The edge of italy

I stopped at a point on the coast to eat a little bit. It was windy and cool, but I sat on the rocks to enjoy some food. The sandwich was big and delicious. The octopus seemed to be marinated. It also had tomatoes and arugula.

Moving on, I followed the coastal road which took about 45 minutes to get to Santa Maria di Leuca--the full name. It is the most southern tip of Puglia. I drove through some sort of nature reserve--it reminded me of Florida. Driving is both good and bad. I really can't take any pictures, but I can focus one the scenery...and the road...

I parked on the main road along the waterfront. Again, this place is probably hopping in the summer, but it is a ghost town now. I passed on seeing the church--again. Instead I drove to the Punta Ristola, which is the farthest point. It was quiet, and I walked out to the point to take some pictures. Apparently there are caves under the cliff. In the summer you can do a boat tour. There was a passageway with stairs, but it looked VERY scary!

My plan was to drive to Otranto on the east coast. I headed that way on the coastal road, passing through a few towns. This place must be mobbed in warmer weather! It was going to be dark soon, and I decided to pass on Otranto. All the things to see would be outside--not fun in the dark!

I got on the highway and to Lecce. It took about an hour and a half in total from Leuca. I did stop about 12km away to get gas. It was 1.79 per liter (almost $7.50 per gallon US) . The fill cost 8.50€ . Cars are so efficient that the higher gas cost almost washes out. Dropping off the car was interesting. First of all, I got turned around and ended driving all around Lecce. Next was finding a place to leave the car. It's a city location and there aren't usually parking lots in Italy. I was supposed to park it in any legal spot on the street. Non c'erano niente...there weren't any. Finally I found something and parked. I took a picture of where I parked the car in case I had to do the key drop. But after a few minutes, the guy who checked me in came back. He checked me in and I was off! 67€ well spent.

It was another fun day.Read more