spookier and spookier!

But enough about them, for the moment at least. This is, after all, a blog about OUR tour.

Our day gets off to a leisurely start, and the most satisfying breakfast of the tour. We are treated to a generous and diverse spread, with two favorites we almost never see over here: muesli and peanut butter! We enjoy our morning coffee on an outdoor patio overlooking the Ionian Sea, soaking up the sun on one of the warmest days we’ve seen so far. Almost overnight it has warmed up ten degrees, and coming next two weeks look like they will bring an unbroken string of sunny, warm days.

Also overnight, sickness has befallen the Anderson team. It starts with the discovery that Rachael’s front brake is rubbing badly, and none of my fumbling improves the situation much. We decide to just ride with it for awhile, when I discover that my gears are a complete mess, grinding badly in nearly every gear. It’s like they were sabotaged during the night. Maybe they got knocked over?

Fortunately we have a short, fairly easy run up to Otranto ahead of us. We start biking, and hope we can find a bike shop in Otranto when we get there. Our ride starts with the most serious climb of the day, up to the lighthouse and crossing the cape. Not much of a climb really, but dragging brakes and grinding gears sure don’t help.

The view from the lighthouse back over the Ionian Sea and Leuca.

And the view in the other direction, across the Adriatic. Albania is just across the water, if we were high enough to see it.

The ride northwest along the Adriatic is beautiful, with one visual delight after another: ruined watchtowers overlooking the sea, strange grey limestone structures, dramatic cliffs, the incredible blue water. It’s a terrific cycling road, with modest climbs and not much traffic. Today it’s even better, with a strong tailwind pushing us forward.

Unfortunately, I don’t make the most of it. Like the bikes, it turns out that I’ve gotten sick overnight too. It doesn’t register for most of the day that I have a health issue - I just think I must be due for a day off, or maybe held back by the gearing situation. When we arrive in Otranto though, I’m much more tired - fatigued, really - than is explainable by the ride. I decide to take a nap, and don’t wake up until dinner time.

We find ourselves in a very small restaurant for dinner. There are only two tables out front, though possibly there is additional seating in the back that we can’t see. We’re of course the only diners. We each order two courses - I have linguini with clams, and Rachael had a fava bean purée with chicory, a local specialty. I don’t recall now what the second course was to have been, but neither of us was served it anyway. Partway through my pasta serving it became clear that I really was sick, and feeling more miserable by the minute. I decided to skip the rest of the meal and go back to the room to crash, while Rachael waited for the rest of her meal. She was thinking she would ask to take mine back to the room with her.

An hour later, Rachael was still waiting. Unbelievable - she’s the only customer in the room, and they left her sitting there for a full hour without checking in. They never did bring her other course, so there was obviously some serious mixup. She left quite upset, after the most uncomfortable restaurant experience she can remember.

So, at the end of the day nobody on the team is very happy. She’s upset over the meal fiasco; and I feel like hell, apparently from some sort of stomach flu, and end the day wondering how much of a disruption lies ahead.

Torre Nasparo, or what remains of it. Built in 1565. We must have passed a dozen towers on today’s ride.

Castro Marina. We stopped here to pick up sandwiches, which we ate by the sea a few miles down the road. I’m suspicious about my sandwich though, and wonder if it made me sick.

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Ride stats today: 34 miles, 2,000’ elevation gain; for the tour, 1,632 miles, 110,400’

Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 1,632 miles (2,626 km)

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Susan CarpenterHoping you, Rachael and the bikes are back to happy and good working order soon!
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5 years ago

Suzanne GibsonGet well soon, all of you!
When we were cycling in Sicily, we cut over from Gallipoli to Otranto, now I see what a shame that we didn't follow the coast to Leuca. Beautiful!
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5 years ago

Suzanne GibsonWe were also there on May 20, but that was 13 years ago. (And I, too, got a stomach bug.)
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonYow, a double coincidence! Triple, actually - because we’ve been here once before ourselves - also 13 years ago, and also by riding from Gallipoli to Otranto. We were here about three weeks before you, it looks like!
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Susan CarpenterWe can’t report on the bikes yet, because there’s no bike shop in Otranto. I’m confident we’ll find help tomorrow in Lecce though. As for myself, after a wasted day of lying around feeling sorry for myself, I woke up feeling back to normal this morning. Some sort of 14 hour crud.
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5 years ago

Jen RahnGlad you're feeling better and hope that Lecce has the perfect remedy for the bikes!
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnYup. We found a competent, honest mechanic. Took ten minutes total, and he charged ten euros. I enjoyed the show, but unfortunately so much that I forgot to shoot a video. Shoot.
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5 years ago

Keith ClassenGlad to hear you are are feeling better and the bike problems resolved. Great shots - spectacular scenery.
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5 years ago