Return from Bella Italia

Santa Maria di Leuca to Lecce

Strava: 74.4 km, 367m, 3:35, 126 shifts, headwind all the way

We ate all our leftovers from yesterday for breakfast then took off at 9. While the wind had shifted 180° and would be a strong headwind all day, the temperature and humidity had reduced a lot so it finally felt great to be outside.

Wytze used Komoot to build us a gravel route to Lecce and it did a great job. We rode the whole way mostly on tiny farm roads. The gravel/dirt sections were short and easy. We had a drinks and pastry stop in Tricase after 18 km, then just cranked it out to Lecce. Wytze led into the wind the whole way and I felt strong (easy when drafting!)

We arrived at 13:30 and found a restaurant for lunch right by the old Roman Amphitheater. It was so windy there were a few accidents at the outdoors tables, but we didn’t lose any food or drink. Smoked tuna bruschetta for appetizers, then various dishes, mine was shrimp salad, with some side veggies and giant beers for Daniel and me. Wytze tried to order half a liter of white wine for himself but wasn’t allowed. He solved that by getting two single glasses.

Around 3, we headed to our apartment which is great, very modern, spacious and clean. After a shower and a little watching the UCI World Companionships, I fell asleep then read until 7:45. We walked downtown to meet Daniel – he had a great plan for our big last night together.

We met at Bros Restaurant for our wildest dinner together yet. Unusual for us, we went with the simplest option, the 17 course dinner. Some of those courses ended up being three or four separate ones so it was even crazier than it sounds. Paired with a bottle of local sparkling rosé and then an amazing local primativo red, it was more than four hours of exploration, wild tastes and most importantly, fun. A couple of times we had to leave the table and eat a course or more elsewhere, once down the street.

What can I say but Wow!? We are truly living large. As they say, “Someone has to do it.”