Puglia Travel Diary IV

Part 4 (probably the last) of my Puglia Travel Diary is all about the other towns we visited: Otranto, Gallipoli, Martina Franca and Torre Dell’Orso. Captured with the Olympus PEN E-PL7 and the iPhone 6s Plus.

Missed part 1? Click here.
Missed part 2? Click here.
Missed part 3? Click here.

Otranto was a real surprise for us! We didn’t expect much so when we arrived we enjoyed a cappuccino with a view at the harbor. Some people were even swimming in here as you can see in the photo below. Otranto is a historic seaside town and port on the Adriatic coast. It’s a small place with a lovely holiday atmosphere, the picture-perfect blue waters, white buildings and diving rocks make Otranto a must visit!

Gallipoli is a two-part town: the modern town is based on the mainland, while the older centro storico inhabits a small island in the Ionian Sea. The old town, ringed by the remains of its muscular 14th-century walls was the part were we spent the most of the time. Gallipoli was nice, but definitely not our favorite. The buildings were really old and dirty and there was not so much ambiance as Otranto or Ostuni. The view to the sea with the little beach and a part of the town in the background was amazing I must admit. But after 2 or 3 hours we’ve seen enough and decided to go back to walk around in Lecce.

We had just one day of rain, for the first time in Puglia! We were not prepared for this, so I had to buy an umbrella and we walked around in our summer clothes. But luckily after a few hours or rain and thunder the sun came back! Martina Franca was really fun, there are a lot of small typical streets and a few big squares.
Martina Franca is a fair-sized town. The town’s jewel is its lovely centro storico, a memorable maze of winding alleys, where whitewashed simplicity sits side by side with baroque extravagance. The town is built on a hill in the green Valle d’Itria, the trulli area of Puglia. Martina Franca is an incredibly photogenic town, so come equipped to take lots of pictures: the narrow lanes that are so hard to photograph well in other Italian cities are here illuminated by whitewashed walls, pale stone and tiny open spaces. – more: italyheaven.co.uk

The final day we went to the beach of Torre Dell’Orso. This was one of our favorites! Before we took a swim we had an adventurous walk. We wanted to see the stacks The Two Sisters (Le Due Sorelle). The view was amazing and it was fun to see the beach from above. The blue sea in combination with the high coast was beautiful! I recommend you to do the same if you ever plan to go to Puglia. The beaches are very crowed in July and August. But we had no choice because we wanted to travel by public transport that was only going during the summer months. The temperature of the sea was really pleasant!

The stacks’ name is Two sisters (Le Due Sorelle). See the photo below.
The legend of Le Due Sorelle: “It is said that one time two sisters lived in a small village of the Greek Salentine. The sisters were always concentrated on their job. One day, however, they stopped to work and they went to the sea. There’s who says to avoid the job’s strains. Once arrived, one of the sisters felt herself so attracted by the sea that she threw herself from the rock. Once into the sea, the other sister listened to the shouts of her sister and she also plunged into the sea to save her. Anyway, they couldn’t ever come back to the shore. The Gods take pity of the sisters and for their sad story and they turned them into the stacks that we can see on the beach.”

The end of an unforgettable journey! I hope you enjoyed these travel posts and leave a comment if you have any questions!

♥