In the morning I emerged from my cave bedroom at Orto dell'Idro, where I had spent the night, not alone in the end but with Fabiola, who was too cold in the Berber tent in the garden and came knocking on my door in the middle of the night seeking a warmer refuge! We dressed and walked the remaining kilometre into the centre of Otranto, where we breakfasted at Martinucci, a café renowned for its pastries, before meeting the rest of the group for a group photo and departure.
Following the gps track for today's stage, we crossed through the historic city centre, passing by the cathedral and the castle where last night's concert had been held.
From here, the trail took us past the port of Otranto, where the anonymous French pilgrim from Burgundy on the basis of whose route the Via Francigena south of Rome has been reconstructed disembarked on his or her way back from Jerusalem in the year 333, and where countless other pilgrims have set sail for the Holy Land. But our destination is not Jerusalem but Finibus Terrae, where the heel of the boot of Italy ends, and so we continued on foot, heading out across the headland behind the town of Otranto to the lighthouse known as the Torre del Serpe, the tower of the serpent. The symbol of a serpent appears on the coat of arms of Otranto, because a serpent is said to have saved the city by drinking all the oil in the lighthouse, so that the light went out and the approaching Turks could not see where it was. In the dark, they landed on the beach opposite instead of in the town, and the city was saved. And if the oil was Salento olive oil, the serpent must have enjoyed it, too!
From the heights of this headland we could see the mountains of Albania across the sea!
The trail turned inland, through the Bosco Orte forest and past the colourful former bauxite quarries.
Here we met up with a local park guide who took us off the Via Francigena, through the Selva del Turchese woods and ino the Idro valley - which was all very fine until we realised we were actually going backwards, along a stretch of the Via Francigena we had walked on yesterday afternoon! Practically, we had walked in a big circle! But we were not far off the official Via Francigena, which makes a big loop to pass through Otranto rather than continuing straight ahead toward Capo Leuca. In any case, our detour was not in vain: it took us to Fondazione le Costantine, where a group of musicians played pizzica music for us and a buffet of local specialties was laid out for our lunch.
After lunch, a bus took us back on track and onto the Via Francigena in Uggiano, where we were supposed to be! We continued on our way under a threatening sky, passing through the villages of Cocumola and Vitigliano without stopping, on to Vignacastrisi, where today's stage ended - once again in the rain!
We ought to have spent the night in Vignacastrisi, or with Agnese, our Polish friend in the village of Marittima whom we met at the fountain on the way to Faicchio, way back in Campania.... But the official programme of events dictated an overnight stay in Tricase and departure from there the following morning. So we all climbed aboard a bus to Tricase, where we spent a lovely evening with live pizzica music, dancing and a tasting of generously portioned "samples" of local specialties in the castle! When the celebrations were over Agnese and I were invited for a glass of wine at the home of Maria Grazia Bello, who hosts pilgrims in her home and generally takes care of the Via Francigena in the area, where we sat on the patio chatting until it was time to retire. Maria Grazia will be back to walk with us tomorrow, and she will be bringing along several classes of students from the high school where she teaches, for the final leg of our Long Walk to Santa Maria di Leuca!
