To the Sea, To the Sea!

October 12, 2024

Porto Cesareo

We left Grattiglie at our earliest departure yet - 9:25 - practically the crack of dawn. After leaving our suitcases up these vertical stairways (sorry to whomever has to move them today) we got our bikes loaded for departure.

Leaving Grattiglie, we are essentially heading to the coast in a more or less straight line with a good downward slope with vineyards and olive groves guiding our way.

The grapes are definitely past their harvest time.

It was on a fairly lonely road with only an occasional car, and temps around 21C.

We continued to see trash along the roadside, and witnessed a new variation on this theme. Hang your trash on the sign!

There was a bit of a hill interrupting this long downhill slope towards the coast culminating in the town of Faggiano. We wound through town where they are preparing for a kind of carnival in the city center. Friendly town, even the local polizie said 'buon giorno' to me as I passed.

Then a little more of a climb and we get our first glimpse of the Ionian Sea, and the Gulf of Taranto. Exciting!

Marjory will be more excited when she gets to the top.

After a brief gelato stop and Marjory's coke habit supported, we headed to the town of Roccaforzata. The pinnacle of this place had an extraordinary "Belvedere", where we sat and drank in this view. Two thoughts came to mind - 1. the camera cannot do this justice (sorry, we did try, and no it cannot) and 2. THIS is why we bike these holidays instead of drive. Never would you see this otherwise. We sat and drank in the view for 15 minutes, then back on the bikes and descend downwards toward the sea.

At one point, we started to see palm trees amongst the olive trees, usually a harbinger of good weather - Florida hurricanes notwithstanding.

Since the grape harvest is over, the farmers were quite busy in the fields with their tractors. For the most part, it seemed they were just tilling in between the rows. I asked this guy if it was ok to take his photo, and he gave me the thumbs up.

We also saw some olive thieves. I don't know what else it could be, but you would see cars stopped at the side of olive groves and a husband and wife out whacking on the branches with a stick of some kind. They always looked a little askance as we rode by. I didn't take their photo...

This scenery persisted for a long time, but flat to downhill, so nobody complained!

And then....we hit the sea. Wow!

This is the Ionian Sea, with Greece on the other side - too far to see. Every few km's there would be another pretty beach. Wash, rinse, repeat.

We started to wish we had our bathing suits with us. We had left them in the suitcase. We will certainly be swimming at some point soon!

Let me know when you get tired of ocean pics. I don't think we were sick of them even by the end of the day.

We are heading towards that point, I think.

We are starting to get hungry, but want to get some km behind us. That gelato is wearing off by now. Inside the towns, they often had a type of cycle path that was appreciated, as the traffic was always more dense in towns.

The beach towns are largely closed down for the off-season.

And then, in Campomarino we found a great little restaurant specializing in seafood. My wife was very happy.

Leaving after lunch, we continued along the coast taking a strange detour along a sandy trail. The bike tires got bogged down, and we are wondering why on earth they would send us along this way?

To the right of this trail are dunes and then the sea. To the left is a lagoon.

Looking around and to the left - to the lagoon - we see why. Flamingos! Too far away to get a good shot, so you will have to trust me. They apparently flocked here by the hundreds until the early fall, and by now they are down to just dozens.

Along this coast line we have seen several towers. Along the coast at our town is the tower Torre Cesarea.

One of many towers we have seen today along the coast.

We are getting close now, and after about 70 km we are ready for a shower and maybe a beer. The shoreline is getting somewhat rocky here, but still pretty. Okay, just one last ocean pic.

And then after 80.7 km we are done for today. Tomorrow we have a short ride to Gallipoli, which we expect to be much more lively than Porto Cesareo.

Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 238 km (148 miles)

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