Wednesday April 12, 2023
We slept in until after 0900 today. I looked at the map we got and between that and google maps was able to plot out a nice route along the cliffs by the sea just north of town. That is if part of the route is not private property. Google is unsure so now I am too. But we are going to attempt it and backtrack if we have to. We also plan to stop at a bakery for a pastry, the electronic store for hopefully a cable, the Conad for a picnic lunch, and after the walk a stop at the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow. Let’s see how it goes. We head out into a beautiful sunny day. The first stop at the bakery goes smooth, one donut, one pastiociotti ( local pastry) to go. Next the electronic store. They have the cable we need so that is a success. Now to a bench we see overlooking the beach in town where we eat said donut and pastry. The pastry was delicious a sort of short bread pastry filled with a delicious cream. We see more of these in our future. We leave our lovely bench and find our way to the grocery store.
Picnic lunch secure we head up a small road going past large estate type homes with private property signs on them. At the end of the road, we see a small dirt path to the right with an open gate. Not sure if it is public or not, we slowly walk along it. There is another metal gate blocking some land, a fence beyond that but a path between the two with a commune of Otranto sign so we take that to the waters edge. It is incredibly beautiful and the water is super clear. We also saw another path where we originally saw the gate so we decide to see where that goes and it leads to the other side of the cove we were on and beyond.
We seemed to have found the path I saw on google maps. We spend the next few hours walking and gazing in awe at the beauty surrounding us. We reach the destination we were shooting for which has a sea cave called Grotta Sfondata with a hole in the ground at our level that you can look down into the cave and the sea. This beautiful stretch of coastline is known as Baia del Mulino d’Acqua. We decide to keep walking for a while and at one point have to walk slightly on someone’s property as the cliff has eroded where the pat was. From that point we walk along the edge of a field until we are back on what we assume is public property again.
We find a nice spot to sit and have lunch. Todays sandwich is a spicy salami with more burrata cheese (so creamy and good). The walk back after lunch goes faster as we are not stopping to gawk every few minutes. We reach town and the train station, buy our tickets for tomorrow, and head home. My feet hurt a bit and my shins hurt more. We will be over 9 miles on this walk. I know my feet will harden and get used to it and my shins are a result of the downhill semi sprint yesterday morning so hopefully will be better soon. Back home I have now caught up on my journaling so maybe can post one or two soon. Otherwise I am just talking to myself here. Expenses. Pastries at CasAmelie Bakery 3.80E Cable Replacement 13E. Lunch from Conad 5.15E Dinner at La Patronale 51E Lo Spioncino Apartment 53.41E Walked 12.7 Miles
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