Lecce and Gallipoli - a heatbomb the heel of the boot - 10th September 2026
Ciao Bella’s from Lecce,
We caught the train from Polignano to Brindisi and then picked up a hire car for the next few days.
As the “Heatdome” - which is what the meteorologists are calling it - hasn’t broken yet, we decided to do a beach crawl before driving to our accommodation.
First stop was the cute little beach at Terre do Orso.
But first things first - it was about 2 pm, and the Dude hadn’t eaten yet.
About 50 metres from where we fluked a park, we saw a seafood truck with undercover seating. You bewdy. Grilled gamberi (prawns) with rucola (rocket), and mayo on a toasted roll. Giddy up. Washed down with San Pellegrino sparkling. Yes please.
A great swim and then the next beach in the cute little town of Otranto. A dip in the Ionian and then 40 minutes drive to Lecce.
Our accommodation was about 100 metres from the Bishop’s gate into the old town. Our host, Gabrielle, met us and we checked into the third floor air/conditioned unit. This was a beautiful spot, and each couple had their own bathroom, and the fridge was massive. Rightio, this’ll do us for a few days.
Because of the never-ending heat dome, we collectively decided to explore the old town in the early mornings and evenings during our stay, and that’s what we did.
The next day saw us wandering through the sandstone old town, taking in the Roman Amphitheatre ruins as we tried the local coffee specialty: Espresso with almond syrup and ice. I thought it was pretty good, but Jen-Jen thought it was too sweet. She’s sweet enough anyway. (Love heart emoji)
We also checked out the park, the churches, and the castle, but the road was being maintained so we didn’t go into the castle.
Jen-Jen went beach exploring while I stayed in the cool until we met up and wandered the old town at dusk. 5 Euro Spritzes were the aperitif before a walk around the old squares, gawking at the incredible architecture. We had an incredible glass of red called “Primitivo” before grabbing takeaway meatballs, passata and orecchiette (pig’s ear) pasta for 8 euros and finishing it back in the room with a chilled red. La Dolce Vita.
I don’t know what it is about Italy, but everywhere has been so amazing this year - despite the heat. The food, architecture and pace of life really tick the boxes for us atm.
The next day we bundled into the Renault and Chaeli drove us to Gallipoli, Italy - not Turkey. Again, great beach with the clearest water imaginable, a cute old town full of cafes, churches, souvenir stands and restaurants, and a still thriving fishing industry. We spent a great morning checking out this pearler of a town. Check it.
That night we all went into town for a big feast as it was our last night together. Jon and Chaeli had found a great place the night before, and we went there for pizza, wine and our newest culinary discovery: bombettes.
Bombettes are a Puglian snack where they get thinly sliced pork collar and fill it with pancetta, cheese, parsley, and spices and grill it. They served it to us on an actual grill, and I turned them over and played chef while our foot of pizza sat on a raised platform in the middle of the table. So cool, so tasty, so moreish. We were going to finish the night off with “tiramazoo”, but we rolled home to the air con.
That’s it.
The next day we got them to drop us off at Brindisi station, while they returned the hire car - we went halves in the bill for the scratch on the wheel - before we trained it back to Delph and they flew to Venice.
We had a great ten or so days with these guys. We had lots of laughs, too much good food and booze, great swims, boat rides, and massive walking days of like 15,000 plus steps.
So where to next?
Well, we need to drive up through the boot, but that’s up in the air.
Stay tuned, dear readers, for more gastronomic goodies, travel tales, and witty words...
Ciao
Comments