The Southern Italy Coast to Coast Tour has begun.

Yes, the first Southern Italy - Coast to Coast Tour has officially begun in the region of Puglia.  This is a new region for IWF's tours and I am very excited about exploring "the heel of the boot".  The group arrived on Sunday into Bari, the capital of Puglia.  Everyone on the tour, except for one have traveled on an IWF's tour before.  It is always so nice to see familiar faces like Larry and Peggy from the Chicago area, Chris and Merrillyn from Arizona and Frank and Patti from the Austin, Texas area.  Carol from Colorado is new to IWF's tours, but will fit in just perfect.  We drove to Lecce located in Southern Puglia along the Salentine peninsula.  Lecce is sometimes referred to "the Florence of the south" and it is easy to see why.  This beautiful city has an old town that is easy to enjoy.  We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn and met for a welcome drink and a short orientation. 

Then we walked into town and met Silvia a local guide for a walking tour of Lecce's old town.  Lecce has a very diverse history and has been controlled through the centuries by many different cultures.  You can find remnants of Greek, Norman, Saracen, Roman and Spanish influences throughout the city.  The light colored sand-stone of Lecce used in so many of its buildings gives the city an elegant look and is just beautiful.  We were able to see it at sundown and it almost glowed.  As we walked through the streets, Silvia pointed out some of the most important architectural aspects from each ruling culture. Most were built during the 17th century, so the Baroque style is prevalent on many of the one-time noble family villas.  There was really so much to see and it was all amazing.

We also visited several of the most important churches including Santa Croce, with its beautiful altars adorned with cherubs, local flowers and fruit and wolves, the symbol of Lecce.  We then walked to Piazza Duomo, which is almost a huge enclosed square made up of religious buildings that one time were locked behind gates for protection from invaders.  So many sites in Lecce are one of a kind and not found anywhere else in Italy.  There are even some amazing Roman ruins including a large arena that held 15,000 spectators back in the 2nd century AD. 

After our walking tour, we sat down for our welcome dinner at the Osteria Vecchio, a restaurant serving some Lecce favorites.  We enjoyed a long dinner with delicious food and local wine.  Our walk back to the hotel was just what everyone needed.  It was a very good start to our visit to the region of Puglia.

This morning we woke to fairly clear skies, but with rain predicted for the day.  We all grabbed our rain gear and headed our for sightseeing of the Salentine peninsula.  Geo met the group and we loaded up in his van for a day out.  I was especially glad to not be driving for the day.  It also just happened to be my birthday.  We began our outing with a drive through the countryside that is filled with olive trees and old farms called Masserias.  Our first stop was in the coastal town of Otranto, the easternmost city of Italy.  It is only about 50 miles across the Adriatic to Albania, which we could see today.  This pretty seaside village was pretty quiet today, but will be packed during the months of July and August.  We visited the old town with its Norman Castle walls.  Inside is the towns church that consists of a lower and upper church.  The lower church feels almost like a mosque with its low ceiling and many columns.  Each column is different and came from different countries as booty for a victorious battle.  The upper chapel is much larger and is filled with magnificent mosaic floors.  The treasure of the church is the chapel dedicated to the 700 martyrs who refused to convert to Islam during a raid by the Saracens.  They were all beheaded for their faith.  They were buried in a mass grave near the church but today are honored in this very special chapel. 

On our way out of Lecce, we stopped in a wonderful pastry/gelato shop that had some of the prettiest pastries that I have ever seen.  Then we drove along the coastal road that had amazing views out to sea.  We made a stop at an ancient Roman watch tower.  During Roman occupation the town of Brindisi along the coast was the end of the Appian Way and where ships would sail from to trade with the eastern provinces.  Other towns were later used as jumping off points for the crusader ships heading to Jerusalem. 

We made a stop in the small town of Castro and sat down to a lunch that will definitely be remembered by all.  We were served some amazing fish dishes, along with local wine.  The setting of La Grotto del Conte is lovely and we felt like royalty.  They even had a special birthday cake for me!  Spending a birthday in Italy is already very special, but today's lunch made it a memorable one for sure.

Then we drove even further south until we were actually at the tip of the heel of the boot.  Here was another lovely port city shining brightly.  From the bottom of the heel of the boot we turned north and drove to another important port town, Gallipoli.  It is located on the Ionian sea.  The old town is actually on an island and has a very impressive Norman castle.  We took time to walk around and visit several churches that were all very unusual.  We finally made our way back to Lecce and our hotel.  I have only touched on a few of our adventures today, but I can assure you it was a day to remember.  I think everyone is very impressed with the region of Puglia so far and look forward to wonderful new things to see in the next few days.  I will return then to share more of our adventures.  Ciao,  Suzan