6 Gennaio, 2012 – Otranto e la pioggia

Yuck. All I can say is rain and yuck!  (before you read further….there is a good end to the day!)

As the soccer match Lecce vs Juventus is happening on Sunday, Fra and I went out this morning to try and get tickets.  As today is the Befana, everything was closed.  So, we may go and try tomorrow to see if we can get tickets.  There is a special for ladies, a concession for 25E.  Could be fun!

On the way back from the hike to the ticket booth, Fra and I stopped in for a coffee.  On the way out, as it had started raining, I fell down the 3 marble steps at the front of the bar.  Ouchies.  Hit my back on the first step and ended up sprawled, quite indelicately, down all 3 steps.

A lovely gentleman from the bar came and helped me up, and admittedly I felt a little shocked.  A few of the people in our group were there so they said they're happy to sign the incident form for me - but the biggest pain was having to spend the day with a sore back- especially in the cold of the day....and it got pretty chilly I can tell you!

We hopped on the bus after a 15 min walk....in the rain, so were soaked and had to put up with the air con circulating in the bus to un-fog the windows. 

After about 40 minutes, we arrived at Otranto....with more rain.  It was a shame as it's meant to be a lovely port town with a lot of azure coloured water. Not today!

Otranto is famous for its castle, cathedral and the lighthouse near, which is the most eastern point of Italy. 

Our first visit was to the cathedral, which housed an amazing mosaic and a special room/santuary with the 800 bones of the Otranto martyrs....a very interesting story!

Let me set the scene....the year was 1480 and the fateful day of July 28, when a fleet of 70 to 200 Ottoman ships reached the city of Otranto, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. It was the beginning of the Ottoman wars (1453-1683) in Europe and invader Mohammed II had conquered Constantinople just 28 years earlier.

The garrison and the citizens took cover in the Castle of Otranto but as it had no cannons for defense, it was soon conquered and the garrison killed.

On August 12, 800 citizens were taken to the hill of Minerva, now called the Hill of the Martyrs, and beheaded because they refused to renounce their Catholic faith. Their remains were taken to the cathedral and the skulls preserved in the altar piece as a prominent reminder of these 800 martyrs.

The floor of the Cathedral was also amazing, as it was all mosaic, and the picture was the tree of life.  Depicting many bible stories and also....King Arthur!  It is one of the first, and only, representations of this famous historical character.

After the Cathedral, we went to the castle, again lovely, but by this time the wind had picked up so....I froze.

We left Otranto and went to our lunch destination....after thinking it too was closed for the Befana, we ended up with a lovely surprise....and an amazing lunch.

We had about 4 different nibbles for entree; frittata, rosemary focaccia, tuna 'melts' followed by awesome shaped pasta....like spaghetti all twisted up!!  And for main we had polpette and salad (with chicory).  It was outstanding!

With each dish we also had a matched wine.  Starting with Verdeco (white), 29 (red, negroamaro) and ending up with their specialty which was a 2007 Calamuri Negroamaro.  WOW is all I can say.

I ended up purchasing some to taste at a later stage....and perhaps some for Mike as his engagement pressie from me.

The bus trip home was...lively.

As the weather has been horrible (and now the wind has begun), we had a short walk in the main piazza and then decided that it was better to be at home, nice and warm.

So we've been sitting in our apartment for a few hours....and it's  now 9.30pm....potentially time for me to go to bed!  I have managed to take some pain killers and my back is feeling decidedly better.

Very excited for our 2 free days this weekend....and you'll see what I get up to in the next post!

Miss A

Challenge: Go online and google Otranto Cathedral Mosaic and see all the stories. Who was the creator of the mosaic? His name starts with a 'P'....