Salento in October - Marina Serra, Tricase Porto and Tricase

On Monday morning the weather is better than expected so we drive to the coast near Corsano and walk along the quite short stretch of lane heading south between just above the Oasis restaurant and where the road ends and becomes a path. It is an easy and quite short walk which, from what I can make out, is part of the ‘Vie del sale’. There are no signposts or indications but the ‘beach’ of Funnuvòjere– not a beach but just a rocky access to the sea - has dells and pools which look like they might have been used as Saline for collecting salt.

After that we drive to Marina Serra where there are the so-called ‘natural swimming pools’. Well, not so natural because they were created by joining abandoned tuff quarries and sea caves. In any case, the final effect is spectacular, especially considering the almost emerald colour of the sea. Some local ladies are swimming, four of them, in the most ‘natural’ looking one, and also a not so local lady, and that would be crowded enough for me. Anyway, a fabulous place.

We continue to Tricase Porto and park a little before the port. Apart from pleasure boats there are also a handful of fishing boats with a couple of fishermen mending nets but no sign of any fish. The port of Tricase with the warm red painted villa and the inlet with the tiny beach is really very pretty. We walk down and along it, enjoying the warm sun. There are some people in the water – more local women in a circle having a chat like in Marina Serra. We also track down the ‘chippendale??’ style church mentioned in the description of the church Cristo Re in Santa Maria di Leuca, although it’s closed so we just take a photo from the outside and its Chippendale interior remains a mystery. It’s an attractive and relaxing place.

For lunch we drive to Tricase where we found a promising self-service restaurant thanks to Google maps. I shan’t put the name because we didn’t like it. Yes, the food and the quality and the prices were excellent, but the staff seemed grumpy and unfriendly, and the main problem was that the food was lukewarm, almost cold. I risked asking the owner (I think) to heat up some pettole but didn’t dare for the otherwise excellent parmigiana. We eat fast, before it gets any colder, and wish we hadn’t bothered. Disappointing.

Lunch didn’t take long so we have stroll around the historical centre of Tricase which is pleasant, especially Piazza Pisanelli and the one next to it where there is a statue of Don Tonino Bello in front of the Chiesa Natività della Beata Vergine Maria, that beautiful sandsone ochre weathered colour outside but nothing we notice in particular inside. 

From Piazza Pisanelli we look in the courtyard of the castle, now part of the town hall. We also have another rushed cappuccino/espressino and pasticiotto at Martinucci standing at the counter where we are the only customers and the waitress hovers ready to remove our cups as soon as we have finished. I retreat back to the square to sit down and relax a little and then we finish our stroll. The nearby Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo also has a nice façade and some fine ceiling details. Tricase is a good place for wandering.

Our last stop is near Tricase to see the crypt of la Madonna del Gonfalone. This would be splendid if we could actually visit it. I know we can’t because it seems to be open only for the ‘festa’ on 21/22 August. Nevertheless, even from the outside it’s interesting and by contorting ourselves to the sides of some unfortunately extremely dirty but luckily slightly open windows we get a hint of the beauty of the columns and altars and frescoes in the crypt below.

Before going back to base for a quick rest we stop at “I Contadini” for a free tasting (Broccoli and friselle) and to buy one or two things to take home as presents.

Our last stop towards sunset is down by the sea at Posto Rosso, where we even manage to do a short walk on the pista ciclabile which stretches for several kilometres between Torre San Giovanni and Capilungo.

5 intensive days in the deep Salento. I’m satisfied.