Porto Cesareo to Gallipoli

May 28, 2023

Today’s ride is short, just 36km. The winds are still coming from the north, so we are in luck. To top it off, it’s sunny and warm, even at 9 in the morning. Katia is one heck of a host, bubbly and welcoming. She had laid out a breakfast spread for us and five other guests in her new sunroom.

We struck up a conversation with a couple from Bergamo when I ordered some hot milk for my cereal. Mauro and Katrina spoke English and caught my error in time, explaining that latte caldo is hot milk and freddo is probably what I wanted. They are exploring Puglia on bikes too. We would meet up with them later on in the day.

Katia made sure we were fully satisfied with the breakfast and gave us each a bag of tarelli’s and a Porto Cesareo fridge magnet as a souvenir. For good measure, she wrapped up some cakes and fruit for us too. If you are in Porto Cesareo, you won’t go wrong with a stay at Mareluce B&B.

We set off from the B&B and headed to the shoreline to begin our leisurely 36k coastal ride to Gallipoli. The fishermen had been out and we stopped to watch one of them clean some red mullets for a waiting customer (a bag of fish for 5 euro). The fish innerds we're gobbled up by the small fish who swarmed the morsels as they hit the water.

The town was surprisingly active last night which tells us that the tourist season might be kicking in. Most of them seem to be Italian. We watched as a boat shuttled a large group to the island not far from shore.

Tourists were getting shuttled by boat to the island across the harbour.

Fishing boats in the harbour, Porto Cesareo.

We cruised along the quiet coastal road, taking in the views of this stunning coastline. The road was reasonably flat but the surface made for a pretty rough ride. We find ourselves riding on whatever side of the road is the smoothest or whatever section seems the best but we mostly hit the rough stuff where the surface has crumbled over the years and the patches are just thrown in place by the shovel full from a truck. When we accidentally ride over the fresh tarmac, the tar and rocks stick to our tires.

Soon, we noticed the traffic clogging up ahead of us and we knew right away what was up. It was market day and everyone and their dog was driving to pick up their supplies. The cars inched along in both directions as people criss-crossed back and forth and motos squeezed through at every opportunity.

Cipolli di Tropea, a whole truck load of them.

Fruit and vegetables, enough to satisfy the most descerning foodie. I noticed a bag of snails on the table. We have seen these on the roadside. They particularly like the fico d’india.

I wonder if these snails are beneficial to the cactus?

When in Italy, do as the locals do. Keep moving!

As we carried on down the coast we could not believe how many incredible beaches there were. The azure blues of the water, in every shade, were truly amazing. I could hardly take my eyes off of it.

It is one beach after another, all the way down this coastline.

The resort town of Santa Caterina was hopping (relative to the usual quiet towns) and so we decided to stop and have a drink at a cafe.

Soon after sitting down, up rode Katrina and Mauro so we invited them to join us. We had a nice chat with them. They had driven their car from Bergamo to Lecce for this one week your of Puglia. Normally they would take the train but the disastrous floods in Emilia-Romagna have taken out the tracks that link to southern Italy and they won’t be repaired for another week or so. This was the third day of their tour.

Look who we found, our friends from Bergamo.

There is an overabundance of beautiful towns where you could come and have a wonderful holiday. Keep in mind it gets searingly hot and crowdedin July and August.

Looking up the coast toward Santa Caterina. This tower is one of five that we could see from this spot.

Pillboxes like this dot the coastline...reminders of strife of WWII.

We had no problems riding into Gallipoli. The traffic was minimal and we soon found ourselves in the old town. It felt distinctly maritime and rightly so as we were on an island. We ascended a short ramp from the harbour and who should we meet but the young couple from Vancouver! What a coincidence. They were staying just outside of town. Who knows if we might meet again?

Gallipoli streets are very narrow and we saw very few cars attempt to drive through them.

This is a typical home here. The residents leave the doors open to let in fresh air and light.

We had received all the instructions for our B&B via Whatsapp, so we were soon setting up for a restful afternoon. I did some laundry (now that we are in warmer climes, our laundry will be dry by morning). David spent some time lubing chains, adjusting gears (the cables stretch with use) and pumping tires.

Fruit and veggie delivery van outside our B&B

At 6pm, we headed out for drinks and then dinner at 7:30 at a seafood restaurant. It was superb, once again.

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Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 516 km (320 miles)

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Patrick O'HaraLooks amazing. Great photos and journal.
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1 year ago

David MathersTo Patrick O'HaraSorry to disappoint, but no swimming 🏊‍♀️for us. It does tug at me but I just can’t imagine getting back on the bike with soaked cycling gear. I did wade however, if that counts for anything. 😜
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1 year ago