Breakfast on the terrace. Coffee, a bowl of apricots, pears and nectarines, yogurt, doughnuts and the local speciality taralli, biscuits.
We were half way up a steep mountainside, well cliffs, that fell to the sea. In the far distance there was a hint of Albania, around the corner the grey on the horizon becomes Corfu. Up the coast Otranto appeared as a distant smudge of white. Every now and again a group of swifts whooshed past screeching out to sea before screeching back like avian boomerangs.
In front of us were pine trees overladen with pines and sparrows, agave, jasmine, fig trees set against the sea. GS didn’t want to leave and indeed it was hypnotic drinking coffee watching the water sparkle in the sun below and listening to the soft jazz and female vocals gently playing in the background and the distant shush of waves hitting the rocks below.
Instead we went out on a walk intent on climbing the rest of the cliff where we had been lost the first night. We went about 20 ms uphill when I decided that it would be a pity to miss the nearby and not uphill stone buildings, olive groves. We went for an explore, the whole time with camera in hand. Tip- on rubbly cliffs covered with loose stones and cactus etc don’t walk around looking through the camera lens.
I lost my balance on and wallop, landed flat on my backside, see video above. Now I understood why they weren’t keen on us clambering around the mountains the first night. With my pride and bottom dented we curtailed our hike and decided to go to Santa Maria de Lueca for The Official First Swim of The Year.
With GS installed at a bar in the shade I attempted to enter the water. I’d forgotten my dive shoes, the sand was scorching hot, and fine so it kept sinking and there were a lot of rocks covered with slippery algae. On my third attempt, the sea got fed up of waiting, the sand grabbed my ankles and after a bit of a backwards forwards wobble I pitched onto my knees doggy fashion in somewhat of a splat into sea. I just about managed to extricate myself and returned to GS who was still laughing.
‘The sand is really hot and silky, and the rocks are all slippery!- and my feet seem to be super soft and sensitive as I haven’t been out in barefoot yet-‘
‘It’s not because of that’ laughed GS, ‘the pressure per inch has gone up!’
We are now on a diet.
GS bought some stuff from the deli incase the apertivo nibbles weren’t enough. The rest of the day we spent safely back on our hotel toasting in the sun and then the shade watching the light play on the water below and not attempting any dangerous exercise.
The next morning we really didn’t want to leave. Instead we procrastinated taking yet more photos until I fell over for the third time in 24 hours! Camera in hand, I went to take this end of the world view. I was looking at the Agave’s spikey sabres, and didn’t see the invisible step. One banged my knee and a jolted skeleton later, but at least I didn’t fall off the cliff or it would have been a high speed roll over rocks and cactus before being caught in the fence below.
Otranto was next with the clear advantage of being flat.
A short drive later, we walked/ limped around the old city, I bought three new floaty cotton dresses, we had another lovely lunch, and then finally The First Swim of Summer!
Then we were off to our next place, an agritourismo near Nardo.
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