Gallipoli - 18 October 2022

It should have been perfect to drift off to sleep with the sound of the Ionian Sea gently lapping the shore close to Dave last night. Worked for Tintin, but not for me. You’ll notice I haven’t been mentioning the mosquitoes - but they are a constant problem. You get showered and clean every morning, then cover limbs with repellent, and/or suntan cream - and back to feeling icky again! Think I didn’t sleep well as not only was it warm, but the latest batch of bites were really irritating 😠

Me to drive today. Virtually hugging the coast line at first. It’s fair to say I take back everything I said only yesterday about the roads! Only about 1-1/4 hour drive, but! Poor Dave - juddered and shaken around today.

We’re in one of the most abundant olive tree growing areas of Southern Italy. It looks like they’ve chopped down lots, and are letting them sprout again. Not sure why, trees produce for 300 - 500 years, up to 2,000 even - and if cut down, will sprout and produce for hundreds of years again…

We were stopped for a great big concrete mixer trying, and failing to get into a drive - and three big dogs came out barking at us!

So, today we’re in Gallipoli (population c.19,000) - not to be confused with the World War 1 battlefield in Turkey. Gallipoli is Greek in origin - kalé polis meaning beautiful city. The old town where we visited is built on an island linked to the modern town by a bridge. It’s described as having ‘the mysterious charm of a labyrinthine Arab city’. It’s only 300m in diameter.

There are certainly quite a few marinas around here!

Sadly the Fontana, Greco-romana with ancient reliefs from 1560 wasn’t flowing today.

The 16th century castle is nearly surrounded by sea, and has four towers with crenellations.

We rode all around the whole island (!) looking for somewhere to have lunch.

On the second time around, we stopped at one, asked where to put our bikes. He gesticulated by the wall, we moved them there, no, no - not there - over by the wall. Then a woman opens her window and shouts at us, implying can’t we read - well obviously not as it was in Italian. Basically, **d them, if they were so rude, they weren’t getting our money!

Tintin fancied fish, so found another place. This time, I nearly got up and walked off, but didn’t (but should have!). The man, who presumably is the owner, as no one would employ him went around, honking, and snorting like a pig, wiping his nose with his hands, then handling plates. He was disgusting.

Tintin said his food wasn’t brilliant either, I had the caprese salad, with buffalo mozzarella and we both had chips - first time away. Nothing to go wow about - sadly.  Think they have end of seasonitis, and food quality wasn’t the best. Even the olive oil for the bread, personally I found horrible - so bitter - maybe we’re just used to ‘Supermarket’ oil at home?  We paid €37 exactly - and we walked away. When are we going to encounter the friendly Italians we’ve been promised?!

We even saw a French tour group later on and had a cheery Bonjour from them!

We walked through the Main Street full of little shops selling random stuff.

Found a gelataria, and although we’d just eaten - had to try. Tintin had cherry and mine - not too sure - it had Strega in it, an almond and some chocolate bits - very enjoyable! €5.

Wonder if the Covid free vending machine gets much business these days?!

We went into a free ‘nativity’ grotto place - think it would freak young kids out!

There are lots of little alleyways, lots of churches facing out to sea, and lots of rubbish! At least here it was mainly in the full bins.

Today, when driving, was the first time we’ve actually seen men trying to clear up some of the roadside litter…

Neither of us could be bothered to pay €5 each to see inside the castle. Also, the duomo was shut, so walked back to the beach for a swim.

The water is just so clear! Was about 21°, but possibly felt cooler than previous swims - but still warm!

Our ride there and back and around was only about 5 miles. Our park for the night isn’t very salubrious. We were in ‘on street’ parking, but now that people have left we’re in the actual carpark, but lots of traffic nearby.

Off east tomorrow in search of somewhere to service Dave - very few and far between this far South unless you stay on a campsite!