The highlighted part is where I am at now. In Puglia. Things have moved along slowly. Appointments have been changed due to some unforeseen circumstances. So now it is already Thursday and we are still way down there at the heel of the boot that is Italy. Yesterday, we left Bitritto for Presicce. An amazing aerographic artist for our vespas lives here. I personally have never so far south at the boot of Italy before.

My verdict? It is amazingly beautiful!!! We went to the southern most tip of the boot, a place called Santa Maria di Leuca and I fell in love! Even though it is a little difficult to get to this point but boy, is it worth it! Do keep in mind though that this is the south and all these little towns are little towns. There are no big shopping complexes within easy reach here. If I am not mistaken the nearest shopping complexes is either one, 30kms or the other 60kms. If I am not mistaken the nearest airport is in Brindisi which is about 200+kms away or in Bari. But we are very near Greece. I think it is because of this proximity that the building also remind me of Greece. All whitewashed and with beautiful colours accenting them.

Presicce, though small has quite a few historical buildings. All worth a visit. I also discovered that Presicce has a whole subterranean city! From wikipedia, I couldn’t find much onPresicce but I found a page on Santa Maria di Leuca. I discovered that it houses the 2nd most important lighthouse in Italy after the one in Genoa! We learn something new everyday! We are here after the summer season so things are much calmer. I like the tranquility but I would advise that you make a trip here just at the end of summer, last week of August, to still tap into the summer vibe though things will already be winding down then. The summer here goes all the way till end of October and starts in April. Summer is in full swing in July and August. It is still 30 degrees today with loads of sunshine. So if you come here now, it is quiet, sunny, with not much to do but to just relax.

What surprised me the most of these places is the fact that, if you don’t know that you are in the south of Italy, the restaurants, bars and clubs when in full swing in summer, reminds me of Cannes, albeit on a way smaller scale. Everywhere you go there are full wifi services. I am so used to the other south. Calabria, where you can’t really get decent hotel service nor wifi anywhere (except maybe at Tropea) that I prepare myself for the worst. I bring extra pillows (small ones), a huddle for our won wifi connection and be prepared to roast in the heat every night at hotels or B&Bs without proper air-conditioning. Since our journey started, from Rome to Nola in Naples and Bitritto, and even here in Presicce, I have not used my huddle for wifi even ONCE! I am impressed. Even in little Bitritto the B&B was exceptional. It had everything and more. Though M was a little disappointed by the breakfast which I kind of knew it will not be worth getting up for. 😛 But over all, very good service. Every one of the places we stayed had the full cable options too! There were the usual local channels, MTV, BBC, and all the other major European news channel.

I took some photos of the coastal towns from Santa Maria di Leuca all the way back to Lido Marini and back up to Presicce. Presicce is inland but only less than 4kms away. Though the photos won’t do it justice but you will have an idea of the beauty of the place. We ate an amazingly beautiful restaurant in Presicce which I will blog about next. Of course, the food was good too!

Before the battery on my computer dies off (only 6% left cause M used it and didn’t charge it :P) I will try to upload the photos.

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