Gallipoli

Our final stop on the great Pugliese adventure took us to the city of Gallipoli, not to be mistaken for the more famous one in Turkey. Its location on the Ionian Sea, on the opposing coast to the rest of our adventures, meant that sea breezes and sunsets were particularly pronounced. We had high expectations for our final ancient town and although it did have suitable charm, including a city beach, harbour and old, old town, we weren't as charmed as the rest of the trip. The city felt full of tourists; the old town was the centrepoint for the trip's most expensive restaurants (that weren't as good as some of the cheaper ones we'd been to) and noise was hard to avoid. Call us spoiled.

All this aside, there was a lot of beauty to be had. Considering its location, Gallipoli has ancient Greek roots and was subsequently conquered by the Goths, Romans, Normans and Sicilians. Because of this, it found itself at the centre of trade and commerce for many, many years. On the ground, this looks like a distinct old and new town, complete with fortified walls and an LED Jesus, respectively. 

Out with the old and in with the new:

Our hotel, complete with picture of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus above our bed, didn't quite live up to the TripAdvisor recommendations. Perhaps it was the old man sitting in his pants on the balcony across from our window, perhaps it was the raucous sound reverberations of the rickshaws playing their music into the wee hours. Regardless, we did find some stunning scenery. 

Like the harbour: 

Next to the beach:

All a four-minute walk from our resting place. And wandering down the old town streets yielded lots of colours, narrow streets, cobbled lanes and romantic balconies:

And there were some places for cheap, delicious gelato, granitas and Aperol spritz, all together, all at the same time, should this be your desire:

Padre Pio, Apulia's Saint of the People, loomed large throughout the city:

And so we spent days on the beach, both in-city and out, before continuing on with the grand tradition of grand sunsets and passeggiatas:

 

Our trip didn't quite end there. We still had to fight teenage masses to catch a bus back to Lecce to catch a train back to Bari to then spend a night in Bari before catching a late night flight back to London. Because we try not to do things by halves.