Puglia in September 2023 - Galatina and Porto Cesareo beaches

We get off to an early start on Tuesday too. First stop is the harbour in Porto Cesareo where very little is happening, just one fisherman selling a few miscellaneous fish. Another small fishing boat is in the harbour and the fishermen are cleaning the nets, throwing something into a bucket occasionally. So we continue in the direction of the official fishmongers. These turn out better than we expect. Several and all with a good range of seafood and at reasonable prices. We choose the Medusa shop and buy Argentini – whitebait, I think, the tiny ones you fry and eat the whole thing and some alici – anchovies, all sparkling fresh. With the fish safely in the fridge back at the apartment we can set off towards Galatina, a forty minute drive from Porto Cesareo. We park in a side street just outside the historical centre and very close to the Basilica di Santa Caterina di Alessandria. This superb church was completed in 1391 and is a rare mix of Romanico Pugliese with a bit of Bizantino and Gothic styles. 

After admiring the sculptures of the façade and the rose window, we go in. Fantastic. Almost every square metre of the walls and ceilings are covered in frescoes of the New and Old testament stories as well as pictures of saints and martyrs. We stand and stare, at length. 

It also reminds me of the much smaller but equally intensely decorated San Donato church frescoes we saw last year in Ripacandida in Basilicata.

Wandering around the church the carved wood tabernacle of fra’ Giusepppe da Soleto also catches the eye, as do the splendid cenotaphs at the far end of the church in the abside which is mostly painted white except for the arches, accentuating the gothic forms. 

On the left an arrow shows the way to the ‘museum’ in the sacristy – just a glimpse from the door is allowed, and the cloister, with many more, later frescoes many of which relate to the life of Saint Francis. It really is a splendid church.

But by now the early start and hence early breakfast, makes itself felt, so we go in search of the inventor of the pasticiotto, well at least his shop – Pasticceria Andrea Ascalone. We are a little alarmed, when we find the tiny shop, to see a menacing bilingual notice in the window warning that pasticiotti must be booked the day before and that only two people are allowed in the shop at a time, but since it’s impossible to see how many people are actually in there already through the net curtain ……we go in anyway. No more than a handful of cakes on show but we are allowed to buy two pasticiotti – one traditional with ‘cream’ and the other not at all traditional with almonds and amarene. We retreat to a bench just outside, pleased at our good fortune. They are delicious. The traditional one had a slightly crunchy layer to the sponge outside, like walking on sand which is just damp on the very top layer, but soft and warm within. Yeah, well, you get the idea: delicious.

The only problem is, we were hoping for coffee. In the main square, in front of the Chiesa Madre dei Santi Pietro and Paolo (we go in, but nothing special) we find Pasticcieria Eros so have a second, smaller pasticiotto, this time with coffee. The rest of the morning is spent strolling around Galatina. Some houses and palazzi are being renovated, anyway it makes for a nice stroll, there are intricate balconies, portals, stone carvings. Galatina is well worth a visit and the Basilica di Santa Caterina di Alessandria is truly special.

We return home for the fish, which I fry, and a rest. Mid-afternoon we head out. There’s some cloud so it’s not too hot for a walk along the coast north of Porto Cesareo. The first beach, where there’s the Kalura beach club complete with Gong to say goodbye to the sun, to us, after the deep and long beaches of Vieste seems narrow and crowded. We proceed on foot to the next beach, delle dune. Hmm, sand dunes for people who have never been to Porto Pino or Chia in Sardegna, let alone Bolonia near Tarifa in Spain.

We continue. A moon shaped bay which is apparently spiaggia di Torre Chianca, the tower at the end of it. Hmm, prettier and fewer people. After a look around the tower, which is open, although we don’t go in, we continue to the next beach. A nameless one where there is Lido Elios, already closed. 

This is nice and just a lone fisherman. We stop for a chat. Just the other side is a narrow slip of land with some bushes. The sea the other side is beautiful, nobody around and just a slightly 'wild' feel. We walk along it a little way and are just thinking it would be worth coming back to when, after Lido Goa beach, we come across an abandoned building right on the beach, surrounded by sandbags and, just after, a recently renovated villa which is almost in the sea, its fencing to keep people out extending right into the water. We retreat, a little shocked. 

Walking back to base we wonder now about the reviews and photos, cleverly made to show splendid transparent sea and a sliver of empty sand, cutting out the reality of beach clubs with umbrellas almost in the water, houses, hotels and apartment blocks built on the beach and far too many people, because if the density on the beach is such on a cloudy day at the very end of September what can it be like in higher season?

We get back to the beach near the apartment in time for the sunset. Hmm, how come the ones in Torre Ovo were so much better?